Newsletter
Webpage.
4th Mar 2010.
Letter of Thanks.
Anne Villas received a letter of thanks (shown below)
from Canine Partners, please excuse the slight imperfections of the copying process.
They are thanking us for a donation we made to them
at the Park Hotel at our last event.
For pictures etc click
here.
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4th Mar 2010.
Three New Web Links.
I have enclosed on our website 3 new
links to our
Web Links Webpage, which could useful tools
to saving you some money for example. Have you ever went to phone a number
such as 0870 or 0845 and thought to yourself these numbers cost me money to call
when you can phone for free if it is after 6pm or at the weekend or you may have
a anytime phone package deal but these numbers are not included in your deal and
don't count? Then try this link where you can search for an alternative phone
number.
Another useful link is a promotion voucher
to getting discounts to buying goods just look for a voucher for where your going
to buy something and use the relevant code discount voucher if you find one on the
link at this website which I have linked to for your convenience.
Finally there is the good old Martin
Lewis who is quite common on the TV and Radio well his website also has loads of
tips on how to save some money.
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12th March 2010.
Upgrade of Outing at Edzell to High Tea.
We have upgraded our Edzell event at the Panmure
Hotel on the22nd May to a High Tea the time
has also been changed to 4:30pm to enable this to happen.
(Menu)
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12th Mar 2010.
AGM Nomination Forms sent out.
You should all have your nomination forms for the
A G M by now, would you please complete them and make sure they are sent back to
Ina McBeath for the 19th
March at the latest.
Please note:- Anne & Terry won't be there
so let Ina McBeath know on the form or any
other means if you intend to be going to the AGM. The AGM will be at the Letham
Hotel in Letham on the 24th March.
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17th
Mar 2010.
The Correct Procedure for sending or forwarding
on emails
and why it should be carried out properly!
This is really important information.
Please take a few minutes to read all of the following
information concerning the re-sending or ‘forwarding’ the emails we receive from
friends and relatives.
"Here is something everyone should read and take the advice. If you don't, you're
hurting yourself and your email buddies.
By now, I suspect everyone is familiar with <http://www.snopes.com <http://www.snopes.com/>
> and/or <http://www.truthorfiction.com <http://www.truthorfiction.com/> > for determining
whether information received via email is just that: true/false or fact/fiction.
Both are excellent sites.
Advice from Snopes.com very important!
1. Any time you see an email that says,
“Forward this on to '10' (or however many) of your friends”;
“Sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck/good luck”;
“You'll see something funny on your screen after you send it”;
or whatever, it almost always has an email tracker program attached that tracks
the cookies and emails of those folks you forward to.
The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to
get lists of 'active' email addresses to use in SPAM emails, or sell to other spammers.
Even when you get emails that demand you send the email on if you're not ashamed
of God/Jesus ...that's email tracking and they're playing on your conscience.
These people don't care how they get your email addresses - just as long as they
get them.
2. Also, emails that talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease
–
"how would you feel if that was your child?"
....Email Tracking!!!
Ignore them and don't participate!
Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar
to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little
kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards.
All it was, and all any of this type of email is, is a way to get names and 'cookie'
tracking information for telemarketers and spammers - to validate active email accounts
for their own profitable purposes.
You can do your friends and family members a GREAT favour by sending this information
to them; you will be providing a service to your friends, and will be rewarded by
not getting thousands of spam emails in the future!
If you have been sending out (FORWARDING) the above kinds of email, now you know
why you get so much SPAM!
Do yourself a favour and STOP adding your name's to those types of listings regardless
how inviting they might sound, or make you feel guilty if you don't! It's
all about getting email addresses - nothing more!
You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT! Instead, you will
be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly a virus attached!
Plus, you are helping the spammers get rich!
Let's stop making it easy for them!
Also: email petitions are NOT acceptable to Government, or any other organisation
– i.e. social security, etc. To be acceptable, petitions must have a signed signature
and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time
and you're just helping the email trackers.
Please read the full story here:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp
And here’s another take on the subject:
IMPORTANT!! HOW TO FORWARD EMAIL APPROPRIATELY
A friend who is a computer expert received the following directly from a system
administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY
applies to ALL of us who send emails. Please read the short letter below,
even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.
“Do you really know how to forward emails?
50% do;
50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?
Every time you forward an email there is information left over from the people who
got the message before you, namely their email addresses & names. As the messages
get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all
it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that
virus to every email address that has come across his computer.
Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them
in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit.
That's right, all of that inconvenience over five cents.
How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps:
(1) When you forward an email, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in
the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them.
Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know
how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the 'Forward' button first
and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of
the message.
If you don't click on 'Forward' first, you won't be able to edit
the message at all.
(2) Whenever you send an email to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc:
fields for adding email addresses. Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy)
field for listing the email addresses. This is the way the people you send to will
only see their own email address.
If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list
will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy.
When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say 'Undisclosed Recipients'
in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it.
(3) Remove any 'FW :' in the subject line.
You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual email you are reading.
Ever get those emails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the
information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to
view, you stop them from having to open many emails just to see what you sent.
(5) Have you ever got an email that is a petition?
It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it
to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded
on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.
A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional
spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein.
If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the
intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter
than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.
