Petition the Tony Blair to allow medical use of Cannabis

[squiffy2]

Petition Tony Blair to allow medical use of Cannabis

An online e-petiton has been launched asking the Tony Blair stop the prosecution of medical patients who use Cannabis.

Some background on the e-petition is as follows:

On Saturday, February 22, 2003 Mr Blair was asked about cannabis use by medical patients, the Telegraph reported Mr Blair responding to an MP'S question

"We understand that there is potentially a distinction between those who need cannabis for medicinal purposes and those who do not," the Prime Minister said. "I am sure that people will take a sympathetic view of the position of the honourable gentleman's constituent, although that must remain a matter for the authorities, not the Government."

Despite a change in classification, many ill people are facing prosecution now medical necesity has been removed as a defense.

We ask Tony Blair to keep to his word, and allow medical users to use cannabis without fear and prosecution.

We ask him to begin by recognising that the prosecution of THC4MS is wrong and these people should not be criminals for their inspirational work.

If you would like to sign this petiton please go to :


petitions.pm.gov.uk/medi-cannabis (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/medi-cannabis) [gov.uk] (http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/petitions.pm.gov.uk/medi-cannabis)

[Snurfen]

Whole heartedly agree there Squiffs, my dad was on morphine in hospital the other day and was in a hell of a pickle - if that's legal in controlled dosage, why not cannabis.

i'll be signing up - my ex-bro in law worked on several projects for cannabis in medicinal use, mainly for the Mississippi state University. He was also involved in the testing of yew bark and (I think) daffodil bulbs for the same purpose.

[squiffy2]

Thanks Snufen :happy:

[dammit]

Signed.

(This could also be the explaination for some of squiff's jokes) ;)

[squiffy2]

Signed.

(This could also be the explaination for some of squiff's jokes) ;)

Bad luck Dammit, all my jokes are written without "chemical enhancement":happy: :happy:

[oracle128]

Whole heartedly agree there Squiffs, my dad was on morphine in hospital the other day and was in a hell of a pickle - if that's legal in controlled dosage, why not cannabis.And that there is the difference. Morphine is administered by trained professionals in controlled dosages. Cannabis is prescribed and handed to the patient (usually through a pharmacy or other legal dealer), where it is then unknown what the patient will do with it - not take it, take more than they should, sell it, etc. Hippies and teens no longer have to scrounge up cash for a smoke, they just need to rob sick people, likely camping at said distributors.

[Snurfen]

Wrong! in this case.

The morphine was self administered through a patient controlled "happy button". Seing as my dad was in a post-operative stupour, the health professional commited the cardinal sin - namely, by telling the old fella what to do, thought the job was done. The sin being didn't check the patient correctly UNDERSTOOD the instructions.

My dad thought he was told to press the button when the green light came on, whereas he was actually told he COULD press the button when the green light came on.

Not a lot of difference there between talking too many cannabis tablets, really.

[squiffy2]

Tuesday December 19, 2006
The Guardian

For six years, Mark and Lezley Gibson supplied cannabis to people with multiple sclerosis. The police knew what they were doing - but turned a blind eye. Now, however, the 'Canna-Biz Two' have been convicted of dealing. They talk to Patrick Barkham.

Behind the purple door on the cobbled streets of Alston, Cumbria, the cooking pot was seldom off the boil. In the ordinary kitchen tucked high in the North Pennines, thick brown liquid was poured into moulds imported from Belgian chocolatiers. Luxurious bars of high-cocoa-fat chocolate were wrapped and labelled and placed in jiffy bags, then posted to all corners of the country.
It would have been an uncomplicated and charming cottage industry, but for one special ingredient: each 150g bar contained up to 3.5g of cannabis. For six years, its presence in the chocolate helped ease pain for more than 1,600 people with multiple sclerosis, almost 2% of all MSers. It also caused the chocolate's distributors, Mark and Lezley Gibson, to fall victim to village gossip, police raids and legal action that has left them branded as drug dealers................

To read the whole article, and get a bit more background on why this petition is in existance at all please go to MSRC: Latest MS News (http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=show&pageid=1076&CFID=1356882&CFTOKEN=75416794)

squiffs

[ggross]

ugh doctors today are terrible, now what im going to say is gonna sound very ignorant so excuse me for I am not exactly sure as to what medical drug they were using. The doctors at UVA hospital put my father on some medicine that not only was he allergic to but has been proven to make people diabetic at high dosages, they put him on a rather high dosage without even checking to see if he was allergic to it. He is diabetic now. If you want to hear about everything that has happened to my father just lemme know and id be glad to post it in a bulletin, its rather lengthy and is still taking place, started about 5 years ago.

[oracle128]

Wrong! in this case.

The morphine was self administered through a patient controlled "happy button". Seing as my dad was in a post-operative stupour, the health professional commited the cardinal sin - namely, by telling the old fella what to do, thought the job was done. The sin being didn't check the patient correctly UNDERSTOOD the instructions.

My dad thought he was told to press the button when the green light came on, whereas he was actually told he COULD press the button when the green light came on.

