WOMAN DEFENDS CANNABIS USE

A multiple sclerosis sufferer has said she does not believe using
cannabis to relieve her pain is wrong.

Appearing at Kirkwall Sheriff Court Elizabeth Ivol, 55, denies three
charges in relation to the handling of cannabis.

Mrs Ivol, also known as Biz, of South Ronaldsay, said cannabis was the
only drug which eased her pain.

Mrs Ivol, who uses a wheelchair, said the pain she felt was like
having "barbed wire going through my spine".

The case is being held at the town's leisure complex to allow disabled
access for Mrs Ivol's wheelchair.

She told the court that her former island GP had recommended using
cannabis, but she only used the drug after two years of toying with
the idea.

Mrs Ivol said she had tried a long list of legal medication - some of
which resulted in "horrific" side effects.

She came up with the idea of developing cannabis chocolates after
agreeing to help a non-smoking MS sufferer.

'Muscle spasms'

Mrs Ivol said: "We had to figure out a way of getting cannabis into
his system, he did not smoke, and that's how the cannabis chocolate
came about."

Questioned by advocate David Moggach, Mrs Ivol said she "never
actually encouraged anybody to use cannabis".

The court heard that her life had become almost unbearable due to her
deteriorating condition.

She said: "At the moment I feel like somebody's pulling barbed wire
through my spine.

"I have muscle spasms and my eyesight's failing but it has not gone
yet. It is very, very painful.

'Like a zombie'

"I'm completely and utterly paralysed from the neck down, more or
less. I can make myself a cup of tea, if my hands are alive, and
answer the phone.

"Usually by one o'clock my fingers are paralysed - I can't even hold a
pen."

Mrs Ivol told the court she had tried prescription medication as well
as special diets but nothing seemed to work.

Describing the effects of one type of tranquilliser she said: "I just
sat in a chair, looking like a zombie and gazing out of the window."

The court heard that, although apprehensive at first, Mrs Ivol
eventually began smoking one cannabis joint each evening.

Trial adjourned

She said: "It got to the point where I felt that nobody was doing
anything for MS and when you find something that does alleviate the
symptoms you go for it."

Mr Moggach asked her: "And you found something that
helped?"

"Cannabis," she replied.

She added: "It is not like a nasty chemical drug, it is a natural
God-given plant.

"It was either cannabis or nothing. I tried everything else and
nothing worked."

Mrs Ivol denies a charge of possession of cannabis, a charge of
supplying cannabis and a charge of the cultivation of cannabis.

The trial, before Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie, was adjourned until 2
July.