DISABLED MAN FINED OVER USE OF CANNABIS

DISABLED Michael Webb, who suffers from crippling back pain, has vowed to
continue using cannabis, despite his conviction for possessing the banned
drug on Monday. The 44-year-old twisted his spine in an accident 12 years
ago, when he sneezed while carrying a box as he moved house. The injury
sparked a degenerative back condition, which has caused two of his
vertebrae to start crumbling, and sciatica, leaving him in constant agony.

Webb, of Audley Road, Chippenham, said he has been prescribed legal drugs
to kill the excruciating pain for more than a decade, but claims it is
cannabis that has given him his life back.

"I totally rely on it," he said. "It does not take the pain away, but it
helps me cope with it better, and relieves the tension of actually being in
pain. "It's given me life, but without it I'd be stuck at home. I wouldn't
be able to move. The pain is like having the end of a cigarette held on the
back of your spine. The ache can be so strong that when it's at its worst
it can make me vomit. "My doctors have supported me, and they'd much rather
I took that than prescribed pills, but they can't prescribe cannabis, and I
have been told that I should expect to be on pills for the rest of my life.
"I don't deal drugs and I have nothing to hide."

Acting on a tip off, officers raided Webb's home in November and discovered
a 8.7 gram block of cannabis resin on his living room table. Webb, who is
registered disabled and relies on Government benefits, pleaded guilty at
Chippenham Magistrates Court on Monday to possession of cannabis. His
lawyer Tim Hammick assured the court the cannabis was for Webb's own
personnel use, and said his client did not supply drugs. He told the court
that Webb, who has difficulty walking without the aid of a stick, melts the
drug in butter, which he then puts in his coffee. Webb, who moved to
Chippenham ten years ago to be close to his son, aged nine, was fined UKP 103.

"The only way I have of dealing with the pain is by taking cannabis, which
is making me a criminal," he said.

"The pain can strike at any time. I can't walk great distances because the
pain gets to much. Even walking to the nearest corner shop can be
unbearable." After the accident Webb, who has a degree in film, television
and applied photography, was in traction for a week and prescribed
painkillers and Valium to fight the pain.

Doctors told him to wear a surgical corset and Webb initially used
paracetamol and other over the counter medication to fight the pain, but as
it got progressively worse he turned to his doctors for stronger
medication. He was prescribed opiates, including dihydrocodeine. He also
became addicted to heroin, which he snorted, smoked and occasionally
injected, because it gave him relief from the pain.

Webb says he has been clean from heroin for years and now takes a
prescribed opiate to combat the pain, but is desperate to get off the
addictive chemical. "I expect to end up in court, where I'm sure they will
fine me again and again and again, but if I stopped using cannabis I would
be in a very, very painful world," he said.

PC Alex Mazurk, from Chippenham's proactive unit, said: "We appreciate that
people use cannabis for medical purposes, but if they don't have lawful
authority to possess it, it is still an offence. Despite its
reclassification today, from class B to class C, users can still be
arrested in certain circumstances."

Alun Buffry, national co-ordinator for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance,
which is a registered political party, said the law should not get involved
if the drug is being used for medicinal purposes.

"In the past people have pleaded not guilty to possessing cannabis on the
grounds it is a medical necessity and they have won their cases," he said.