07/07/2007 00:00:00
UK: Eviction lifeline for cannabis gran
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CANNABIS campaigner Patricia Tabram has been told she will not be
evicted from her rented home as long as she does not grow or deal the drug.
The 68-year-old gran was told by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court that
he was granting her landlords an eviction order, but it can only be
invoked if she breaches its conditions in the next 24 months.
After the suspended sentence was passed Mrs Tabram, of Eastlea,
Humshaugh, Northumberland, said she was pleased for herself and others
who take cannabis for medicinal reasons. The grandmother of two began
taking cannabis in food to relieve depression after finding her
14-year-old son dead in bed in 1975. She also says that eating the drug
helps her to combat the pain of injuries she received in two car crashes.
She was convicted of growing and possessing cannabis when she appeared
at Carlisle Crown Court in March and ordered to carry out 250 hours of
unpaid community work as well as paying £1,000 costs.
After the court decision she said: “I can’t cultivate it and I can’t
ever deal in it, but I’ve never dealt in it – I’ve never supplied it to
anyone. I’m pleased, it means all the other medical users in this
country are able to use it in their own homes.”
The eviction order was sought by her landlords, Milecastle Housing,
whose managing director, Bill Tebay, said it had been a last resort. He
added that the suspended eviction order had been sought to give Mrs
Tabram an opportunity to avoid the loss of her home.
“This order can now only be enforced if there is a conviction of the
supply or cultivation of cannabis by Mrs Tabram during the next 24
months,” said Mr Tebay.
“We have spoken to Mrs Tabram in order to make it clear that while we
have no wish to repossess her home, we are required, as a responsible
social landlord, to take action in such cases and would be prepared to
do so.”
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/chroniclelive/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12676
Author:
The Evening Chronicle via UKCIA
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