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And let's blaze. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:25 | |
In the USA there's been a medicinal cannabis revolution. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:30 | |
It is now legal in half the country's 50 States | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
to treat illness. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
-NEWSREADER: -Michaela is a registered medical marijuana patient. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:39 | |
In Britain the drug is illegal, | 0:00:39 | 0:00:41 | |
with the government saying it's been proven to damage | 0:00:41 | 0:00:44 | |
mental and physical health. | 0:00:44 | 0:00:46 | |
I'm embarking on a road trip around the UK | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
to find out why many people believe in the medicinal power of cannabis | 0:00:48 | 0:00:52 | |
and are prepared to break the law to use it. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:56 | |
-I'm sorry. -It stops when it wants. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:07 | |
This is nothing. It gets worse, doesn't it? | 0:01:07 | 0:01:09 | |
How long is it going to go on for? | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
Only a couple of moments. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:12 | |
It's worse when it's... | 0:01:14 | 0:01:16 | |
..the whole left side that goes. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:19 | |
Andy had two motorbike accidents 17 years ago, | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
and sustained severe injuries all over his body. | 0:01:30 | 0:01:33 | |
He also developed epilepsy and osteoporosis... | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
..and is bedbound. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:42 | |
He uses cannabis to help alleviate pain. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
All right, I'll be back. I'll see you later. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:49 | |
Is this bit really hard? | 0:01:51 | 0:01:53 | |
Always is. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:54 | |
It's cos I can't move the shoulder much. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
It takes so much effort to just even... | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYS AS RINGTONE | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
Sod's law. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:10 | |
I'm noticing every week it's getting harder and harder... | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
..to make a spliff. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:16 | |
You look like you're in pain. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
I am in pain. It hurts. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:29 | |
I mean, I can't even open my hands properly. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:34 | |
I'm not doing this to get stoned. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:35 | |
I'm not doing it for fun. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:37 | |
You all right? | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
It causes a little pain, but it doesn't matter in the end, does it? | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
Because, at the end of the day, I've got a joint, | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
it's going to make me feel a little bit better up here. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
I don't reach the point of getting stoned. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:56 | |
I never do. And as anybody who smokes these will know, | 0:02:56 | 0:03:00 | |
that's a very badly built joint. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
So, the days of me being able to roll are rapidly running out. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:09 | |
I need to find another solution. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:12 | |
For many other people, that solution is Jeff, | 0:03:16 | 0:03:19 | |
a cannabis campaigner | 0:03:19 | 0:03:20 | |
who believes in the healing properties of the drug. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
He has devoted the last 15 years | 0:03:23 | 0:03:25 | |
to campaigning for cannabis legalisation | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
and has been arrested 12 times. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
Is your car a bit like an office? | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
I'd actually say, it's probably, some days, it's more than my office. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
-It's more like home. -Really, why do you say that? | 0:03:37 | 0:03:40 | |
Well, on occasion I've slept in my car overnight, on such missions | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
and, well, yeah, generally, it is my office. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:47 | |
I've got everything here I need - | 0:03:47 | 0:03:49 | |
Internet connection, Google and e-mail. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:52 | |
And cannabis oil in the boot? | 0:03:52 | 0:03:54 | |
Probably. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:55 | |
-NEWS REPORTER: -Just two weeks ago, Jeff Ditchfield was facing | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
a jail sentence for possession and intent to supply cannabis. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
He freely admitted giving the drug to sick people, | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
and in a landmark ruling, a jury found him not guilty. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
If a person is in need, needs cannabis, | 0:04:10 | 0:04:12 | |
then I'll continue to help them. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
Jeff travels around the UK | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
distributing the drug in the form of oils | 0:04:17 | 0:04:19 | |
which he makes himself from cannabis plants. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:23 | |
-I brought you some more... -Fantastic. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
..so I can restock you. But what I've actually got here this time, | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
-is, I have two different versions. -OK. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:31 | |
His product is unregulated and illegal, | 0:04:32 | 0:04:35 | |
