Cannabis supplier is cleared

THE GOVERNMENT last night faced new calls to legalisecannabis for medical use after a man who set up a co-operative to supply the drug was cleared by a jury in the first case of its kind.

Colin Davies, 42, who started growing cannabis in his flat after suffering severe spinal injuries in a fall, was acquitted at Manchester Crown Court of cultivating, possessing and supplying the drug after a three-day trial.

The court had heard that Mr Davies, a former joiner, of Brinnington, Stockport, formed the Medical Marijuana Co-operative with the aim of helping sufferers of serious and terminal illnesses. He turned to cannabis after side-effects from conventional drugs left him "devastated".

It was the first prosecution in a British court for the supply of the drug for medical reasons, although other people have been acquitted for possession on the grounds of illness.