Campaigner hails drug law change; Cannabis reclassification a victory for MS sufferers.

Byline: EMMA RACE

A WARWICKSHIRE woman who is involved in a campaign for cannabis to be legalised, has hailed the reclassification of the drug - to take effect from tomorrow - as a victory for MS sufferers.

Shop assistant Clare O'Donnell, 27, said: "It's a victory for those who suffer from MS and find using cannabis helps them.

"I went to a talk at Aston University where a representative from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society told us about the trials they had done with cannabis.

"They found it helped people literally get out of their wheelchairs.

"They test it on patients, not rats or mice, because the government generally agrees cannabis itself is a safe drug.

"There has been a lot of bad press recently about which MPs have tried the drug and if cannabis causes mental illness, but people should only use it if it suits them."

Mrs O'Donnell, of Chapel End, Nuneaton, added: "What the public have to realise is the downgrading of cannabis has nothing to do with recreational use.

"It's about people who find cannabis has medical benefits, being allowed to have that medicine made for them by the government.

"The government has spent pounds 1million researching the medical benefits of cannabis."

Mrs O'Donnell joined the Legalise Cannabis Alliance after seeing the drug help friends with medical problems.

The alliance wants cannabis to be not just decriminalised, but fully legalised.

Mrs O'Donnell is the alliance's candidate for a Parliamentary seat in either Coventry or Warwickshire, at the next general election.

On Wednesday, she will meet with Nuneaton MP Bill Olner, at the Houses of Parliament, to discuss the government's new policy on cannabis.

From tomorrow, cannabis will be a class C, rather than a class B, drug, meaning those found in possession of it will have it confiscated and receive a warning from police.