DdC

The woman at the centre of a controversial cannabis court case has received treatment for a suspected drug overdose. An ambulance took Elizabeth Ivol, also known as Biz, to hospital from her south Orkney home on Wednesday morning.

A spokeswoman for NHS Orkney speaking at the island's Balfour Hospital has described Mrs Ivol's condition as stable. It is the latest twist in the case of the wheelchair-bound Multiple Sclerosis sufferer who was due to be told that a court case accusing her of supplying cannabis to others was to be dropped.

The 55-year-old had claimed she would take her life once the trial was over and said she had already made arrangements for the funeral.

On Wednesday she expressed disappointment that the Crown would tell Kirkwall Sheriff Court in Orkney that it did not intend to proceed with the case on the grounds of Ms Ivol's health.

" With a bit of luck I will get stoned before I do it (take overdose) and then I will go to sleep. Then it will be over and done with and someone else can take over from me - I'm tired. " -- Elizabeth Ivol

She had wanted to use the case to publicise her campaign for the legalisation of medical cannabis, which she said is the only drug which eases her pain.

Mrs Ivol told BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday that her final protest would be to overdose on pain killers.

She said: "With a bit of luck I will get stoned before I do it and then I will go to sleep. Then it will be over and done with and someone else can take over from me - I'm tired."

Mrs Ivol had denied three charges in relation to the handling of cannabis when she appeared at Kirkwall Sheriff Court.

She has said her life would not be worth living without the drug.

Cannabis chocolates

Mrs Ivol told the court she came up with the idea for what she called her "special Belgian chocolates" after agreeing to help a non-smoking MS sufferer.

She developed a formula for the drug-laced confectionery as well as cannabis patches which can be directly applied to the skin.

Mrs Ivol added that she had tried a long list of legal medication supplied by her doctor but claimed some of the drugs had "horrific" side effects.

The court heard her day-to-day life had become almost unbearable since she was diagnosed with the incurable condition in the early 1990s.

Mrs Ivol said: "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.

"I'm completely and utterly paralysed from the neck down, more or less."

She said she resisted using cannabis for two years because of the stigma attached to the drug, but eventually gave in and began smoking one cannabis joint each evening.

<a href="http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16745.shtml" target="_blank">Cann abis Case Woman 'Overdoses'</a>
Mrs Ivol said the drug was a last resort
Source: BBC News (UK Web)
Published: Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Contact: newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Website: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk" target="_blank">http ://news.bbc.co.uk</A>



<a href="http://www.yahooka.com/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=g et_topic&f=10&t=0031 94&p=" target="_blank">Cann abis Campaigner To Take Own Life</a>


<a href="http://www.cannabisnews.com " target="_blank">http ://www.cannabisnews.com </A>

Biz Ivol Petition: <a href="http://www.lca-uk.org/petition/index.php" target="_blank">http ://www.lca-uk.org/petition/index.php</A>

<a href="http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16678.shtml" target="_blank">Worl dwide Petition Backs MS Sufferer on Trial</a>
<a href="http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16648.shtml" target="_blank">Woma n Defends Cannabis Use</a>
<a href="http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16630.shtml" target="_blank">Cann abis Fight Taken To Ministers</a>
<a href="http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16724.shtml" target="_blank">Cann abis Campaigners Rally Behind Biz</a>

<a href="http://www.thc4ms.org" target="_blank">http ://www.thc4ms.org</A>

<a href="http://www.lca-uk.org" target="_blank">http ://www.lca-uk.org</A>

<a href="http://www.drbongs.com/news" target="_blank">Dr Bongs Cannabis News</a>

MS victim threatens sympathy suicide as cannabis trial nears end 1 July 2003
Worldwide petition backs MS sufferer on trial for supplying cannabis 23 June 2003
MS sufferer says chocolate cannabis bar helps alleviate suffering 20 June 2003
MS victim 'sent cannabis chocolates to fellow sufferer' 19 June 2003

<a href="http://thc-foundation.com/restore" target="_blank">Rest ore-Digest</a>
<a href="http://www.mapinc.org" target="_blank">MAP Inc</a>



<a href="http://www.drbongs.com/news/archives/00000269.html" target="_blank">Woma n who sought solace in cannabis </a>
Source: The Scotsman 3 July 2003

THREE weeks ago, Biz Ivol sat facing a cardboard coffin assembled in her front room and talked candidly about committing suicide to end the suffering caused by multiple sclerosis.

