UK based Global Cannabinoid Solutions an organisation that has worked alongside the cannabis social movement since 2016 to support grass roots patient initiatives has started a petition to Devon And Cornwall Police to highlight the plight of pensioner Tony Bevington after a police raid in early 2020 and subsequent police threat to Mr Bevington indicating…
“if they had to be called out to my house again they’d come at 3am and smash my door down.”
As most of us think of Devon & Cornwall police like this..as PC Penhale from Doc Martin
Actor John Marquez plays PC Hale in ITV comedy drama Doc Martin
It is rather shocking to think that they’d be smashing an 80 year old’s front door down at 3am.
The reality of course is always less palatable
Cornwall’s police have paid out thousands of pounds for damage caused when they raided the wrong homes One compensation package cost Devon and Cornwall Police £1,275 : Source Cornwall Live
ITV News reported 7 February 2020
A terminally ill pensioner has been arrested for growing cannabis plants at his home.
Philip Antony Bevington, who goes by Tony, began growing the plants for medical reasons, when he was diagnosed with stage three kidney failure two years ago, an incurable and terminal condition.
Having tried legally available cannabis oil and found them not to work, Tony decided to grow his own plants and extract the CBD and THC compounds from the oils himself.
The 80-year-old believes that these could prolong his life by ten years.
But, following a visit in January by Devon and Cornwall Police, Tony’s plants have all been confiscated.
The public-school educated pensioner used to smoke cannabis when he was younger and believes it relieves pain and balances out his body.
Tony, who lives in Camborne, now believes that the drug should be legalised, given there are 1.5m active users of medical cannabis across the UK.
Camborne, Cornwall (UK) – Wikipedia
But Tony now faces prison if he is found to grow more cannabis, having been visited by the police twice.
Whilst Devon and Cornwall Police cautioned Tony in November 2019, when they returned in January, Tony says they were “quite aggressive and told me that if they had to be called out to my house again they’d come at 3am and smash my door down.”
For now, the Camborne pensioner will rely on friends who grow cannabis, but he hopes for a change in the law in his lifetime.
Source: https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-02-07/terminally-ill-pensioner-arrested-for-growing-cannabis-plants-in-his-garage
Also read https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pensioner-arrested-growing-cannabis-wont-21478748
Source: Daily Mirror(UK)
Mr Bevington writes at Change.org
When your doctors tell you your complaint has the potential to kill you, it turns your world upside down.Then when they tell you there is no treatment, it is devastating. When you have innumerable causes of pain and you are offered addictive opioids with awful side effects, what do you do?
You have two choices:
Accept medical advice and treatment and their consequences – impaired quality of life quite often; or look at alternatives.
This was the situation I faced at 80 years old and with stage three kidney failures. My research found that around the world cannabis medicine was being used to give pain relief and was proving beneficial. However, in the UK it is complicated. Cannabis is illegal. Nevertheless, my choice was to try cannabis as, seemingly, the only route out of my pain.
I grew my own cannabis for two reasons.
To ensure quality of supply and that it was free from impurities.
To avoid involvement with criminals and ‘support’ for them through purchase.
In 2019, I was arrested for growing the plant and faced court proceedings. Since my homegrown medicine had exceeded my expectations, improving my kidney readings dramatically and eliminating pain, I chose to grow again. Once more I was arrested in 2020 and so faced another charge. I hear you say: ‘but medical cannabis is legal now.’ Well, that’s just not the case. A very few children have got access to it but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has blocked it to most applicants and many doctors are ignorant [see this article] about it as a medicine. It is possible to get it privately, but it’s very costly and, therefore, available only to the rich, creating economic discrimination.
The process known as homeostasis helps to balance the human body’s functions. The endocannabinoid system (ECS, present in all mammals) works to maintain homeostasis by utilizing cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors found throughout the immune system and central and peripheral nervous systems. Studies on the concept of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency have shown a link to several health problems and diseases. Suspicion is that this deficiency could be the cause of some of these diseases.
As things stand, I am to be punished for medicating myself and taking responsibility for my health when the medics were unable to do so. It seems a multitude of injustices are being carried out on me by the state. I consider this to be neither justice nor in the public interest.
For more info, read this article in West Country Bylines
More On Global Cannabinoid Solutions
Since 2016, the GCS team has worked alongside the cannabis social movement to support grass roots patient initiatives with the latest science and information on cannabis. Our team has supported the growth of informed cannabis debate across the UK, promoting cannabis education, harm reduction strategies, and drug law reform. Translating these lessons from our research and community work, we connect industry trailblazers with cannabis consumers and businesses to drive innovation in cannabis science and endocannabinoid medicine.
