Cannabis is only illegal because of Big Pharma

So the head of America's law enforcement agency drew up new laws banning the use and possession of cannabis. The American authorities then produced propaganda films demonising cannabis and its use and America then had it made illegal worldwide.

Before it was made illegal, it was widely used in medicine and GPs would carry it around in their medicine bag. It was used to treat many forms of illness and came in many forms of preparation, from creams and lotions to tablets and drinks, etc. It was used as a natural and safe medicine with none of the nasty side effects of the nasty chemicals in pharmaceutical drugs. There was little or no need for the cruel practice of animal testing.

If you ask them, most GPs today will say to you, 'If I could prescribe it to you, I would.' So why is it then that those in the community who suffer with crippling arthritis are not allowed to self-medicate with cannabis, or those with anorexia cannot use cannabis to increase their appetite, or those with certain types of cancer cannot use cannabis to shrink the cancer growth, or those with blood cancer cannot use cannabis to cause the cancerous cells to commit suicide, without affecting the healthy cells?

Hemp oil has proven to clear up melanoma completely without the need for any surgery. Cannabis has also proven to be very effective in the treatment of MS, so why is it illegal to self-medicate? The answer is because of man's greed, i.e. the pharmaceutical and oil companies, who have everybody at their beck and call and in the palm of their hands. We are talking about an industry that is worth trillions of dollars a year in America.

There has been some talk about certain types of cannabis causing psychosis, but cannabis also has an anti-psychotic ingredient contained in it. So all the arguments against cannabis only exist because of man's greed. If you talk to the real experts, mainly in the USA today, where cannabis is available as a medicine, they will tell you that they have university degrees in the field of medicine and that it should be available as a safer alternative to pharmaceutical drugs.

These experts have studied the subject for a long time and yet the authorities in places such as Guernsey choose to ignore this expert advice and punish anybody who is found in possession of cannabis, even if it is for a genuine medical complaint. So why is it that the health authorities, police and the courts still refuse to make the changes to this 80-year-old law?

I personally would rather use a natural herb than a cocktail of chemicals, if the law permitted me to do so, for certain medical complaints. After all, don't we use herbs in our food?

I do not think that the march on Sunday 16 February will achieve anything because it is aimed at legalising cannabis. The problem with legalising cannabis is having the necessary controls in place to stop younger persons obtaining it. Cannabis has to be obtainable under strict guidelines through a GP and under medical supervision.

There is another excuse for banning the use of cannabis – because it damages the lungs and is harmful to health. This is just another tactic to ban it. It can be used as a herb in food, or in a tablet form, or, as in MS, as a spray.

In America it is available in ice cream, cakes and drinks. On a list of addictive substances, it proved to be less addictive than nicotine, caffeine and class-A drugs and prescribed pharmacy drugs. Cannabis has also proven to reduce blood pressure. The alternative prescription drugs for blood pressure can cause insomnia and sensitivity and irritation of the skin. Cannabis does not have these side effects.

Instead of marching for legalising cannabis, which in my opinion will not achieve anything, why don't all the people with medical problems and need to use cannabis as the only safe means of pain relief take their case to the European Court of Human Rights with a case claiming wrongful use of the law against those who need to be pain free, and cruelty and neglect against the state. Because, in my opinion, that is what is happening.

I totally disagree with criminalising someone for self-medicating with the only medicine that can alleviate their pain. It has been proven with cannabis medical trials in the USA that some people who used to be unable to leave the house due to their illness have become new people and are able to lead virtually normal lives due to the many medicinal uses of cannabis.

So let's please see the sense in change – after all, isn't it 2014?

I would also like to ask the question, how many police officers, customs officers and those involved in the judicial system know why cannabis is illegal?

L. J. GALLIENNE,

Address withheld.

PS. Can I please add further to the above, other suggestions to add to reasons for taking a case to the Court of Human Rights.

Unnecessary suffering – failure to allow the provision of maximum pain relief. An individual's right to live pain-free.