MS sufferer says chocolate cannabis bar helps alleviate suffering
Elizabeth Ivol, also know as Biz, from Orkney, told the trial at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, she began taking cannabis to numb the pain which she described as like having "barbed wire going through my spine".
Ivol, 55, of Herston, South Ronaldsay, eventually agreed to help other MS sufferers, a condition with no cure, by developing the "special Belgian chocolates" as they were earlier described in court, as well as cannabis patches to be applied directly to the skin.
Ivol denies several charges in relation to the handling of the drug.
Giving evidence yesterday, she told the court her former island GP had recommended using cannabis after she had tried a long list of legal medication, some of which resulted in "horrific" side effects.
She said she came up with the idea, along with others, of developing the cannabis chocolates after agreeing to help a non-smoking MS sufferer.
Ivol told the court that while undertaking research into the drug she found that combining it with animal fat increased its relaxing effects.
She said: "I do not know how it got out about the cannabis chocolate."
Although Ivol said she was in regular contact with others about the use of cannabis, she stressed, under examination by advocate David Moggach, she was only approached by others and "never actually encouraged anybody to use cannabis".
The court heard that Ivol's day-to-day life had become almost unbearable due to the onset of her condition, which she was diagnosed with in the early 90s.
Ivol described the detail of the pain her condition was causing her, saying: "At the moment I feel like somebody's pulling barbed wire through my spine. I have muscle spasms and my eyesight's failing but it has not gone yet. It is very, very painful.
She said: "I'm completely and utterly paralysed from the neck down, more or less. A nurse comes to get me up between nine and 10 o'clock and plonks me in the wheelchair where I sit until about three o'clock when somebody comes and puts me back to bed, and that's it.
"I can make myself a cup of tea, if my hands are alive, and answer the phone. Usually by one o'clock my fingers are paralysed I can't even hold a pen."
Ivol said that over the years she had taken much prescription medication as well as special diets but nothing seemed to work.
Describing the effects of one type of tranquilliser she used to take, she said: "I just sat in a chair, looking like a zombie and gazing out of the window."
Ivol said the side effects of another type of drug she was prescribed were "horrific" and even increased the pain she suffered.
She said: "I couldn't bear any part of my body to be touched at all."
The court heard that, although at first apprehensive, Ivol eventually began smoking one cannabis joint each evening.
She said: "It got to the point where I felt nobody was doing anything for MS and when you find something that does alleviate the symptoms you go for it."
Mr Moggach asked her: "And you found something that helped?"
"Cannabis," she replied, and continued: "It is not like a nasty chemical drug, it is a natural God-given plant."
Ivol said she had toyed with the idea of using cannabis for two years but was unsure, because of the stigma attached to the drug's use.
But she added: "It was either cannabis or nothing. I tried everything else and nothing worked."
Using cannabis relaxed her muscle spasms and also acted as an appetite stimulant, she said.
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