Not a lot of difference there between talking too many cannabis tablets, really.They use those machines for a reason. The Patient Controlled Analgesia System (PCAS) is programmed to not allow the patient to exceed a safe dosage. In other words, had your dad pressed the button before the green light was on, nothing would have happened. Pressing it once it allows you to releases a preset safe dosage, resetting the timer to wait, making it safe for the next dosage.

I suppose something like that could work for cannabis, though to make it of any use, it'd have to be something the patient could buy or rent, to keep it at home. The problem with that is, without the supervision of hospital staff, it could easily be tampered with or, being portable, stolen.

[Snurfen]

Whatever the ins and outs of what is SUPPOSED to happen, my old man was getting a zap of morph every 20 secs or so. He way exceeded the safe doseage and became far more delirious and deranged than (a) he is normally and (b) what he should have been in his post-operative condition. (I too googled PCAS, when we first had the incident).

I recognised he was in an overdose state as soon as I saw him, as I had previously seen a case where too much morphine had been administered to a casualty underground in a fairly horrendous mining accident. I immediatley summoned the Staff Nurse who agreed with me, she subsequently summoned the surgeon responsible for my father's care.

A heated debate ensued, with the medico bods trying to flannel me about what was going on. When I explained my previous experiences with the Mines Rescue Unit, they then started being sensible.

The important thing is, my dad is now making a steady and encouraging recovery. Theres plenty of time after christmas to have fun with a round of arse-kicking with the Health Trust.

[uripyores]

And that there is the difference. Morphine is administered by trained professionals in controlled dosages.
That isn't diferent at all - at least in the UK it isn't. In years gone by, I have known quite a few heroin addicts who were prescribed heroin [in some cases methadone]for self injection. So if it's ok to give that out, there should be no problem giving out cannabis for medical reasons.
Personally, I think it should be legalized.

[Snurfen]

He he he - Harold Shipman was a trained professional too! :eek:

(someone who's already posted in this thread will porb start an essay on "rogues in the system" - "exceptions to the rule" etc etc etc with reams of googled boring bits)

[iwishiknew]

documented cultures haved used it for thousands of years,think blair and brown should be thinking of the tax factor,if works for pain then tax it. i would rather take it,then say take some tablet with god knows what in it not mention the side effects,its been a herbal remedy for eons,or maybe it be could used as a ploy to get stoners off the settee and vote labor

[oracle128]

Whatever the ins and outs of what is SUPPOSED to happen, my old man was getting a zap of morph every 20 secs or so. He way exceeded the safe doseage and became far more delirious and deranged than (a) he is normally and (b) what he should have been in his post-operative condition. (I too googled PCAS, when we first had the incident).

I recognised he was in an overdose state as soon as I saw him, as I had previously seen a case where too much morphine had been administered to a casualty underground in a fairly horrendous mining accident. I immediatley summoned the Staff Nurse who agreed with me, she subsequently summoned the surgeon responsible for my father's care.Wouldn't that be a great reason to not allow drugs such as morphine or cannabis over the counter? If a patient in the safety of a hospital can't be trusted to safely administer pain relief themselves, surely you can't believe that giving them enough stock for say a week, then allowing them to take it in their own home would be any better?

What most likely happened there was either the machine was malfunctioning, it had been set incorrectly, or it was working fine but it was pumping irregularly small dosages with each hit.
That isn't diferent at all - at least in the UK it isn't. In years gone by, I have known quite a few heroin addicts who were prescribed heroin [in some cases methadone]for self injection. So if it's ok to give that out, there should be no problem giving out cannabis for medical reasons.If that's true, then I disagree with that as well. Addictive pleasure-inducing drugs shouldn't be available outside of controlled environments. Snurfen's experience should attest to that.

There's also a good reason morphine is "given out" to heroin addicts. Heroin is simply a more severe derivative of Morphine, so naturally it's easier to ween addicts of Morphine than Heroin. Not only that, but it's delivered in controlled dosages, after confirming the need for it (not just "given out", as you suggest). Though, I can't figure out for the life of me why they'd use Morphine instead of Methadone; the latter is less potent, less addictive, longer lasting, and cheaper. Letting the user use it when they need to is pretty much the only cheap way of ensuring they only use it when they physiologically crave it. Course, there's always the possibility that the user could abuse the system and get all the free morphine/methadone they want; but you have to make the assumption that they're going to the clinic because they actually have an interest in getting themselves off drugs.

In other words, morphine or methadone are given out because they're the lesser of the evils of derived opiates/opioids, for those that are addicted to something worse. They're not given out as pain relief, and it would be irrational to try and compare that situation with the topic at hand. That's like saying "Steroids are used for people weakened from sickness, so it should be given out to weak athletes"; or "Euthanasia is legalized for dying patients, it should be made legal for people with broken limbs too".

i would rather take it,then say take some tablet with god knows what in it not mention the side effectsDo you actually know how many chemicals are in burning cannabis? Do you know what side effects it has?