which makes people fearful about identifying themselves. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
But there is a big demand all over the UK for his cannabis oils. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:44 | |
We are assisting the parents of over 70 seriously ill children, | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
just in the UK alone. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:50 | |
And through the Facebook page we are receiving roundabout 250 to 300 | 0:04:50 | 0:04:55 | |
requests for help per week. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
That's not just from parents, that's from adults, mainly, | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
and mainly cancer sufferers. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:03 | |
Do you make money from giving cannabis oil to parents? | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
No. People's ability to pay doesn't enter into our thought process | 0:05:08 | 0:05:13 | |
when we decide to help a parent. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:15 | |
Jeff is visiting a mother | 0:05:17 | 0:05:18 | |
whose daughter suffers from severe epilepsy. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
The daughter is only four years old. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
What is the risk of this condition that she has? | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
The most serious thing that can happen is, she'll die. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:32 | |
And that's the reason why parents like myself | 0:05:34 | 0:05:37 | |
have been giving the kids it, | 0:05:37 | 0:05:38 | |
because when you've exhausted every other avenue, | 0:05:38 | 0:05:40 | |
and every other drug... | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
Since I've been giving her the oil, | 0:05:43 | 0:05:46 | |
she doesn't jump the same in her sleep. | 0:05:46 | 0:05:48 | |
You would do anything, you know, to try and cure your own child. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:52 | |
Hello. | 0:05:53 | 0:05:54 | |
You're not worried at all that the cannabis oil | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
hasn't been through the same of clinical trials | 0:05:58 | 0:06:00 | |
that her prescribed medication would have been on? | 0:06:00 | 0:06:02 | |
Definitely not, no. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:04 | |
-Because it helps her? -Because it helps her, yeah. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:07 | |
I know I'm doing the right thing. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:08 | |
I know it's a lot safer than the drugs that I've got in my cupboard. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:13 | |
I have two versions of oil with me at the moment. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
They're two for you to have and try. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
It's not just desperate parents hoping for a cure. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
Recently engaged Phil and Nicky | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
have placed a lot of faith in the drug as well. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
So I was planning to propose to Nicky before Christmas, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:39 | |
when we went to London. I guess I just bottled it | 0:06:39 | 0:06:42 | |
and thought maybe I could find a better time to do it, or something. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
Yeah, I can't imagine it's easy. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:47 | |
Yeah, yeah. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:48 | |
So how did the doctors pick it up? | 0:06:50 | 0:06:52 | |
I woke up in Countess Hospital in Chester. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:57 | |
I had a seizure upstairs, yeah. | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
And that was the first seizure you've ever had? | 0:06:59 | 0:07:01 | |
Yeah, never had a seizure before. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:03 | |
Just before I proposed, we had been to Walton to see my neurosurgeon. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:09 | |
He'd looked at all the scans he'd got from Chester, | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
and he had said, "What you have here is a glioma." | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
You were diagnosed with brain cancer in January of this year. | 0:07:19 | 0:07:22 | |
Yes. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:23 | |
Cannabis contains at least 400 compounds. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
The most widely known are CBD, which is legal, | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
and THC, which is not. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
THC is the compound that gets you high. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
There are conflicting opinions on which compounds work best | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
for different conditions. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:46 | |
I take CBD oil, and I take that through the day | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
and I will then vape THC. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
I just want to use this for shrinking this tumour | 0:07:57 | 0:08:02 | |
or whatever's left of it. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:03 | |
Phil has already had surgery to remove the tumour | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
and a course of radiotherapy, | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
but he believes the traditional medicine alone | 0:08:12 | 0:08:14 | |
is not enough to beat the disease. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:16 | |
Alongside cannabis, he eats a special carb-free diet | 0:08:16 | 0:08:20 | |
and wears blue blocker sunglasses. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:22 | |
In a week's time he goes back to the hospital to find out | 0:08:22 | 0:08:26 | |
if there is any cancer left in his brain. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:28 | |
In her quest to help Andy deal with pain, his wife, Ruth, | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
is learning how to make cannabis oil for his vape. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:49 | |
