Woman, 68, who put cannabis in casseroles guilty of growing drug
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Jeevan Vasagar[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Thursday March 8, 2007[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The Guardian[/FONT]
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Elderly woman put cannabis in her casseroles[/FONT]
A pensioner who stirred cannabis into her casseroles to ease her depression and aching limbs was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work after she was convicted of growing and possessing the drug yesterday.
Outside court, Patricia Tabram, 68, said she would continue to defy the law despite the fact that her conviction could lead to her being evicted from her housing association bungalow.
She added: "I have learned that the English court system is a shambles. I'm going to go home now and have a nice cannabis dinner - I need it to relieve my pain. I'm not a drug addict, and the only thing I'm addicted to is Maltesers."
At Carlisle crown court, Judge Barbara Forrester told Tabram, of Humshaugh, Northumberland, that she must pay £1,000 costs. She grew four cannabis plants in her wardrobe and kept powdered cannabis in her kitchen to put in various dishes.
The court heard that she used the drug to fight the depression she has suffered since the death of her son in 1975. It also eased aches and pains resulting from two car crashes, she said. Tabram claimed that adding cannabis to hot chocolate gave her five hours without pain, and said she did not want to take prescription drugs, which she said caused her side-effects.
Earlier, the judge said she accepted Tabram was only growing the drug for personal use. She said: "It is accepted that the cannabis was for your personal use and you used it to self-medicate."
Tabram, who used to run a restaurant and stood for parliament in 2005 on a pro-cannabis ticket, was convicted of possession with intent to supply two years ag
n the first day of her latest trial, on Monday, she smuggled bags of cannabis into court in her bra. The bags were listed as items of evidence and produced by her when she spoke from the witness box.
She has been supported during the trial by pro-cannabis campaigners including Mark and Lezley Gibson, from Alston, Cumbria, convicted last year of making and distributing cannabis-laced chocolate bars to multiple sclerosis sufferers.
After yesterday's conviction, Mrs Gibson said: "I am devastated for her - I cannot believe that juries are so spineless ... The jury has not taken into account the fact that she is ill because the judge did not let them." In her summing up, the judge said that "the defence of medical necessity has never been a defence".
guardian.co.uk
