Woman who used cannabis for pain relief is given fine

A WORCESTER woman who was using cannabis to manage her pain has said she will rely on doctor’s prescriptions in future after she was fined £100 for possession.

Christine Tyler, aged 41, pleaded guilty to possession at Worcester Magistrates Court after police searched her house and found a stash of cannabis with a street value of £125.

Police also found clear plastic bags and electronic scales at Tyler’s home in Randwick Drive, Warndon, Worcester, during the search on September 18 last year.

Tyler was arrested and questioned at Worcester police station, where she admitted the charge of possession, but said that the drug was for her own use.

She said she used it to manage pain – which police recorded originally as arthritis, although her defence lawyer Jason Patel said in court it was pain caused as a result of earlier cervical cancer.

Tyler admitted other people smoked the drug in her house, but the large amount – 27.4 grams – found in the house was not for reselling, but bought in bulk because it was cheaper. The scales, she said, were so she knew how much she had left.

In mitigation for his client, Mr Patel said: “What she has learned is to rely on the medicine given by the GP rather than on cannabis.”

Magistrates ordered Tyler to pay a £100 fine, as well as £85 costs and a £15 victims surcharge.

By Flora Drury
Source: http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/5018519.Woman_who_used_cannabis_for_pain_relief_is_given_fine/