THC4MS Trial, Day Five, 11.12.06 (courtesy www.uk420.com)

Greetings from Carlisle, where it's farking freezing, yet lads walk around in t.shirts.
With scarfs. Polo shirts and wool scarves. Only in the North, innit?

Mark Gibbon, aged 42, went straight into the witness box this morning and his barrister, Greg Hoare, quickly dispensed with the issue of his previous record: four convictions for six offences of possessing cannabis between 1986 and 1994. Mark told how he met Lezley and they started going out in the mid-1980s and were married in 1990. Having observed the effect cannabis had on his girlfriend's MS after she smoked it socially with him and his mates, Mark looked around for supportive literature - of which there was not much that was easy to come by the the late 1980s - and gradually became convinced of a therapeutic connection between cannabis and MS.

Throughout the 1990s, Lezley became increasingly vocal in her advocacy of cannabis as medicine and eventually came into contact with Biz Ivol and Bill Reeve, two MS sufferers who lived in the Orkneys. (I say 'lived' because neither is still with us. Later in the day, when Lezley was giving evidence, she got quite choked about Biz and the way she died: each successive prosecution made her MS deteriorate and weakened her to the point that she wanted to die and threatened suicide. Lezley told me, what she really wanted to say was in court today was, "You killed her. The CPS killed my friend, Biz.") Biz had started making the cannabis chocolate for Bill, who lived on the next island, because he refused to smoke and began giving it to contacts she made by word-of-mouth.

When Biz Ivol's MS got so bad that she couldn't carry on making the chocolate, around 2000-2001, the Gibsons volunteered to take over. Mark is qualified in food hygiene and fully conversant with food manufacturing safety regulations, so he took charge of production. Lezley isn't able to be off too much practical assistance in producing the chocolate, but she took care of the admin. By that time, around 2000, there was plenty of research indicating...

Objection! Mr Grout-Smith for the CPS stood up. He was almost apologetic. Hadn't it been agreed that evidence pertaining to the medical efficacy of cannabis was irrelevant and inadmissible? Mmm? Mr Hoare went round another way, asking Mark Gibson about his status as an unqualified expert in cannabis and MS who has regularly appeared before student audiences as well as presenting evidence to the House of Lords Science & Technology committee in 1998 and addressing the IACM Conference. The International Association for Cannabis Medicine, he explained to his honour, is a group that includes all the world's leading academic authorities in cannabinoid medicine. Some of those doctors helped THC4MS design a questionnaire for their patients, the results of which are inadmissible to the jury in this case.This portion of mark's evidence concluded with him saying, "I have absolutely no doubt that cannabis alleviates some of the major symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis".

Mr Hoare then took Mark through the 'mechanics' of the operation. THC4MS preferred to use Green & Blacks organic chocolate, but couldn't really afford it, so apart from a period of around three months during which Tony Taylor of Tony's Holistic Centre in King's Cross was paying for it, they tend to buy own-brand plain chocolate from the supermarket, whichever has the highest cocoa content. (The didn't get into it - because it's probably irrelevant - but THC4MS reckon that the more cocoa fat there is in the chocolate - as opposed to vegetable fat - the better it works as a vehicle for cannabinoids).

THC4MS don't pay for cannabis, but had a couple of dedicated suppliers whom Mark would visit to pick up supplies, or occasionally growers who had contacted him via the internet send packages to his home address. They use 3.5g, on average, per bar. The street price of cannabis before Mark's arrest, 22 months ago, was around £6 per gram, but now it's about a tenner. (These facts are unrelated!) The court heard that each bar contained an eighth of an ounce of herbal cannabis, worth £18-30. Other expenses included the capital investment of specialist chocolate making equipment - a smelter and some moulds- from Belgium, a coffee grinder to powder the herb, foil and packaging, and postage. If CannaBiz were a commercial product, each bar would cost £35-40. But none of the people involved in THC4MS derived any direct financial benefit.