Her illness had taken a merciless toll over the past decade. The excruciating pain, which she likened to having barbed wire dragged through her spine, drained her energy, leaving her feeling like a prisoner in her own body.

She was confined to bed or a wheelchair, unable to work in her garden. Crippled hands meant she could not knit, sew or even hold a pen, and fading eyesight left her unable to read. "There’s nothing worth staying for any more on this Earth," she said.

She had already reserved a plot of land for her burial and arranged for a neighbour to look after her cat, Willie. She said: "This is not a cry for help and there is nothing anybody can do. I do not have any quality of life."

Last night, Mrs Ivol was in hospital, having apparently tried to carry through her threat. She was found unconscious about 9am yesterday at her home in South Ronaldsay, in Orkney, and was taken by ambulance to hospital shortly before the court case in which she was involved was dropped.

She had previously indicated she planned to take her life with an overdose of paracetamol and champagne at the end of the case, which was due to finish yesterday.

Having waited two years for the case to come to trial last month, she struggled to the court to give evidence and was due to return to hear the verdict.

But on Tuesday evening, the Crown Office indicated that the case was being dropped due to Mrs Ivol’s medical condition. This was later confirmed in court as she lay in hospital.

During the last decade, she exhausted her GP’s list of prescribed drugs for tackling MS without any comfort from the ever-present pain. She turned to cannabis as a last resort after deliberately avoiding the drug for two years because of the stigma attached to it.

Mrs Ivol eventually developed her "special Belgian chocolates" - cannabis-laced confectionery - after agreeing to help another MS sufferer who was a non-smoker and needed some other way of taking the drug. She made the sweets by melting chocolate in a microwave and mixing in finely grated cannabis, before pouring the mixture into paper cases used for small cakes.

Soon the "canna-chocs" were being widely distributed to fellow MS sufferers who said they were helping to counter the pain in a way no other drug had.

Mrs Ivol described how one man who was paralysed with MS had feeling in his legs for the first time in 12 years after taking the chocolates for five nights.

Her house was raided by police in 1997, and, at a subsequent court case in Kirkwall, she was admonished after admitting growing cannabis plants and possessing the drug.

Then, in August 2001, four officers raided her house in South Ronaldsay and discovered recorded delivery slips relating to her supplies of the chocolates to other MS victims.

Charges were brought under the Misuse of Drugs Act and Mrs Ivol went on trial at a special sitting of Kirkwall Sheriff Court, held in the local leisure centre last month because of the ease of access for her wheelchair.

In court, Mrs Ivol admitted possessing, producing and supplying cannabis, but insisted she felt she was doing nothing wrong. "It was either cannabis or nothing. I tried everything else and nothing worked," she said.

She told the court that she has muscle spasms and her eyesight was failing: "I’m completely and utterly paralysed from the neck down, more or less."

For people such as Valerie Jack, the cannabis chocolates have literally been a lifesaver.

Ms Jack, 44, a former flight attendant from Bristol, was diagnosed with MS 12 years ago and has twice attempted suicide.

But since she began using the chocolates two years ago she has not repeated the desperate move. However, this week, Ms Jack threatened to take her life in support of Mrs Ivol if she was found guilty.

Yesterday, Ms Jack said: "I am pleased the case was dropped. It was so silly when I believe cannabis will be legalised for medicinal use soon. Stress very badly affects MS and the stress of all this has obviously not helped Biz.

"Obviously suicide is a major decision, but a lot of people rely on cannabis and the thought of having it taken away, as well as the injustice of it being illegal when there are criminals selling heroin to children, can be too much."

She added: "Now that the case has been dropped, I have to re-think my own situation as it changes the whole context.