He wants to quit smoking it because of the impact on his lungs. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
I've had to learn how to do all of this... | 0:08:53 | 0:08:55 | |
..because nobody, sort of, tells you. | 0:08:56 | 0:08:59 | |
So, Ruth, can you tell me what are we doing in your kitchen today? | 0:09:02 | 0:09:05 | |
Right, we're going to be cooking up cannabis vaping oil, | 0:09:05 | 0:09:09 | |
so that Andy can put it into his vaporising machine and he vapes it. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:16 | |
Why can't you just buy the stuff? | 0:09:16 | 0:09:18 | |
Because it's illegal. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:20 | |
Doing this, I'm committing a criminal offence. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
So give it a test and see what you think. | 0:09:26 | 0:09:28 | |
I think you've got the mixture right. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
But I just need to get the flavour right? | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
-It's just the flavour. -Right. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
I don't know, really, what words to describe it, other than... | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
-..dirty underwear. -SHE LAUGHS | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
What I want is something safe for him to use, and for me, | 0:09:50 | 0:09:54 | |
even though it's not really... | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
..something I would normally have ever done, | 0:09:57 | 0:10:00 | |
I've got to the stage now where I think, I've got to do something, | 0:10:00 | 0:10:04 | |
because this is what works. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:07 | |
It stops him shaking. He can, you know, get out and about. | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
He doesn't want to get stoned, he just wants to, sort of, | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
lead a normal life. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:16 | |
I was doing the cheese for my cheese on toast. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
-And... -She begged? | 0:10:22 | 0:10:24 | |
She begged, so I said, I'm not going to, erm... | 0:10:24 | 0:10:28 | |
..give it to you until you sit down. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:31 | |
She sat down first time. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:33 | |
Andy used to take more prescription medication before using cannabis. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:41 | |
Since he started taking the cannabis, | 0:10:41 | 0:10:44 | |
what medications has he stopped using? | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
These ones that I'm pulling out now. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
So, one, two, three, four, five, | 0:10:49 | 0:10:54 | |
-six, seven... -Oh, and the fentanyl patches. -And the fentanyl patches. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:58 | |
So that's eight... | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
So that's eight prescribed medications that he's off | 0:11:00 | 0:11:04 | |
-since taking in the cannabis. -Yes. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:06 | |
The spasms have already slowed right down. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
And I'm probably ten minutes into smoking this. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
None of my medicines work this quickly. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
None of them. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:23 | |
I've researched all of Andy's medical conditions. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
I research all of this. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:31 | |
And I know, basically, what it does to his body. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:34 | |
So I would rather have this than all the pills he was taking | 0:11:34 | 0:11:38 | |
any day of the week, because I get the person I married back again. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:42 | |
I was extremely tired towards the very start of radiotherapy | 0:11:52 | 0:11:57 | |
and as soon as I started using endocannabinoids, | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
all that tiredness went away. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:02 | |
I didn't have to go on steroids through radiotherapy | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
and I got to the very last day of radiotherapy, and the day after, | 0:12:05 | 0:12:09 | |
I did a full day's work. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:10 | |
And I've been working full-time ever since. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
I really don't think I would have been able to continue working | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
if I hadn't have used cannabinoids. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
I'm, well, I'm ready whenever you guys are. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
Today Phil gets the results of his scan. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
This is the CBD oil. | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
It kind of tastes like, eurgh, vegetable oil. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:48 | |
Babe, don't worry, because whatever happens, even if it was bad news... | 0:12:57 | 0:13:01 | |
..there is a lot of... | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
extra things I can do. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:06 | |
I know. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:14 | |
I would rather be illegally alive, than legally dead. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:22 | |
And that's the way my whole family feels. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:25 | |
This is a life and death situation here. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:29 | |
Andy, Phil and Jeff were all telling me cannabis was a powerful medicine, | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
but if this is the case, why is it illegal? | 0:13:40 | 0:13:43 | |
The government says the drug has no recognised therapeutic value. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:48 | |
I spoke to Dr William Notcutt, | 0:13:48 | 0:13:50 | |
a hospital consultant who has run trials into cannabis treatment | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