Mark Gibson met Marcus Davies at a conference in 2000, where he had spoken about THC4MS. As he left the platform, Marcus approached him and asked if he'd like a web site? Mark didn't really know what he was talking about, since he wasn't web literate at that point, but he agreed. Thc4ms.org was initially just one page, but it's grown! Before the web site, THC4MS relied upon word-of-mouth. After Lezley did nay press, they would receive letters from desperately ill people addressed to 'the Lady in Alston with MS". So, the web site made things a bit easier as people were able to contact THC4MS by e-mail.

Mark was asked about 2002, when he was twice "called in for a chat" with Inspector Whitehead about his cannabis-related activities. There was a hopeful atmosphere back then. Real change in the law at last seemed possible, with open debate on the medicinal potential of cannabis, to which THC4MS frequently contributed, and GW Pharmaceuticals was beginning trial with its Sativex cannabinoid spray, developed to treat MS spasm and to improve bladder control and appetite. The Dutch Experience in Stockport had inspired a Coffee Shop movement to consider opening Dutch-style cannabis cafes and the Gibsons had been invited to Holland to learn how it was done. After that was reported in the local paper, Mark was called in for a chat. DCI Whitehead left him in no doubt that a cannabis cafe was a very bad idea and to open one would result in his immediate arrest.

These two meetings with DCI Whitehead have already been the subject of a pre-trial ruling, to which reporting restrictions were attached. Mr Gibson and the police man have conflicting recollections of what exactly was said at that first meeting and if DCI Whitehead indicated that he knew about the cannabis chocolate and wasn't too bothered about it. What's agreed is that was certainly his stance at a second meeting, in December 2002, when Mark unambiguously informed the police man of his intention to "continue to supply cannabis chocolate to MS sufferers until there's a viable alternative available on the NHS".

If arrested, Mr Gibson said he would plead a defence of medical necessity and was pretty sure he'd be acquitted. In cross-examination, just before lunch, Mr Grout-Smith wondered is this really was a proper defence since surely no one had been acquitted of supplying cannabis on those grounds? Mark said he knew of at least six acquittals, including that of his wife, but actually the lawyer was probably right. Lezley hadn't been accused of supply and non of the cases reviewed under Quayle had resulted in acquittals, although the medical necessity argument had been considered in mitigation. After lunch, Mark mentioned Tony Taylor's importation charges, but Judge Phillips looked it up during one of the afternoon breaks and pointed out that he wasn't acquitted. he just got to keep his freedom.

Coming away from is second meeting with the police, Mark had formed the clear idea that it was OK for THC4MS to continue, but it had to be a bit more discreet or, as Mark put it, "less blatant". Because someone in Alston had evidently been complaining, Mark stopped taking packages of cannabis chocolate to the local post office and started doing a twice weekly run to the sorting office in Carlisle, some 30 miles away. The same sorting office in Junction Street where, a little over two years later, one of his packages was found to be open, which lead to this case. In order to stop quite so much mail to their home address, never mind the personal callers, Mark consulted with Marcus Davies, who agreed to set up a mail forwarding service. In fact, Marcus had access to a PO Box that belonged to another of his associates, so they used that to receive requests for chocolate and letters from Health Care Professionals, such as a patient's GP, their neurological consultant, or a qualified MS nurse working in a specialised clinic.

At this point the jury woke up and asked two pertinent questions about these letters. They hadn't been allowed to see a doctor's letter that was produced in court on Friday. Now they wanted to know to whom the doctors addressed their letters and if the contents of these letters specifically mentioned the cannabis chocolate. Since the letter wasn't allowed on Friday, THC4MS had brought in 1023 others, which were in a big pile on the desk in front of the bewigged barristers. In order to provide accurate answers, these letter were counted again and found to number 1036, of which 65 specifically referred to the cannabis chocolate. (All THC4MS required was a confirmation of diagnosis. Often, a patient would write to their GP, who would scrawl a confirmation and signature on the original in their barely legible doctors' writing). What was made very clear was that no chocolate was sent out without a doctor's letter first being received.

