A CRIMINAL FOR TURNING TO CANNABIS WHEN MEDICINE FAILED TO HELP EPILEPSY

IT'S a debate which has rumbled on for years. Now the controversy about
legalising cannabis has reared its head again through comments from various
MPs circulating in the national media. So what do people in Peterborough
think?

EPILEPTIC Marcus Davies spends thousands of pounds on drugs to ease his fits
each year.

But he doesn't buy them over the counter and he currently has four
convictions for cultivating, supplying and possessing the drug. Each time
he's appeared before magistrates. And each time he's been fined.

Marcus (34), of Parnwell, Peterborough, is a qualified electronics designer.
Yet, in the eyes of the law, he s a criminal.

For the last 16 years, Marcus has been unable to work fulltime because of
his epileptic fits. He says all legal medicines failed to work effectively
for him, and he spent five years wasting away, suffering from both illness
and treatment.

So, in 1988, he tried cannabis. And he claims it changed his life. He had
previously been having epileptic seizures every day. These seizures rendered
me useless, he said. "I use to pray that seizures occurred in the late
evening, which gave me the night to recover, and during the following day I
could behave as a normal person. I have scarring of the tongue and many
scars of the limbs damaged during seizures. I smoke cannabis for medicinal
purposes. When I don't smoke it, I have convulsions."

Marcus has smoked cannabis medicinally for 13 years, and has welcomed the
latest debate on the issue. "This is most definitely a step forward," he
said.

Mr Davies estimates he spends about UKP 5,500 a year on the drug which he
buys from several dealers in the city. He has little time for dealers, but
knows it's the only place he can get the drug. "The people I buy it from
know my views on them very well, but they also like my money. Throughout the
country that s millions of pounds going to the wrong people," he said.
"Cannabis should be brought out into the open. People like myself do not
want to be gangsters dealing with the underworld. When I want to smoke a
joint, I'll smoke one as long as I'm not offending anybody else. But I feel
like a criminal, and I don t want to."

Marcus says that within an hour of smoking cannabis for the first time, he
felt better than he had for the previous five years. He says he has had only
about eight seizures in 13 years of smoking cannabis.

While living in Lancashire, his home was searched by police and for the
following six days he stopped taking cannabis. He says he had seizures every
hour and was admitted to hospital. "After a brief discussion with the doctor
about my case history I was unofficially advised to keep taking the cannabis
medicine and keep my head down and my mouth shut. Until now, this is what
I've done," he said.

Although epilepsy is the main reason for taking cannabis, he also believes
it relieved pain when he had laser therapy on his eye treatment made
necessary by his diabetes. "Cannabis is very effective at encouraging me to
eat at regular times," he added. "This phenomena, known as the munchies,
must be extremely useful in the treatment of patients with wasting diseases,
and has proved to stimulate my appetite often."

Marcus is a representative of Legalise Cannabis Alliance in Peterborough,
and has his own website telling his story. He says the only reason that
cannabis leads to other drugs is through the pushers. "Being illegal is the
only thing that causes it to lead on to other drugs. You have to purchase it
from somebody who would sooner sell you something else. It's nothing to do
with the drug," he said.

"If we legalise it in this country, we remove that element of society that
is getting an awful lot of money for doing nothing. Cannabis needs to be
imported properly and the quantity maintained. Tax it by all means the
Government would make billions out of it."

The debate on cannabis has been welcomed by drugs workers in Peterborough.
Lisa Mellen, deputy manager of the Bridgegate Drug Advisory Agency, based in
Broadway, said: "We work within the framework of the law at the moment.
Debate around drugs is very healthy, and we would encourage it. But cannabis
does have its risks. It is not a completely safe drug. Smoking cannabis can
cause lung problems or psychiatric difficulties. It is not harmless.
However, it is not probably as harmful as other drugs people may choose to
experiment with."

"While Bridgegate does not see as many cannabis users as those on other
drugs, its effects can still be significant. When it does cause problems
it's a big problem to that person," Lisa added.