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