Mark Gibson described the care he took over sealing each package of cannabis chocolate in a Jiffy bag that was double sealed with 2" Selotape. So, yes, he was surprised that one had supposedly 'come adrift' (as Mr Hoare put it) in the Sorting Office. Such a thing had not happened before. Once, a packet was sent out with an address label and had been opened by the Post Office and returned to the PO Box. Marcus was furious! In order to prevent a recurrence, Mark got a rubber stamp with the PO Box details to stamp each package with a return address so they wouldn't be opened.

There was never any question of payment for the cannabis chocolate supplied by THC4MS and never any surplus funds. "We've never sold any chocolate at all. It's all been given free, on donation," Mark Gibson said, adding that many of their clients didn't make a donation and that most gave what they could afford, which varied. Almost by definition, people with multiple sclerosis live on disability benefits. Initially, THC4MS had suggested a donation of £1.50 to cover postage and packing, but that was later raised to £5.

Mr Grout-Smith asked Mark about his motivation, suggesting that he would have done what he did as a campaigner, in the conviction that it was right, irrespective of the law. On the contrary, Mark said, he was convinced that he had a defence under the law as it stood at the time. Grout-Smith pointed to an article in the Carlisle paper that appeared in July 2002, in which Mark was quoted as saying, "although those involved run the risk of being arrested, the work is too important to stop". "If I hadn't had a defence," Mark Gibson told the court, "I wouldn't have done it."

In closing with his client, Mr Hoare asked Mark a bit more about this and quickly found himself out of bounds. "I'd seen the results (cannabis) had on people who've got multiple sclerosis" he said and referred to several cases in which medical necessity had been... Objection! Mr Grout-Smith complained again. Obviously, it's not Ok to say that cannabis is necessary in any circumstances.

Mark Gibson's testimony concluded with Mr Hoare asking if, prior to his arrest in February 2005, he had thought he was committing a criminal offence? "No, never," he said, adding that he did not court arrest. Mr Ford, for Lezley, clarified their division of labour and reminded the jury of DCI Whitehead's advice to Mark Gibson in December 2002 that what he was doing was 'not a priority'. Mr Davies, for Marcus Davies, clarified the relationship between Mark and Marcus, who went to the same school at different times, but met for the first time in 2000. He went through THC4Ms policy and modus operandi, concluding, "What you were doing was designed to be lawful, as you understood the law to be." "Yes", Mark Gibson confirmed. "We worked within the law, not against it."

Marcus Davies suffers from Grand Mall Epilepsy and Diabetes. He is a medicinal cannabis user. But he hasn't got MS and so he doesn't qualify to receive CannaBiz chocolate from THC4MS. Marcus was given some funds, or permitted to take a percentage of money he handled on behalf of THC4MS as an administration fee. He agreed to use the PO Box for forwarding mail, in line with the police request to Mark to reduce the volume of mail being delivered to Alston. At first, Marcus simply forwarded the mail, unopened, on a weekly basis. Later, however, he took on a more secretarial and book-keeping role. From late 2003 he began opening and sorting the mail and processing any cheques through his partner, Tara's bank account.

At this point, the Jury asked what reason Mark had been given by Barclays when they declined to allow his to open a bank account in the name of THC4MS. Mark knew the bank manager pretty well. He wasn't having it on the ground that Barclays don't do Cannabis!

Finally, the judge was somewhat confused by Sativex. Mark explained how, although it was unlicensed in this country, it was available on a 'named patient' basis which meant that everybody involved in its supply: patient; pharmacist; doctor had to have a special dispensation from the Home Office to handle the stuff.

After Mark Gibson left the stand, we were expecting some protracted legal arguments. Instead, we got two MS patients in quick succession, both in wheelchairs. First was Helen Wallace from (sounded like) Wigton. It's ten years since she was diagnosed with MS. She read about THC4MS in Pathways, a magazine published by the MS Research Centre and began receiving a supply of their cannabis chocolate about two years ago after soliciting a letter from her doctor. She has never met the Gibsons and never been asked for money, but always donated something, whatever she could afford.

