Letter: Legalised pain

AS A medicinal marijuana user (I have multiple sclerosis), I was appalled by the sentencing of Eric Mann to one year in jail at Swansea Crown Court last Tuesday for using marijuana to alleviate the pain caused by arthritis. The Government tries to justify its ludicrous position by telling us that cannabis must remain illegal in its natural state until analyses, taking five to 10 years and leading to the development of synthetic, expensive forms of the substance, have been carried out. It claims to be concerned for our well-being. To impress upon us the seriousness of its intentions it seems prepared to imprison any of us found treating ourselves by virtually the only means available to us. Such behaviour only inflicts further suffering on those who surely have enough to endure.

HAMISH CRISP

Supporter of Action for Cannabis Therapeutics, Edinburgh