'Legalising weed would change lives': Meet Jacob Barrow, representing political party Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol in the general election

The MP hopeful has a strong message about legalising cannabis for medical purposes - and what the government could gain from regulation

Jacob Barrow of political party Cista (Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol) is gearing up to challenge Labour's Kate Green in May's election (Jacob Barrow)

There have been plenty of parties that have captured the protest vote over the years - and 2015's left-wing niche believe that Britain should legalise weed. Jacob Barrow, representing Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (Cista) in May's General Election, says that this could help the mainstream take notice.

Cista's party name might lack panache, but they're playing in the major league. Barrow aims to unseat MP Kate Green in Manchester's Stretford and Urmston constituency. How does Barrow fancy his chances against Labour - could he feasibly win? "Erm," he says and sighs. "Maybe? There are a lot of cannabis consumers in Manchester… "

While winning a few votes would be a plus, it would be fair to argue that Cista is more about the publicity than anything else - it aims to draw attention to what they call the sound argument for legalising cannabis.

"There’s so much money to be made from the drug," Barrow argues. "It's something in the region of £1.25billion they could make. It’s a lot of money, and we’re missing out on it at the moment."

Cannabis joints can be rolled freely in Amsterdam cafés. Could this be a scene repeated in the UK one day? (Getty Images)

"The Labour Party, they aren’t very vocal when it comes to this sort of thing," he adds. "Cista's existence as a political party is a way to make politicians take better notice. Sometimes they just seem to be writing letters back and they don’t seem to be making an effort to stick to their word and show their own beliefs."

Barrow, 27, admits that Cista is a fairly one-note party - would people vote for them and then, say, trust them to sort out their bins? "Yeah, exactly," says Barrow. "Technically it's a single-issue party. We just want to help people stay on the right side of the law."

While it might seem that legalised weed is a far-off dream for some, Barrow's optimistic. "I can see it being legalised before 2020. I’ve kept very up-to-date with the whole movement across the world and every prediction I’ve made so far has come right. Just think - in the USA next year there could be six or eight states that are fully legal."

Barrow was born with a diaphragmatic hernia and, after spending a year and a half at university, has been unable to work on doctors' orders. "I’ve had a lot of very aggressive extensive operations – they’ve had to pull my organs out and clean the adhesions off et cetera. I’m not very well, so I’m doing a lot of studying at the moment."

He explains that he uses cannabis purely for medical purposes, and has had adverse reactions to every other painkiller he's been put on. "I’m meant to be on tramadol, they tried to put me on methadone, I was on morphine for about two months, I’ve tried them all a lot of times and it’s just had such a bed effect on me because I’m such a small build – I’m only five foot seven but and weigh just over seven stone. My digestion system isn’t fantastic, so easting food isn’t amazing."

The cannabis farmers’ market in Los Angeles showcased high quality cannabis from growers and vendors throughout the state (Getty Images)

Barrow has been able to come off all of them and replace them with cannabinoid therapy. "I don’t just smoke it, I use oil, you see – highly concentrated oil which alleviates the pain that I get. My doctor’s been completely supportive but I have to obtain the oil illegally, and it costs about £100 a gram."

"I haven’t had a life," he explains. "I’ve been trying to get my health sorted for between six to eight years and I’ve relied on medical cannabis for five of those years. I’ve tried a lot of legal drugs and they made me feel very poorly."

Cista and Jacob Barrow's key policies

Cannabis for medicinal purposes: "It would give people like me their lives back."

Age limit for buying cannabis: "Cista's policy is that you have to be 21 to buy it, but I would say 25 as the brain is fully developed by then."

Priority for medical marijuana: "My personal aim is to make sure patients get seen to and then once that’s sorted we can look into the regulated market."

And that's pretty much it. Barrow says Cista won't need to exist after cannabis has been legalised. Whether people think it's worth their ballot is another matter.

To find out more about Jacob Barrow, see his petition for research into chronic pain relief.