Vera Twomey may be thanked by all for historic walk

Vera Twomey’s walk to the Dáil was a landmark moment for patients all over Ireland, and the latest moment in a wide history of people having to fight for access to medicinal cannabis, writes David Linnane.

The real drive for legal medicinal cannabis started in the 1980s in San Francisco, coming out of the counter-culture and gay rights movements. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic struck, a group led by Dennis Peron who has previously focused on getting legalisation for recreational cannabis, pushed for access and flouted the laws to provide it.