Michael Wood used to be a Solicitor, before he was diagnosed with MS in 1995. About five years ago, at the Trafford MS Therapy Centre in Manchester, he heard about THC4MS. Once he'd obtained a letter from his consultant, he began receiving a supply and usually sent a fiver and some stamps with every request. He "continued to get chocolate regularly because it had great benefits for my condition," Mr Wood told the court.

Still, no legal argument was forthcoming. Instead, Lesley Jane Gibson took to the witness stand. Lezley rehearsed the story of how her MS had curtailed her promising career in hairdressing (she beat Nicky Clarke in an apprentices' competition). Meeting Mark and his pothead mates, Lezley observed that, "when I actually partook, I didn't really notice my MS at all". She started using cannabis to control her MS and has "never taken conventional medicine". Early on, when she was in hospital, they tried her on anabolic steroids. Her weight doubled to 14 stone and she started growing a beard, but it made no difference to the MS. Since then, she's made do with cannabis and it seems to have kept her out of a wheelchair for 20 years, despite the dismal prognosis.

In 1989, Lezley was discharged over two counts of possessing cannabis. Sickened by the harassment and repeated run-ins with the law, she became increasingly militant. In 1995, she appeared on Kilroy, where she met 'Clare Hodges', the pseudonym of a medicinal campaigner with MS who had founded a British branch of ACT (Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics) and had been inspired to set up her own campaigning outfit, THC. (Colin Paisley, the former mayor of Carlisle, who stood for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance in Chelsea at the Portillo by-election, provided office space). In 1998, she gave evidence to the House of Lords Science & Technology Committee about her medicinal use of cannabis.

In 1999 Lezley was busted again and in 2000 she was acquitted. After the courts case, a lot of people got in touch. It was overwhelming. Production of CannaBiz chocolate at THC4MS increased to around 150 bars per week and they had about 1600 patients on their books. The Gibsons estimate that probably 2% of MS sufferers in the UK have contacted them. That entails a lot of administration, which was Lezley's area of responsibility. Finally, asked if she thought she was doing anything wrong, Lezley Gibson said, "I can't see how it could be wrong to help people to be well".

In cross-examination, Mr Grout-Smith made a half-hearted attempt to get lezley to confess that it was all a conspiracy since all three defendants knew what the others were doing and they were all in it together. Which called for a bit of, "Oh no it isn't", but Lezley's Pantomime spirit may have been waning. Instead, she took the cue to say, clearly, "Ill people should be allowed to take medicine and should not be taken to court for it". So there, Jeremy G-S, you heartless bastard. Really, mate, there are some jobs one just should not do and persecuting people for doing good is at the top of the list.

But anyway, what happened to the much-delayed legal argument? It's now been put off until before the closing speeches. When will that be?well, the judge did make a quip about telling the jury they may be required for another week! Tomorrow is Marcus' day on the witness stand, but it will only be half a day because Lezley's lawyer has a doctor's appointment in the afternoon.

Matthew Atha is standing by, but if some version of his IDMU report can be admitted as evidence, we'll be denied a personal appearance from the man himself on Wednesday morning to close the case for the defence. Then, maybe, they'll get to the legal arguments. Mr Phillips quickly listed some of the points the lawyers needed to consider: must all the defendants be either innocent or guilty, bearing in mind that a husband and wife cannot conspire together without a third party being involved?

Finally - at least, my last note - Mr Davies for Mr Davies remarked to His Honour that sooner or later someone was going to have to explain to the jury what is meant by this term 'medical necessity' that had been bandied about and why the 'medical necessity defence' no longer existed since the Quayle decision, some three months after the Gibsons were arrested. Judge John Phillips, who is never going to make it as a comedian, said with a smirk that was surely irrelevant since each of the defence barristers had assured him they were not running a medical necessity defence!