Britons ‘breaking law’ by buying cannabis abroad for pain relief

Patients in pain are travelling to Amsterdam to get legal supplies of cannabis prescribed by Dutch doctors to bring to Britain.

People who use the banned drug to alleviate suffering hope that, by legally getting the substance abroad, they can evade prosecution when they bring it home. But the Home Office warned they will not.

One woman with breast cancer travelled to Amsterdam with two suitcases, one for clothes and the other for three months worth of the drug.

Peter Reynolds, a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis, said he knew of numerous people who have travelled to the Netherlands and been prescribed cannabis to bring back to Britain.

He has travelled with a man with spinal injuries who brought the drug home to ease his pain. "It's been done several times and I know of one instance where I followed the person through doctor, prescription, pharmacy and the trip home," he said.

The development, detailed in the BBC's Inside Out documentary tonight, is confirmed by Dutch doctors who say they are frequently visited by Britons desperate to get hold of the drug. Dr Eric Cambridge, a GP in Amsterdam, said: "I've been contacted by a lot of people who come from the UK to benefit from cannabis.

"If a British patient is within the group that will benefit from a prescription, and this is confirmed by their consultant, then I can offer this prescription." He claimed that under the Schengen agreement, which allows EU nationals to travel with controlled medicines, British patients are able to bring home cannabis in a medicinal form.

But the Home Office said they will face prosecution. A spokesman said: "The UK's position is clear — cannabis is dangerous and has no medicinal benefits in herbal form. It remains illegal for UK residents to possess cannabis in any form.

"Britons benefit from reciprocal laws which allow EU nationals to travel with controlled medicines. If complied with, these rules allow people from this country who are in receipt of medical treatment to travel to Europe with their medication without breaching national laws."

Edwin Stratton, who suffers crippling pain from coeliac disease, was recently given a three-month suspended sentence and a £500 fine after he was caught growing cannabis, which he says bring him relief.

The 44-year-old former drummer from Leytonstone told the documentary: "Without cannabis, life is an unending circle of pain, nausea and depression. I suffer intolerable pain and immobility. It's prison or pain — that's my choice."

BBC London Inside Out is tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One