"If the chocolates are still going to be available and if there is a chance of cannabis being legalised for MS sufferers, then I have to give that a chance."

Our cover picture: One-woman protest: Biz Ivol "gets stoned" as her part in the worldwide MayDay 1999 protest against cannabis prohibition. Biz suffers from MS, grows cannabis, lives in Orkney, small islands off the north coast of Scotland.
<a href="http://www.ccnews.org.uk/cc9.html" target="_blank">cc:n ews 9</a>

"I am not a criminal"



Dr Bongs Comments

Anyone who hasn't dropped and smashed their moral compass will be outraged at this vicious treatment by the state towards Biz Ivol. Prosecuting an ill and dying woman for taking a drug that eases her pain is immoral. Many thousands of people every day in Britain take potent and often toxic prescription drugs to alleviate the symptoms of serious debilitating illnesses, including opiates and diamorphine (heroin).

The "war on drugs", it appears, takes precedence over common sense and common decency. Is this who we are? We live in a "democracy", or so we are told. How many people in our "democracy" would support this wicked behaviour towards Biz Ivol?

I would guess that the majority of people in this case, prosecutors, police, reporters, doctors etc regularly use alcohol, a drug that is a social scourge in Scotland with thousands of fatalities a year, and the cause of endless violent social problems.

Yet without a trace of irony or any sense of hypocricy, Biz has been targeted time and again by the authorities since she was first reported in 1997 for growing cannabis.

Apparently the case was dropped because of her "deteriorating condition" which of course is baloney. Multiple Sclerosis is by definition a "deteriorating condition". Biz didn't want to be prosecuted in the first place but by dropping the case at the last moment the state has done her no favours. Indeed they have let themselves off the hook. What would they have done to her if they had found her guilty? Upgrade a prison somewhere for disabled access? Put her in a hospital with a policeman outside the door to her room? Biz herself has expressed disappointment at the case being dropped in this manner at this time. It should never have been brought in the first place.

I wish this story had a happy ending but that isn't going to happen. However, unlike the authorities and the morally lame, Biz Ivol has shown tremendous integrity and courage. At the very least she has alerted many people to the madness of the "war on drugs", which we have always said at Dr Bongs is really a war on people.

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1334388.stm" target="_blank">'Pai n drove me to pot'</a>
<a href="http://www.lifestyle.scotsm an.com/drugs/headlines_specific.c fm?articleid=6514" target="_blank">MS victim will fight cannabis charges</a>

Biz Ivol says cannabis relieves the pain of MS, and many doctors agree.



I tried posting this as a reply to <a href="http://www.yahooka.com/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=g et_topic&f=10&t=0031 94&p=" target="_blank">Cann abis Campaigner To Take Own Life</a> But all I got was an error message each time...
DdC

__________________

The Rev

You find the best stuff, man. Keep it up.



The Rev

__________________

DdC

Why Thank You Kynd Sir...
Here's the latest. . Hope she finds a way to reconsider. Hope she can get her Ganja and get out of the torture she's in...
DdC

CANNABIS WOMAN TO 'TRY SUICIDE AGAIN'

BIZ Ivol, the terminally-ill cannabis campaigner, yesterday described how she tried to end her life with 25 paracetamol tablets, two-and-a-half joints, and a glass of lemonade.

She said: "I am so disappointed that I'm still here. Now I can't wait to get home. I'll make sure I do it properly next time." From her bed in Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall, Ms Ivol said regaining consciousness after the unsuccessful suicide at-tempt was like "waking from a nightmare".

Ms Ivol, an MS sufferer, tried to raise awareness of the medicinal uses of cannabis during a high-profile court case.

The 56-year-old had faced three charges of possessing, distributing, and producing can-nabis, but prosecutors an-nounced earlier this week that the case was to be dropped because of Ms Ivol's deteriorating medical condition.

"Once I knew the case had been dropped, I knew I could fight no longer," she said yesterday. "I just decided when I went to bed that there are plenty of people who can carry on the fight for the medicinal use of cannabis to be legalised."

