Letter: Law denies me a natural medicine

Sir: Last week I was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, suspended for two years on medical grounds, for growing cannabis. I had used it as an analgesic in order to reduce my intake of less effective, more harmful, prescription drugs. I have a rare genetic condition, Ehlers Danlos syndrome, which causes pain in many of my joints due to muscle spasm, nerve pain and arthritic inflammation.

You report ("Doctors back cannabis products", 3 July) the call by the British Medical Association for the licensing of a wider range of drugs derived from cannabis for medicinal use. It is encouraging that the BMA recognises the potential of cannabis, but I am concerned that they are looking at licensing further synthetic preparations rather than reassessing the natural herb.

Why attempt to isolate and synthesise therapeutically active chemicals from the plant, whose actions may be down to a complex interaction of its many chemical ingredients? This is not what patients are asking for; we merely want the right to smoke a naturally growing substance without being criminalised, humiliated and punished by the law.

The side-effects of cannabis mentioned by Edward Tierney GP - distorting perception, reducing vigilance and causing apathy and indifference - are just some of the side-effects also caused by pharmaceutical alternatives. The various pills I have tried have had all these and more, including nausea, loss of appetite, addiction, digestive disorders and other adverse effects. The effects mentioned by Dr Tierney may be fairly common as a short-term reaction in the novice recreational user, but a tolerance tends to develop with regular use.

Cannabis does not necessarily have to be smoked; it can also be ingested in drinks, sweets, biscuits etc, which may be better for health. Research into this area would be much more useful to patients than the development of more synthetic drugs for us to risk taking.

AMANDA SPERRITT

Calne, Wiltshire