CAMPAIGNER HAILS DRUG LAW CHANGE

A Warwickshire woman who is involved in a campaign for cannabis to be
legalised, has hailed the reclassification of the drug - to take
effect from tomorrow - as a victory for MS sufferers.

Shop assistant Clare O'Donnell, 27, said: "It's a victory for those
who suffer from MS and find using cannabis helps them.

"I went to a talk at Aston University where a representative from the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society told us about the trials they had done
with cannabis. "They found it helped people literally get out of their
wheelchairs. "They test it on patients, not rats or mice, because the
government generally agrees cannabis itself is a safe drug.

"There has been a lot of bad press recently about which MPs have tried
the drug and if cannabis causes mental illness, but people should only
use it if it suits them."

Mrs O'Donnell, of Chapel End, Nuneaton, added: "What the public have
to realise is the downgrading of cannabis has nothing to do with
recreational use. "It's about people who find cannabis has medical
benefits, being allowed to have that medicine made for them by the
government.

"The government has spent UKP 1million researching the medical
benefits of cannabis." Mrs O'Donnell joined the Legalise Cannabis
Alliance after seeing the drug help friends with medical problems.

The alliance wants cannabis to be not just decriminalised, but fully
legalised. Mrs O'Donnell is the alliance's candidate for a
Parliamentary seat in either Coventry or Warwickshire, at the next
general election. On Wednesday, she will meet with Nuneaton MP Bill
Olner, at the Houses of Parliament, to discuss the government's new
policy on cannabis. From tomorrow, cannabis will be a class C, rather
than a class B, drug, meaning those found in possession of it will
have it confiscated and receive a warning from police.