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Abby Hughes

Cannabis For Endometriosis

Abby suffers from a condition called endometriosis and is a medical cannabis user. She campaigns with the United Patients Alliance for legalisation of medical cannabis. Abby feels passionately about being able to use cannabis over other prescribed drugs. She takes cannabis to deal with symptoms aggravating her condition.

Breaking the Law

Abby describes how taking cannabis helps her live a normal life. She isn’t afraid of being prosecuted. She mentions that not being able to take cannabis would jeopardise her life as she’d be unable to carry out her daily routine in a normal manner.

Abby’s Cannabis Strains

Accessing cannabis for patients isn’t easy. Since the market for cannabis is unregulated, some patients have to resort to street dealers, which is tricky for first-time buyers. Fortunately for Abby, her cannabis source is organic. She has knowledge about her cannabis strains and knows what she is buying.

Recreational Vs. Medical Cannabis

Abby compares cannabis to prescription drugs like Naproxen and Dihydrocodeine that have more severe side effects in her opinion. She prefers to use cannabis, but feels frustrated being unable to access the drug more openly. Though she was a recreational user in her teens, cannabis became her medicine when she was diagnosed with endometriosis.

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David Hibbitt

David’s Cancer Diagnosis

David Hibbitt is a medical cannabis user and takes cannabis oil to keep cancer away. Though initially, he used it with his chemotherapy but later switched to the drug as a stand-alone medication. David was quite sceptical to use cannabis at first since he wasn’t aware of the drug’s effects. He did a lot of research and made an informed decision.

Positive Effects Of Cannabis

David was under chemotherapy since 2012. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 bowel cancer 3 years ago. David has been using cannabis oil for the past 18 months now and it has reversed the some of the negative effects of his chemotherapy. He is now  cancer-free.

Cannabis Awareness 

David feels that people need to be “educated correctly” about cannabis. The dosage amounts can be tricky, especially if one does not know the strains or the amount needed. His opinion is that as far as educating people about cannabis is concerned, there has to be a middle ground.

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Aldo Mussi

Green Party Stance and Legalisation Concerns

Aldo Mussi is a Green Party member and a Public Health Lecturer. He highlights that the Greens support a more evidence-based approach and favour decriminalisation. He points out that traditionalists do not welcome the drug due to its history of social use, but alcohol seems to be more widely acceptable.

Cannabis Regulation 

Aldo states that if regulation of cannabis or extracts derived from the plant were to be implemented, then pricing of those drugs would be a crucial factor to consider. He also points out that the medical evidence on the effectiveness of the drug needs to be looked at.

In 2014, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said that Sativex was too expensive to be recommended for patients in England. The cannabinoid medicine is bottled as an oromucosal spray and prescribed to a select few multiple sclerosis patients by the NHS. It is derived from the cannabis plant extract.

The Government’s “Double Standards” 

Aldo mentions the “double standards” that prevail with regard to cannabis decriminalisation. In previous years, with cannabis still being illegal, doctors were prescribing it to patients unofficially. He points out that politicians like Jeremy Hunt aren’t looking at the evidence.

Posted on by Sandhya Posted in WATCH
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Cannabis Decriminalisation

Research on cannabis has shown how it can have positive effects on a number of diseases and conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis to cancer and epilepsy. Patients are heavily dependent on it, after prescriptive drugs have failed them. But cannabis continues to be an illegal drug in the UK. Should patients be criminalised for treating themselves? Sandhya Iyer reports.

Duration – 5Min 51Secs
O/w… – at it sensibly.

Reporter, Producer and Editor: Sandhya Iyer
Camerapersons: Athitaya Chemnam, Ilka Rodgers and Sandhya Iyer