for multiple sclerosis and pain relief. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
Is there any evidence for cannabis? Does it actually work? | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
There is a huge amount of evidence that it does work. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:04 | |
This book shows the current evidence that's there for cannabis, | 0:14:04 | 0:14:07 | |
from basic science and also from clinical trials. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
I have some good examples of people with chronic pain problems | 0:14:12 | 0:14:16 | |
who've been through all the standard remedies, | 0:14:16 | 0:14:18 | |
and with the use of a cannabis extract, have been able to achieve | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
good quality pain relief. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:24 | |
You sort of get to play doctor, really, don't you? | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
I really, really don't like the doctor term. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:33 | |
Main reason being, I have no medical qualifications whatsoever. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
I'm not a clinician. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:37 | |
And I would much, much prefer it if the UK law was changed | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
so doctors and pharmacies could do what I'm doing. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
Then I wouldn't have to be a criminal, | 0:14:44 | 0:14:46 | |
and these parents wouldn't have to act in a criminal manner either. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:50 | |
I've met a man who gives medicinal cannabis oil | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
to the parents of sick children. | 0:14:55 | 0:14:57 | |
Is that safe? Should he be doing that? | 0:14:58 | 0:15:00 | |
I haven't a clue. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:03 | |
I don't know what he's giving. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:04 | |
Cannabis itself is a very complex plant. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
If you take an extract of cannabis, | 0:15:07 | 0:15:09 | |
it has 400-plus different compounds in it. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:11 | |
So, unless I know what is actually on the label, | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
how active it is, and so on like that, | 0:15:14 | 0:15:16 | |
I have no idea, as a doctor, | 0:15:16 | 0:15:19 | |
whether it's going to be of use or not - | 0:15:19 | 0:15:21 | |
and until we get proper clinical trials going | 0:15:21 | 0:15:23 | |
on these sort of things, | 0:15:23 | 0:15:25 | |
all we are going to have is just anecdotal evidence. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
And I've known patients who've been on such oils | 0:15:27 | 0:15:31 | |
who have gone and died soon afterwards. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
I just don't have the answers for this at the moment. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:36 | |
At the end of the day, | 0:15:38 | 0:15:40 | |
you are providing an illegal substance to these parents. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:45 | |
Are you just a drug dealer? | 0:15:45 | 0:15:46 | |
No. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:50 | |
In spite of all the evidence and experience you've got, | 0:15:50 | 0:15:54 | |
you are still giving these oils that are illegal. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
They've got the THC, you're giving them to parents. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:00 | |
Fair enough, you're not making any money from them... | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
No, no, nothing material, anyway. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
But when a parent contacts me, they've generally made the decision | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
that they are going to give cannabis oil to their child | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
because they believe it is the child's only chance of survival. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:15 | |
So, it's a decision I have then, | 0:16:15 | 0:16:19 | |
I can say, "No, I'm not going to help you," | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
or, "Yes, I can provide the oil," and if I don't do that, | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
or my buddies don't do that, | 0:16:25 | 0:16:26 | |
then these parents aren't going to stop and give up. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
They are then going to continue on the internet, | 0:16:29 | 0:16:31 | |
like some of the parents who have been conned and scammed | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
out of thousands of pounds - and receiving substandard oil. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:38 | |
-Our oils are tested... -HIS PHONE RINGS | 0:16:38 | 0:16:40 | |
-Excuse me. -WOMAN: -'Hello.' -Hi. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:42 | |
-'Hi, Jeff. How are you?' -I'm OK. How are you? | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
'I'm very well, thank you.' | 0:16:46 | 0:16:47 | |
-Good. -'I'm calling about my father.' | 0:16:47 | 0:16:49 | |
'He's been battling cancer for almost eight years now.' | 0:16:50 | 0:16:54 | |
-OK. -'And he's had numerous conventional treatments, | 0:16:54 | 0:16:58 | |
'and he's now at the point where they said they think he's terminal. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:02 | |
'Since I had him on this oil that I've purchased, | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
'I feel like he's gone downhill. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
'I'm so scared at the minute that I might have poisoned my dad | 0:17:07 | 0:17:11 | |
'and that I've made things worse. | 0:17:11 | 0:17:12 | |
'And, to be honest, I don't really know where to turn.' | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
Oh, bless you. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
Um... | 0:17:17 | 0:17:18 | |
-I wish... -'Sorry.' -It's OK, it's OK, it's just that... | 0:17:20 | 0:17:25 | |
It's unlikely to have done him any harm, but... | 0:17:25 | 0:17:27 | |
..it's impossible for me to rule that out, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
because obviously we don't know the source of this oil, | 0:17:31 | 0:17:33 | |
how it's been made... | 0:17:33 | 0:17:34 | |