After smoking a joint in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Ms Ivol, from Herston, South Ronaldsay, took 10 paracetamol tablets with a glass of lemonade. "I felt happy and relaxed after smoking the joint and I soon fell asleep. I woke up a couple of hours later, smoked another joint and took another 10 paracetamol.

"I wasn't feeling guilty or upset, just happy that things were coming to an end and that I was in no pain. I woke again at about 5.30am and, as the paracetamol didn't seem to have worked, swallowed five more tablets I found lying in the bed.

"I smoked half of another joint and figured out it would be at least another four hours before anyone found me, and that the paracetamol should have worked by then. But I was still fully conscious when my next door neighbour came round just before 8am and I told her what I'd done."

Ms Ivol's condition was described as comfortable, but she was still struggling to come to terms with her failed suicide attempt. "I'm really cross with myself and I feel like having a good cry. I don't want to live any more. This disease has taken over my body and life is just too painful for me to carry on.

"I'm going to commit suicide properly next time. Waking up in hospital and finding that I made a mess of it was like a nightmare for me."

She also described the disappointment after hearing that her court case was being dropped. "I was bitterly disappointed. It was not how I wanted it to end. I wanted to change the law. I wanted to go all the way to the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights."

Margo MacDonald, the independent MSP, said her case had shown the need for the executive to use its legal powers to halt prosecutions for the medical use of cannabis. She recognised overall drug policy was reserved to Westminster, but argued that criminal law and prosecution policy was devolved to Holyrood.

"We need to look at possible derogation on prosecution where there is a certificate from a GP on, for example, a case of multiple sclerosis. The fiscal and the police could decide that use of cannabis or its supply for pain relief could be dealt with in a sympathetic way."

We must rid ourselves of this evil application of the law. Now!
Biz Ivol

<a href="http://www.drugsense.org/lists/restore/v2003.n161" target="_blank">UK: Cannabis Woman to 'Try Suicide Again'</a>
From: "D. Paul Stanford" stanford@crrh.org
Authors: Stephen Stewart and Robbie Dinwoodie
Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jul 2003
Source: Herald, The (UK)
Contact: letters@theherald.co .uk
Website: <a href="http://www.theherald.co.uk" target="_blank">http ://www.theherald.co.uk</A>
Bookmarks: <a href="http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ivol" target="_blank">http ://www.mapinc.org/people/Ivol</A> (Biz Ivol)

<a href="http://www.ccguide.org.uk/bizivol.html" target="_blank">BIZ IVOL - CANNA-CHOCOLATE FOR MS (Biz Ivol Press Coverage since 2000)</a>

<a href="http://www.lca-uk.org/petition" target="_blank">Plea se sign the petition here</a>

<a href="http://www.rebelinccoffeesh op.com" target="_blank">Rebe l Inc. Coffee Shop Poll</a>
After reclassification where do you think cannabis should be bought from?

__________________

DdC

Hang In There Biz, Change is in the Air!

A former High Court judge has called for the legalisation of cannabis. Lord Prosser said the sale of the drug should be controlled in the same way as tobacco and alcohol, according to the Scotland on Sunday.

His comments came in the wake of the Crown's decision to drop their case against 55-year-old multiple sclerosis sufferer Biz Ivol, who uses cannabis to ease the symptoms of her condition.

Ms Ivol, of South Ronaldsay, Orkney, admitted distributing the drug in the form of specially-prepared chocolates to be used for pain relief, but pleaded not guilty to supplying the drug on the grounds that she believed she was doing nothing wrong.

'Not working'

The Crown Office dropped the charges against Ms Ivol, who had threatened to take her own life once the case was concluded, due to her failing health.

She was found unconscious by a neighbour at her home after the case collapsed, but is now recovering in hospital.

Lord Prosser said the Government's current cannabis laws were "clearly not working".

He said: "I have long believed that the law in its present form should be changed.

"It should be legal to possess the drug and there should be a system of controlled supply similar to that which exists for tobacco and alcohol."

The judge, who retired from the bench last year, added: "If a law seems to be unenforceable then one would have to think very carefully about how to solve the problem in other ways.

