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UK: 'Cannabis really is a medicine that can help a lot of people'

Maxwell Kusi Obodum

Reading Chronicle

Sunday 19 Aug 2012

RACKED by the crippling pain and seizures that come with having Multiple Sclerosis, Clark French embarked on a lengthy journey halfway across the globe to California in search of pioneering treatment using cannabis to ease his agony.

Now back in Britain the 26-year-old from Earley is campaigning for the illegal Class B drug to be decriminalised in this country and will share his story in a TV mini-documentary being screened next month.

The Reading University graduate, from Sutcliffe Avenue, will feature in an episode of 4Thought on Channel 4 and he said: "I still struggle with the symptons of MS but it has been a massive life-changing experience.

"I am trying to show that it really is a medicine that can help a lot of people. I need to get my story out there and spread the word so we can get a change in the law."

Clark was diagnosed with the degenerative disease two years ago and was eventually forced to use a walking stick.

His mother, Julie Campbell, is a fellow sufferer and in 1996 MS also claimed the life of his stepfather, Richard Ramsden.

But last October he flew to California where cannabis is legal for medical use and spent three months living in the San Francisco area.

After a £150 consultation he was given a doctor's recommendation note entitling him to purchase capsules containing the drug over the counter.

He said: "At first it made me sleep but by the end my condition was nowhere near as bad and I stopped having seizures and stopped using a walking stick and haven't had it since the treatment."

In Britain GPs can prescribe the cannabis-based drug Sativex, but the Berkshire NHS Primary Care Trust refuses to pay for Clark to use it, meaning that previously he used opitate-based medicines Tramadol and Codeine which he claims cause side-effects including anger and confusion.

However, Dr Ben Whalley, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at Reading University is against legalisation. He said: "In the UK we have taken a more conventional and conservative route.

"We have to look at the benefits and the risks. Yes, cannabis has potential but it is an active drug and it has risks and you can't just throw open the doors.

"It's about striking a balance between protecting vulnerable people and people's rights."

The drug has also been blamed for triggering mental health problems, including schizophrenia, but Clark said: "If someone has problems with cannabis the last thing they need is the police knocking on the door. The most harmfull thing is getting caught and getting a criminal record.

"This is a drug people can benefit from and get a better quality of life. If someone is in pain and they use a drug it isn't misuse it's use.

"I just want to be a normal person and have a job and pay my taxes, but I am being forced to live off benefits but I want to contribute to society."

*Clark also runs the Berkshire Cannabis Community which meets next meets from 7pm on Wednesday, September 12 in Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC) in London Street.

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/reading/articles/2012/08/19/61952-cannabis-really-is-a-medicine-that-can-help-a-lot-of-people/

 

 

 

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