T
The420Guy
Guest
A wheelchair-bound cannabis campaigner plans to take her own life with an
overdose of
paracetamol and champagne after putting her case to legalise the drug at a
court case
next week.
Biz Ivol, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, is already planning her own
funeral and
has had a cardboard coffin delivered to her home in Orkney. She says she
desperately
wants to end her life because of the crippling pain from the illness which
makes her
feel like a prisoner in her own body.
However, she has pledged that she will first of all fight her charges of
possessing and
supplying cannabis, which she claims alleviates her suffering.
Yesterday, her MP said the case highlights the plight of MS sufferers and
hopes this
will be the last prosecution of its kind in the UK.
Mrs Ivol, 56, from South Ronaldsay, a long-time supporter of legalising
cannabis for
medicinal purposes, was charged following a police raid at her home in
August 2001.
Her trial, which has been postponed several times, is now due to he heard next
Wednesday at a sports centre in Kirkwall, which has better wheelchair
access than the
sheriff court.
She has pleaded not guilty to three charges of possessing cannabis,
producing two
cannabis plants and being concerned in the supply of the drug to others.
The charges
relate to cannabis-laced chocolates which she is accused of making and
distributing to
fellow sufferers across the UK.
Yesterday, as a friend assembled the eco-friendly coffin, which arrived in
a flat pack,
she said: "I'm going to use it as soon as the court case is over. I'm too
tired now to
fight on.
"I feel no-one is doing anything to make things better for people with MS
and that I no
longer have any quality of life. I can't do my garden. I can't knit and I
can't sew
because my hands are dying. I can't read because my eyes are going -
there's nothing
worth staying for anymore on this earth."
She added: "I'm not frightened about what might happen to me. They can't
put me in jail
because of the condition I'm in. They can't fine me anything because I
haven't got any
money. And I'm already a prisoner, trapped inside a body that's full of
pain and
doesn't work anymore."
Mrs Ivol, who says her pain is like barbed wire being dragged through her
spine, began
a campaign six years ago for the legalisation of the drug for medicinal use
by people
with MS and other conditions. It followed an earlier court case, when she was
admonished after police found cannabis plants growing at her home.
She said: "I've lost count of the number of phone calls I've had from
people telling me
not to give up the fight. But the court case will be my last stand. I'm fed
up with
fighting now. It's taken them two years to take me to court. It's been
niggling away at
the back of my mind - once it's over, I know I can't go on any longer."
Her neighbour, Bobby McCutcheon, said friends are devastated by Mrs Ivol's
decision,
but understand her desperation.
"It's just so sad to see the coffin waiting for her in the house. She
really has lost
all hope, she has no interest whatsoever in being alive," he said.
Last year, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, relaxed the law on cannabis
possession,
downgrading the drug from Class B to Class C.
At the time, Mrs Ivol told The Scotsman the decision made the position "as
clear as
mud" and said she was determined to debate the merits of cannabis use at
her trial. Her
plight has won backing from Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP
for Orkney and
Shetland, and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA).
Mr Carmichael said: "This is a tragic case. Biz is just wrung out with a
combination of
the disease and the campaign. Hopefully, this will be the last of these
prosecutions.
If it were, it would be quite fitting and give her some sort of comfort and
satisfaction. I have told Tony Blair [the Prime Minister] that it is
ridiculous that we
make a criminal of someone simply trying to get relief from pain which is
not available
in any other way."
cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Campaigner To Take Own Life
June 13, 2003
Source: Scotsman UK
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Website: The Scotsman - Scottish News
overdose of
paracetamol and champagne after putting her case to legalise the drug at a
court case
next week.
Biz Ivol, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, is already planning her own
funeral and
has had a cardboard coffin delivered to her home in Orkney. She says she
desperately
wants to end her life because of the crippling pain from the illness which
makes her
feel like a prisoner in her own body.
However, she has pledged that she will first of all fight her charges of
possessing and
supplying cannabis, which she claims alleviates her suffering.
Yesterday, her MP said the case highlights the plight of MS sufferers and
hopes this
will be the last prosecution of its kind in the UK.
Mrs Ivol, 56, from South Ronaldsay, a long-time supporter of legalising
cannabis for
medicinal purposes, was charged following a police raid at her home in
August 2001.
Her trial, which has been postponed several times, is now due to he heard next
Wednesday at a sports centre in Kirkwall, which has better wheelchair
access than the
sheriff court.
She has pleaded not guilty to three charges of possessing cannabis,
producing two
cannabis plants and being concerned in the supply of the drug to others.
The charges
relate to cannabis-laced chocolates which she is accused of making and
distributing to
fellow sufferers across the UK.
Yesterday, as a friend assembled the eco-friendly coffin, which arrived in
a flat pack,
she said: "I'm going to use it as soon as the court case is over. I'm too
tired now to
fight on.
"I feel no-one is doing anything to make things better for people with MS
and that I no
longer have any quality of life. I can't do my garden. I can't knit and I
can't sew
because my hands are dying. I can't read because my eyes are going -
there's nothing
worth staying for anymore on this earth."
She added: "I'm not frightened about what might happen to me. They can't
put me in jail
because of the condition I'm in. They can't fine me anything because I
haven't got any
money. And I'm already a prisoner, trapped inside a body that's full of
pain and
doesn't work anymore."
Mrs Ivol, who says her pain is like barbed wire being dragged through her
spine, began
a campaign six years ago for the legalisation of the drug for medicinal use
by people
with MS and other conditions. It followed an earlier court case, when she was
admonished after police found cannabis plants growing at her home.
She said: "I've lost count of the number of phone calls I've had from
people telling me
not to give up the fight. But the court case will be my last stand. I'm fed
up with
fighting now. It's taken them two years to take me to court. It's been
niggling away at
the back of my mind - once it's over, I know I can't go on any longer."
Her neighbour, Bobby McCutcheon, said friends are devastated by Mrs Ivol's
decision,
but understand her desperation.
"It's just so sad to see the coffin waiting for her in the house. She
really has lost
all hope, she has no interest whatsoever in being alive," he said.
Last year, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, relaxed the law on cannabis
possession,
downgrading the drug from Class B to Class C.
At the time, Mrs Ivol told The Scotsman the decision made the position "as
clear as
mud" and said she was determined to debate the merits of cannabis use at
her trial. Her
plight has won backing from Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP
for Orkney and
Shetland, and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA).
Mr Carmichael said: "This is a tragic case. Biz is just wrung out with a
combination of
the disease and the campaign. Hopefully, this will be the last of these
prosecutions.
If it were, it would be quite fitting and give her some sort of comfort and
satisfaction. I have told Tony Blair [the Prime Minister] that it is
ridiculous that we
make a criminal of someone simply trying to get relief from pain which is
not available
in any other way."
cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Campaigner To Take Own Life
June 13, 2003
Source: Scotsman UK
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Website: The Scotsman - Scottish News