Plainsman1963

Doctor suggests mum tries cannabis to control chronic pain
03-22-06 | CroydonGuardian.Co.Uk | Kerry McQueeney

A Croydon doctor has been prescribing' cannabis for pain-riddled patients who are no longer responding to conventional medicine, a mum-of-two claimed this week.

The doctor who the Croydon Guardian is not naming has suggested patients suffering from acute and debilitating pain try the class C drug in place of legal medication.

One of the doctor's patients claims she is one of many now using cannabis as an effective painkiller thanks to the off-the-record advice.

The 52-year-old says she smokes cannabis joints' and swallows cannabis capsules every day to control the near-constant pain she is in.

For two years she took a cocktail of painkillers to treat osteoarthritis in both knees which both need reconstructive surgery following an accident as well as suspected multiple sclerosis and benign intracranial hypertension a brain condition which causes painful headaches.

She says she became desperate after her body built up a resistance to the drugs.

"I was the last appointment of the day," she told the Croydon Guardian. "I was concerned the opiate painkillers I was taking were not good for a long-term basis because being a former nurse I knew the addiction rate was high.

"I also felt they weren't working as well. Afterwards, I saw the doctor outside of the confines of the office.

"I was told some patients with chronic long-term injuries like mine, with this amount of pain, have found success smoking cannabis.

"The doctor said, you do realise that it is illegal, it cannot be prescribed and I have nowhere to send you, but I just thought I'd mention it to you'."

The woman said she was initially shocked, but a month later her pain had become so unbearable that she decided to give cannabis a try.

She added: "I'd always been against drugs but halfway through my first joint the pain had subsided for the first time in I don't know how long."

From then on, she bought cannabis whenever she could. It proved so successful as a painkiller she was able to cut back on her medication.

"I felt so much better," she said. "I've more or less been in constant pain for three years. Cannabis allowed me to focus. I could function. I could work.

"The only problem I had with it was somewhere in the chain I knew a criminal was gaining."

She says it was a fellow cannabis user in Croydon suffering from motor neurone disease who suggested she try a voluntary organisation which cultivates cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The organisation sends patients pure cannabis through the post free of charge in either bud form, as a cream or in capsules. The organisation, like a charity, accepts donations to fund the supply.

She said: "The procedures are meticulous. You have to prove it's for medicinal use. I had to get a form signed by my doctor to prove I was ill and they constantly review and monitor your usage.

"They cultivate it themselves and it's pure. No dealers are involved and that's very important to me. I take the capsules at night to help me sleep and I smoke during the day.

"People say cannabis leads to harder drugs, but in my case it helped me get off the opiate painkillers I was taking. As long as I need to I will continue using it.

"If these types of organisations continue to be shut down, decent sick people will be forced back into the criminal network."