MOURNERS' TRIBUTE TO CANNABIS CAMPAIGNER

Around 30 mourners attended the funeral service of Orkney cannabis
campaigner Biz Ivol yesterday.

She was buried at St Peter's Church on South Ronaldsay after a low-key
ceremony.

The service was not religious and had been devised by 56-year-old Ms
Ivol before her death on Sunday.

Her coffin was carried to the grave and speeches were made by two
friends before it was lowered into the ground.

It is understood that Ms Ivol's sister and ex-husband were among the
mourners. Ms Ivol, who had multiple sclerosis, had been suffering from
a chest infection but had refused medication for it as her health
deteriorated.

Her use of cannabis to ease the symptoms of MS attracted national
attention. She was admonished at Kirkwall Sheriff Court in 1997 after
she admitted growing 27 cannabis plants to relieve her pain.

Further court proceedings had to be abandoned last year when Ms Ivol
attempted suicide. She had denied possessing, producing and supplying
cannabis but admitted under cross-examination that she had made
cannabis-laced chocolates for MS patients.

Ms Ivol compared the pain of MS to barbed wire being dragged through
her spine. A sympathetic doctor suggested she try cannabis after all
other methods had failed.

She has been described as a "herbal suffragette" and the Legalise
Cannabis Alliance said candle-lit ceremonies were taking place around
the country to pay tribute to Ms Ivol.