i can't get no sativexion: cannabis 'airlift' to britain in race against pain

SATIVEX, which is pure THC extracted from cannabis plants, could be 'airlifted' to Britain, as MS sufferers and others, all over the country, go to their doctors demanding the drug.

Sativex is made by extracting the active ingredients of cannabis from 'skunk' plants, which are grown indoors under a 'Home Office' license, in a 'secret' location (Porton Down), 'somewhere' in Britain. The same effect can be achieved by making a cup of tea using cannabis, but this is illegal under the 'Misuse of Drugs Act'1971.

Thanks to the Misuse of this law (1971-2005), medical cannabis 'compassion club' distribution networks have recently been shut down, or laid under siege in 'New Cromwell' purges against 'organic' users of natural cannabis in Britain, who are being treated like witches were in the Middle Ages.

People who use cannabis for the relief of pain or other symptoms have been cut off from their guaranteed pure quality supplies, or had them interrupted, and some are getting desperate.

Jeff Ditchfield, a leading medical cannabis campaigner, is planning a 'Sativex Airlift' to get the drug as quickly as possible to members of his 'Budbuddies' organisation, based in Wales, who get a legal prescription from their doctor.

He says: "We are going for a freight company, an application for an import license, and a Pharmacy in Canada to fulfill the prescription. Once that is done we will then approach the members Health Authority to see if they will fund it."

The government have recently said that people can get 'Sativex' legally from their doctor as an unlicensed drug, but because it is unlicensed, it is only legal if it is imported from Canada. This is despite the fact that the drug is supplied by a British company, GW Pharmaceuticals based in Porton Down, England.

Doctors also have to make a special application to the Home Office on behalf of each patient, and they have complained that their insurance does not cover them for prescribing unlicensed drugs.

'News of the Weed' has heard of old ladies going to bars just to try and find a friendly underground trader with some real cannabis, often to no avail. Mrs X who can't be named because of her husband's job in the Church of England said:

"It's mostly just what they call 'soap bar' on tap down the pubs, and you can't cook with that, it's not cannabis. I've already asked my doctor for satisvex, but he said he had to write to the Home Office which could take some time. He said no to worry as it might not work as well as the skunk I was getting by mail order from the place he told me about, but they've suddenly stopped sending the parcels."

Last week BudBuddies wrote to all of it's medical members requesting they visit their GP to order Sativex 'on a named patient basis' as announced by the Home Office. One member has already had Sativex prescribed by their GP, but so far she has yet to receive it.

• BudBuddies have just joined the blogosphere with an on the spot 'bud blog'; worth a look for 'news of the weed' from the welsher side of the border.