"It cannot be a sound law if it does not achieve what it was meant to achieve."

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald has also called on the Scottish Executive to seek the public's views on whether or not they believe the cannabis laws should be changed.

Ms MacDonald, a regional MSP for the Lothians, has lodged a motion at the Scottish Parliament calling for on the executive to hold a public consultation into whether people think the drug should be allowed for medicinal purposes.

Ms MacDonald added: "Why on earth are we still forcing people like Biz Ivol to go through the indignities and the trauma that she has had to go through?"



<a href="http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16763.shtml" target="_blank">Judg e Questions Cannabis Law</a>
Prosser suggests current measures unenforceable
Source: BBC News (UK Web)
Published: Sunday, July 6, 2003
Contact: newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Website: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk" target="_blank">http ://news.bbc.co.uk</A>

Related Articles & Web Sites

<a href="http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/7-7-19103-23-58-22.html" target="_blank">Cann abis should be sold like tobacco, says retired judge</a>
<a href="http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16761.shtml" target="_blank">Form er Judge Calls for Legalisation of Cannabis</a>
<a href="http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16648.shtml" target="_blank">Woma n Defends Cannabis Use</a>
<a href="http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15962.shtml" target="_blank">Thin ktank Urges Leniency for Cannabis Growers</a>

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DdC

<a href="http://www.orcadian.co.uk/morenews.htm" target="_blank">DEMO NSTRATION IN LONDON TO HIGHLIGHT "PLIGHT" OF BIZ IVOL</a>

A demonstration to "highlight the plight" of MS sufferer Biz Ivol took place in Parliament Square, London, on Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesman for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance said the demonstration was to raise awareness of Mrs Ivol's "battle with the Scottish Criminal Justice System".

From: "D. Paul Stanford" stanford@crrh.org
Source: Orcadian, The (UK)
Contact: postbag@orcadian.co. uk
Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jul 2003
Newshawk: <a href="http://www.ccguide.org.uk" target="_blank">http ://www.ccguide.org.uk</A>


<a href="http://www.orcadian.co.uk" target="_blank">Webs ite</a> * <a href="http://www.mapinc.org/media/2292" target="_blank">Deta ils</a> * <a href="http://www.lca-uk.org" target="_blank">Cite d Legalise Cannabis Alliance</a> * <a href="http://www.ccguide.org.uk/bizivol.html" target="_blank">Rela ted</a> * <a href="http://www.mapinc.org/people/Biz+Ivol" target="_blank">Book mark</a>



Poll shows people support medicinal cannabis use

A survey of people in the north of Scotland has shown that 94 per cent are in favour of legalising cannabis for medical use.

The North Tonight poll follows the abandonment of the Biz Ivol court case last week and her subsequent overdose.

Campaigning MSP Margo MacDonald said she welcomed the result of the poll. She claimed that the vast majority of people in Scotland back the use of cannabis for the relief of pain. "The taking should be legal," she said.

More details in this week's The Orcadian

Police issue drugs reminder in wake of cannabis case

The media furore around the Biz Ivol cannabis case prompted the police to issue a statement on Wednesday, stressing their policy on drugs.

Inspector Bob Pollock, drug and alcohol co-ordinator for the Northern Constabulary, said: "Northern Constabulary has a duty to enforce the law in relation to the illegal supply of drugs and any person who deals in illegal substances."

"Cannabis remains an illegal drug and its 'reclassification' from Class B to Class C in no way represents a move towards decriminalisation or legalisation." Biz Ivol hospitalised after suspected overdose

MS sufferer and cannabis campaigner Biz Ivol
was taken to hospital on Wednesday after a suspected overdose.

Mrs Ivol was transferred from her South Ronaldsay home to Kirkwall's Balfour Hospital this morning, hours before the Crown dropped the criminal charges against her.

Mrs Ivol had always remained adamant that she would continue with her plans to end her life after the court case was over.