'No. Of course. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
'The alternative specialist that we've seen...' | 0:17:37 | 0:17:39 | |
SHE SNIFFS | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
'..has said that she thinks the cancer is spreading now. | 0:17:41 | 0:17:43 | |
'Quite rapidly. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:45 | |
'I don't know how much longer he's got.' | 0:17:45 | 0:17:48 | |
That's OK, darling. I can send it off to the lab I use in Spain, | 0:17:49 | 0:17:54 | |
at Valencia University, who test my extracts, | 0:17:54 | 0:17:57 | |
-so we can find out exactly what's in it. -'OK.' | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
We'll do what we can. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
'Thank you very much.' | 0:18:02 | 0:18:03 | |
-OK, you take care. -'OK, thank you. You too. Bye.' -Bye. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
It's OK. I'm just going to... I'm going to have to clear my head. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
I'll be back in a minute. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:13 | |
He's really mad. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:22 | |
Her dad is dying, and she's going to do whatever it takes | 0:18:23 | 0:18:28 | |
to keep him alive for a bit longer, and... | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
I think, for me, and certainly for Jeff, just to hear her saying, | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
"I don't know if I've poisoned my father, | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
"I don't know if I've shortened his days", I think... | 0:18:38 | 0:18:42 | |
I think that's tragic. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:43 | |
How do you navigate through, you know, this online... | 0:18:47 | 0:18:51 | |
..medicinal cannabis world? | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
You can't. You can't, and that's the problem with it. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
This is a useful medicine, | 0:18:57 | 0:18:59 | |
it's a valuable medicine in clinical practice today, | 0:18:59 | 0:19:02 | |
and it's a scandal that we are so slow at moving forward | 0:19:02 | 0:19:06 | |
with a medicine that's very safe, | 0:19:06 | 0:19:08 | |
when it's used in properly controlled amounts. | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
Jeff is going to meet the woman who phoned him two weeks ago. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:25 | |
He wants to see the oil she was sold. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
So we used this for a little while, | 0:19:28 | 0:19:30 | |
and it really wasn't doing anything, so that's why it's still... | 0:19:30 | 0:19:33 | |
-there's still a lot in there. Because we just stopped it. -OK. | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
Unfortunately, the people who are often involved online, | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
they fall into two categories in my mind. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:42 | |
There's the people who are well-meaning, and should shut up. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:46 | |
And there are people who are just down and out scammers and conmen. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
We've tested some oils that people have bought to treat cancer | 0:19:50 | 0:19:55 | |
and we've actually found it contains zero cannabinoids. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
What I'd like to do, if it's OK with you, is take half a gram of this, | 0:20:00 | 0:20:04 | |
and then I'll send that off to Valencia University | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
-and have it analysed... -OK, yeah. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
-..and find out exactly what's in it. -OK. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
And some cancer sufferers believe that, you know, | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
medicinal cannabis is helping to cure them. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:19 | |
Is there any research to back this up? | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
There's clinical trials already going on, | 0:20:22 | 0:20:24 | |
on a particularly difficult type of cancer to treat - brain cancer | 0:20:24 | 0:20:29 | |
called a glioblastoma. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:30 | |
There is good evidence, also, in other types of cancer... | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
..that the activity of the cancer cells is modified | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
by the use of cannabinoids - | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
but it's not been translated | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
into, really, into significant clinical practice. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:47 | |
So the patient is left with a problem... | 0:20:47 | 0:20:50 | |
..that they may have come to the end of standard chemotherapy | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
and find, you know, what else is there, out there? | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
I, myself, have been approached by many patients | 0:20:58 | 0:21:01 | |
to say, "Look, I bought this cannabis oil on the internet. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
"How much do I need to cure me of my cancer?" | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
And I have to say, "Well, I don't really know what you're taking, | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
"what its effect is going to be, | 0:21:10 | 0:21:12 | |
"how much of the cannabis that you've got in that bottle of oil | 0:21:12 | 0:21:16 | |
"is going to be of use to you, or anything like that, | 0:21:16 | 0:21:19 | |
"because it's not been worked up as a medicine." | 0:21:19 | 0:21:21 | |
Yes! | 0:21:31 | 0:21:32 | |
It was better than good results. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:35 | |
-How do you feel? -Tears of joy. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:39 | |
-Yeah? -Yeah. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:40 | |
The good news is, on the MRI, there's no sign of disease. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
A couple of months ago I was told that I was going to die young. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:53 | |
