I have no wish to deny any help which MS sufferers feel they need to alleviate pain.

But I want to stress the harm being done in every walk of life by the belief that cannabis is a harmless substance.

There are other ways of coping with pain, apart from imbibing drugs. Pain counsellors are needed to help patients learn relaxation techniques and deal with emotional distress through the processes of prayer, self-hypnosis and mind control.

Then sufferers won't feel helpless when they can't get the drugs. But these measures may take time and will need a complete change of mindset by sufferers and the NHS.

I removed my teenage daughter from an otherwise excellent boarding school when, after years of cannabis smoking by some pupils, hard drugs were brought in by American relatives, to which the lenient headmaster turned a blind eye.

Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

-J Brown, Durrington