FANFARE June 2014 | Page 22

COLORADO GETS HIGH typically visualise a Cheech and Chongtype character, with eyes barely opened, grinning inanely and with wreaths of strange-smelling smoke wafting around their heads. Blow, ganja, green, hash, puff, skunk, sweet leaf, weed… You could almost construct an A to Z of all the nicknames cannabis has. Can you think of any other drug which has as many epithets? However you refer to it, cannabis has been demonised for five decades. Only now, in the first decades of the 21st century, the cracks in a pandemonic mindset are showing, and it is being legalised around the world, including Colorado, Washington and Mexico. In the UK, however, the mindless stigma has stuck, cannabis remains illegal and is categorised as a ‘Class B’ drug. According to the Government website those caught with the drug are subject to ‘up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both’, while dealers of cannabis face ‘up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both’. Also, users are warned, ‘police can issue a warning, or an on-the-spot fine of £90 if you’re found with cannabis’. The 1936 film Reefer Madness describes marijuana as ‘a violent narcotic’ and ‘unspeakable scourge’ with ‘souldestroying effects’, even claiming that using it could lead to ‘incurable insanity’. Despite it being proven in various studies and in studies such as ‘The Wootton Report’ of 1969 that marijuana is innocuous and does not provoke violence or drastic health problems, paranoia about the drug is readily instilled into the British public by the media and authorities. But there are scientifically proven medical benefits to the drug. Dr Lester Not everyone is in favour of legalising cannabis 22•FANFA R E JUNE 2 0 1 4 Frenzy as the media record the first legal sale of cannabis in Colorado Grinspoon who works at Harvard Medical School and is author of Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine, has found numerous conditions which cannabis can alleviate: epilepsy, insomnia, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder. Multiple sclerosis patients can also use the drug to alleviate spasms and motor handicaps. Dr Grinspoon calls it as “truly a sui generis substance” which “has a large and growing number of medical uses”. Welcome back to the Middle Ages. The beneficial properties of cannabis for MS patients are widely known. “A very good friend of mine, who I met whilst she was still in her twenties suffered from multiple sclerosis and alleviated her symptoms with the use of ‘street-bought’ skunk [high-strength cannabis]”, says Gary Sheridan, a civil engineer. “The condition had made her lame in her left leg and she walked with a cane, the top of which had a concealed screw-top compartment, within which she kept her ‘herbal remedy’. “The very first time I met her we sat on a bench and talked as she casually went through the process of ‘skinning-up’ a joint, which she filled predominantly with crushed leaf and a little tobacco, managing to accomplish doing so despite her hands shaking constantly. “She smoked it all and described to me not only the mild state of euphoria, but also how it alleviated the pain in her left leg,” recalls Mr Sheridan. “It was manifestly evident to me that she was considerately more at ease with herself having smoked some weed. I was struck then – as I am now in retelling this – how dignified and resolute she was in the face of a devastating condition. “I lost touch with her, but I know she died before she reached 30.” The Multiple Sclerosis Society acknowledges “some people with MS use cannabis”, as cannabinoids reduce muscle spasms and pain. Currently there is a ‘Sativex’ spray available to MS patients and contains cannabis, which (unlike the plant) has gone through the required trials and procedures so that it is available on prescription. The MS Society advises patients to use this, as “smoking street cannabis isn’t the same as using Sativex and as well as being illegal, it can have harmful side effects”. Clark French, who suffers from MS, has