Around the world, more and more countries are allowing people to relieve their suffering by legally self-medicating with marijuana (or cannabis, ganja, weed; what ever you want to call it). In this country (the United Kingdom), however, the government’s official position says; “Cannabis is not recognised as having any therapeutic value under the law in England and Wales…” (http://www.release.org.uk/law/uks-law-medical-cannabis)
In recent years there have been clinical studies, that support hundreds of years of anecdotal evidence, confirming that marijuana is of great benefit to people suffering from a very wide range of health problems. That is probably why so many enlightened countries are rethinking their drug laws, to allow their citizens to benefit from medical marijuana.
I don’t imagine the present, closed minded UK government will be following these other countries down the legal medical marijuana path anytime soon. After all, this is the same government that refuses to listen to any of its own expert advisers, on any subject, if their advice contradicts the government’s own dogmatic ideology. This must be why UK law says marijuana has no therapeutic value, when I know from personal experience that the opposite is the case.
As someone who lives in constant pain, I have used a variety of pain killers over the years, some more effective than others, but most have unpleasant side-effects. The only side-effects of marijuana that I’ve come across, are feelings of happiness, and occasionally a case of ‘the munchies’.
My doctor is free to legally supply me with opiates, both natural and synthetic. For years I used fentanyl patches. Fentanyl, for those that don’t know, is artificial heroin (actual heroin, by the way, can also be legally used medicinally, only then they call it diamorphine), and after a few years of constant use, the side-effects made me so ill, that I had to change medication. I transferred (with great effort and suffering on my part) to oxycodone, another synthetic analgesia, which after only a couple of months had made me so depressed, that I had to abandon that treatment. Now, even though I’m trying to come off it (see other blogs below) I take one of the oldest and most powerful of them all, morphine. You can imagine how bad the side-effects are, when you consider how hard I’m working to come off the drug.
In my particular case, the above drugs are the ones I take 24/7, to keep the pain at bay. If I am unusually active, if I want to go visit friends for example, I take even more analgesia (oramorph or tramadol at the moment), with its detrimental effect on my health. There is also a very real danger of overdosing on this toxic stuff.
With marijuana, there are no detrimental side-effects, only positive ones, and if I am sensible, I can keep taking marijuana until I simply fall asleep, with no danger of taking a fatal dose. If marijuana is taken on its own (I personally would never combine it with tobacco) using a vaporiser, there is no combustion, smoke, or danger of cancer. Even my doctor (unofficially) approves of this.
In this country, I am in the ludicrous position, that my doctor can prescribe for me powerful pain killers that ultimately make me ill, but not a natural remedy that I know makes my daily life so much better. The National Health Service (NHS) pays for the opiates, but even if I pay for my own marijuana (which I can’t really afford in the amounts I need, even if I could find a regular and reliable supplier), I am risking imprisonment.
Medical Marijuana on the NHS would be my dream come true.
Some of you may wonder how I can be so sure that medical marijuana would be so beneficial to me, and as an answer I will tell you a short story (you, and any police reading, can decide if it’s fiction). Last time I was in the USA, I landed in California, which has long been at the forefront (but not without an ongoing battle) of medical marijuana. I have a friend who lives there, who has her own health problems, and uses marijuana that she gets from a number of legal sources.
Unknown to me, before I even arrived, she had been along to one of these medical marijuana suppliers and explained to them my position and condition. Even though it was not strictly legal for them to do so, but because these people genuinely want to relieve people’s suffering, they supplied me with two different types of marijuana (one that allowed me to be active, and a stronger one for when the pain got so bad I just needed to drift away).
Thanks to my good friend, and her suppliers, it was one of the best and certainly the most comfortable trip to the states I have ever had. Here and now, I would sincerely like to thank all involved, particularly my friend (you know who you are, but I think it’s best to keep you anonymous, so as not to incriminate you).
In November, Californians are going to vote on wether to legalise both medical and recreational marijuana use. They are not the only US state considering going down the path that Colorado took (which appears to have worked out very well), and here in Europe many countries have already, at the very least, decriminalised personal use of marijuana.
By comparison, the UK is a backward country, whose laws are at odds with all the evidence. Why does my government prefer me to suffer pain, when something as simple as marijuana could help me, and so many others? Will the day ever come when I can relieve my pain with marijuana, perhaps from plants I have grown myself, without the risk of criminal prosecution?
Love & peace,
Zero
