Man calls for urgent review of drug laws

Dean Wamsley was in so much pain the only way he could get some relief was by smoking marijuana.
But he will now have to battle the pain of serious injuries sustained in a car accident 15 months ago without it after he was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond in Maitland Local Court yesterday for possession of the drug.
Wamsley has called for the State Government to reconsider legalising the drug for medical use.
The 24-year-old has injuries to the top of his spine, right shoulder, neck and lower back after he was involved in a car accident on December 2, 2003.
He has lost the use of his right arm.
Doctors prescribed painkillers but 12 months ago - after the pain became unbearable - Mr Wamsley turned to marijuana.
"I'd smoke it every few days, maybe twice a week," he told the Mercury outside court yesterday.
"I'd feel like - 'wow, no pain' and I'd go to bed and go straight to sleep.
"Then I'd wake up the next morning and it would be back."
Wamsley was arrested last month after he bought his monthly supply, worth $50.
Police pulled over Wamsley's car and discovered 7g of cannabis.
He pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited substance in court yesterday.
Solicitor Dan Smyth told the court his client had no other drug matters on his record.
"He was using marijuana for medical use - not recreation," he said.
"Since his arrest, he hasn't been using it at all leaving him in some pain."
The pain was so intense that Wamsley admitted taking an entire box of prescribed painkillers last week in an attempt to end his life.
Wamsley's dependence on marijuana for pain relief is not an isolated case.
The Mercury reported yesterday a 35-year-old woman smoked about $20 worth of cannabis everyday for severe back injuries.
A Maitland businessman also admitted he bought marijuana for his dying mother when nothing else could soothe her pain. Wamsley said he knew of others who were forced to use marijuana as a painkiller.
"There is an urgent need for the Government to look at legalising the use of marijuana for pain relief," he said.

Opiate use is well known in medicine. Doctors would use it in appropriate cases. It is prescribed with precautions to prevent accidents. It is not something for people to take on their own. Blunt ignorance can be the only reason for anyone to entertain notions that people in pain have grounds to use drugs on their own-and drive around afterwards at that!

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Breaking the cycle of drug dependence, crime and imprisonment would clearly go a long way towards substantially reducing the prison population. Similarly positive responses to addressing drug dependence are proven to reduce crime and re-offending rates.

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Personal Injury Lawyer