<a href="http://www.orcadian.co.uk/archive/2002/bizivol3.htm" target="_blank">Arch ive story: Cannabis campaigner considers final protest</a>

Crown drops Ivol cannabis charges

The case against Biz Ivol has been dropped by the Crown.

Speaking at a specially-convened session of Kirkwall Sheriff Court in Kirkwall's Pickaquoy Centre on Wednesday afternoon, Procurator Fiscal Sue Foard said the case was being deserted because of Mrs Ivol's deteriorating health.

Mrs Ivol was charged with supplying cannabis laced chocolate.

__________________

DdC

<a href="http://www.drbongs.com/news/archives/00000280.html" target="_blank">Stud y finds 40% of Scots back legalisation of cannabis</a>
Source: Herald 16 July 2003

CANNABIS is becoming more acceptable socially, with almost 40% of Scots currently supporting its legalisation, according to new research published yesterday.

More people than ever believe the laws relating to cannabis must be changed, but a report from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) revealed there are still limits to what is acceptable in the area of illegal drug-taking.

Attitudes towards cannabis have changed dramatically over the years, with 37% of Scots supporting legalisation compared with just 15% in 1983.

Across the UK, 41% of people backed legalisation, up from just 12% in 1983.

Just 8% of participants in the study endorsed the view that adults should be free to take any drugs they wish.

Biz Ivol, the MS sufferer from Orkney who has campaigned for the medical use of cannabis during a high-profile court case, welcomed the findings.

Ms Ivol, 56, had faced three charges of possessing, distributing and producing cannabis, but prosecutors dropped the case because of her deteriorating health.

She said: "This shows that people have started to learn the truth about cannabis. It has never killed anyone and is beneficial for people with all sorts of neurological disorders, glaucoma, and conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.

"Breweries and drug companies have a vested interest in making sure cannabis isn't legalised. Politicians get consultation fees from these huge companies and for years they have been saying that we have to wait for clinical trials (into the medical use of cannabis).

"They have too much to lose."

In the report, 1000 people in England and Wales and 1600 in Scotland were polled.

Attitudes towards heroin remained very negative in Britain as a whole, with nine in ten believing it should stay illegal, the same proportion as in 1993.

Ecstasy is seen in a similar light, with nine people in 10 believing it should remain illegal.

As observed in 1995 research, the young, more educated, professionals and Londoners are more liberal in their attitudes towards the drug.

However, Nina Stratford, of the National Centre for Social Research, who led the report, claimed that the increase in liberal attitudes was not confined to those groups.

She said: "It is a society-wide phenomenon affecting all ages and social backgrounds."

Fewer people now think that cannabis is harmful or addictive or that it causes crime and violence.

When asked which drugs were the most harmful to regular users, heroin, cocaine, tobacco and alcohol were at the top of the list.

Two-thirds of 18 to 34 year-old Britons have a friend or family member who has used illegal drugs, half have tried cannabis themselves, and only a third think that cannabis should remain illegal.

Changing attitudes

Mass support for changing legal position of cannabis - 41% in Britain and 37% in Scotland favour full legalisation.

Clear distinction in public attitudes between cannabis and heroin or ecstasy.

Cannabis perceived as less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco.

Increased use of drugs may also have increased knowledge of their effects, and greater knowledge associated with more lenient attitudes.



<a href="http://www.drbongs.com/news/archives/00000279.html" target="_blank">Cann abis campaign highlights MS victim</a>
Source: Scotsman 16 July 2003
CANNABIS campaigners from across the UK are planning a protest at Westminster today to highlight the plight of Orkney multiple sclerosis sufferer Biz Ivol who uses the drug to ease her pain.

<a href="http://www.drbongs.com/news/archives/00000276.html" target="_blank">MS STUDY MAY FORCE RETHINK ON CANNABIS</a>

<a href="http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16886.shtml" target="_blank">Putt ing a Face on Feds' War on Medicinal Pot</a>

<a href="http://makeashorterlink.com/?S11B23B45" target="_blank">Ganj a/hemp lnfolinx</a>

<a href="http://www.ccguide.org.uk/potent.html" target="_blank">Pote nt Quotes on Cannabis</a>

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