This is a very aggressive cancer that I've got, | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
and there's nothing I can really do | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
to avoid a nasty end. | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
Love you. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:02 | |
If you leave the milk out, it goes off. | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
OK. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:17 | |
You said that you've seen a difference, and you have a son, | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
-he's also seen a difference? -Yeah. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:26 | |
Can you just tell me what he was like with the medication | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
and what he's like after he has cannabis? | 0:22:30 | 0:22:33 | |
He had dad at home, but dad wasn't here. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:37 | |
So... He would describe it as having a shell. | 0:22:39 | 0:22:44 | |
And it's there, but it doesn't do anything. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
It was always me taking him out, taking him to school, | 0:22:49 | 0:22:54 | |
it was me out in the playground. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:56 | |
He'd never got that until Andy started using cannabis. | 0:22:56 | 0:23:00 | |
This is the only thing I do in my life that's illegal. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:07 | |
It helped improve the relationship with my son, | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
because, even if I'm really ground down from pain, | 0:23:12 | 0:23:17 | |
I can still find that ten minutes for that chat that he needs, | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
that he can't talk to his mum about. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
I'm going to push you out of bed. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:27 | |
Don't, because I can't get up! | 0:23:27 | 0:23:29 | |
-Exactly! -What do you want to watch? | 0:23:29 | 0:23:31 | |
I don't really care. You'd be like a turtle. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:34 | |
Except for the part where you wouldn't be able to move at all. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
What do you want? Copycat Killers? | 0:23:38 | 0:23:40 | |
I'll tell you what, they've got the Tupac one. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:42 | |
-Really? -Remember? -Yeah. -You wanted to watch Tupac. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
On opiates, he's got even less chance of that. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:51 | |
You know, opiates, it's like alcohol, | 0:23:52 | 0:23:55 | |
it's not conducive to a family life. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
He was the true working man's poet. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
-TUPAC: -I've been wondering why death rates are going up | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
and suicide is going up. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:07 | |
More kids are being handed crack than they're being handed diplomas. | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
I think that rich people should live like poor people | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
and poor people should live like rich people, | 0:24:13 | 0:24:15 | |
and they should change every week. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:17 | |
And you would say that before cannabis | 0:24:17 | 0:24:19 | |
and after cannabis is a total..? | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
Yeah, it is polar opposites, really. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
-How so? -Like, he's just a lot happier. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:27 | |
He's more... He can do more stuff, like, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
he tries to cling on to the little things like putting a T-shirt on. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
Because with his shoulders and everything like that, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
it's impossible, but because of the medical cannabis | 0:24:34 | 0:24:37 | |
it gives him the will to do it. | 0:24:37 | 0:24:39 | |
I guess it's just, like, better for the whole family | 0:24:39 | 0:24:41 | |
because we are all just less stressed | 0:24:41 | 0:24:42 | |
and we are all more relaxed. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:44 | |
The only thing you really need in your life is family. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:48 | |
If something is legal, I'd rather take the legal option, | 0:24:48 | 0:24:51 | |
any time of the week. | 0:24:51 | 0:24:52 | |
I don't want that fear of prosecution. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:58 | |
It's degrading, that worry. | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
Because you're doing something to help your pain, and to help... | 0:25:01 | 0:25:04 | |
..your family from breaking apart, | 0:25:07 | 0:25:10 | |
because being disabled is a great strain on family life. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:13 | |
What do you think of cannabis? | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
Do you see it as, sort of, a medicine? | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
Or do you see it as an illegal drug? | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
I see it as a medicine, but I can also see why it's an illegal drug, | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
because if you don't understand it, you just get high on it, | 0:25:27 | 0:25:29 | |
but I don't think people should be persecuted | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
for wanting to help their illnesses. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:34 | |
People think it's hard for the disabled person, but it's not. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:41 | |
It's far harder for the family of the disabled. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:45 | |
And that's the aspect I find the hardest to deal with, mentally, | 0:25:46 | 0:25:52 | |
I find it the most upsetting. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:54 | |
I know it's illegal, | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
but it gets to the stage where you think, "Society can judge me, | 0:26:00 | 0:26:05 | |
"I don't care." | 0:26:05 | 0:26:06 |