(Actually, if you think about it, who's supposed to send the petition in to whatever
cause it supports? And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being
traced, it just isn't so!)
(6) One of the main ones I hate is the ones that say that something like, 'Send
this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your screen.'
Or, sometimes they'll just tease you by saying something really cute will happen.
IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!
(Trust me, I'm still seeing some of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!)
I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed.
(7) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus Alert, or some of the other ones
floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them.
Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything
you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at Snopes.
Just go to http://www.snopes.com/”
Its really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't pass
it on. So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.
Please don't forget to check first any attachments
that you download with your virus scanner to check and see they don't have a virus
in them and do this before opening them up this should be done automatically but
is not always the case I always double check by doing it manually checking the file
first before opening it up a bit like the belt and braces approach.
Top
26th Mar
2010.
Pensioners
may be denied free travel on trams.
Elderly people may have to pay to use Edinburgh's
trams despite previous assurances that the scheme that offers pensioners free bus
travel around the country would include the city's flagship new transport project.
Council leaders have admitted they do not yet know whether the £545 million project
will become part of the Scottish Government's concessionary fares scheme when the
trams are ready to run.
The council's tram company, TIE, has failed to reach agreement over its inclusion
despite a pledge by the previous administration at Holyrood.
The government spends more than £180m a year to partly reimburse bus operators who
lose out when elderly people travel on their services. The squeeze on public spending
means ministers are likely to try to reduce that burden.
Council leader Jenny Dawe has admitted there are ongoing 'legal issues' over the
possible inclusion of the trams in the scheme, which has triggered a bid by Strathclyde
Passenger Transport to have Glasgow's underground also included.
SPT officials warn they are keeping 'a close eye on the situation' and said they
would be demanding parity for its subway, and possibly ferries.
The former Labour administration pledged to include the trams in the concessionary
fares scheme in March 2007 – just months before the project was plunged into chaos
when the SNP won the election and threatened to scrap it. The scheme was only given
the go-ahead after opposition parties joined forces.
The tram company has long believed the scheme should be included as it will replace
a number of bus services. But insiders at TIE say the Scottish Government now fears
it will open 'a can of worms' and a flurry of demands from local authorities. A
source said: 'SPT is making growing noises about this again and it risks becoming
a major political issue for the government to try to sort out.'
A spokeswoman for TIE said: 'Our business case works on the assumption
that concessionary fares will operate across the integrated public transport system
for Lothian Buses and the tram.'
An SPT spokeswoman said: 'We are keen to see the subway treated in the same way
for concession purposes as the Edinburgh tram system. We are keeping a close eye
on the situation regarding the possible extension of the scheme to include trams.
If this is approved we would expect the subway also be considered.'
A spokesman for the government said: 'A decision on whether to extend the scheme
to the tram network will be made nearer the project's conclusion.'
Scotsman
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26th Apr - 22nd May.
MS
Awareness Week.
MS Week is a chance for the MS Society to get loud
about MS, raising awareness by reaching out to people who don't know much about
the condition.
Although many people have heard of MS, few people understand the complex, unpredictable,
and potentially debilitating effects of the UK’s most common neurological condition
affecting young adults. The Right to a Full Life is the theme for this year's
Week.
Click
here to find out what is happening at MS Scotland Website.
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Sat
12th Jun – 10am - 4pm.
MS
Space Perth Concert Hall.
MS Space is taking place at Perth
Concert Hall on Saturday 12th June – 10am - 4pm, with registration from
9am?
· Keynote address by the Scottish Public Health Minister
· Research talks
· Information stands
· Lots more
You can find out more and book online by clicking
here.
if you wish the actual web url address go to
http://www.mssocietyscotland.org.uk/news_and_whats_on/msspace/
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How did
it go on the day?
I received an email from Scottish HQ and thanks to them I realised
I had forgot to update the progress on this event, therefore I have used what
they have said regarding the event. below here
We had a great day. Guests heard from keynote speakers Shona Robison,
MSP, Minister for Public Health and Sport and Professor Charles ffrench-Constant,
Professor of Medical Neurology and Head of the MS Research Centre, University of
Edinburgh.
Read a transcript of Shona's talk, including questions from the audience. MS care
in Scotland - setting the standard.doc (486 kb) [doc]
Click here to download and read this document. (PDF reader required most
computers will open PDF documents automatically)
Guests also attended sessions on coping with cognitive difficulties, on relaxation
techniques, on creative movement and dance, and on Chi gong.
Complementary therapy sessions were available throughout the day. The chocolate
fountain in the foyer proved a big hit!
The day closed with a wonderful performance from Craigie Choir.
From feedback forms received, the day's ratings are:
Excellent - 62%
Good- 32%
Quite useful - 6%
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Angus Branch
has a new contact number.
We thought we would try and see if this
new phone number is better for people trying to access our branch. It is an
0845 number and should be hopefully a success. The number is 0845 900 57 60.
(Hours 9am-8pm.)
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Jean Duff says a Huge Thank you.
Jean has asked me to say a huge amount of thanks
to everyone and she is delighted with the Shinning Star Award.
Jean already has the award up in her living room
as I have seen it there.
I am sorry Jean for delay in mentioning your thanks
it was my fault as I had forgot to post this on our website (memory problems).
Sorry!
(see pictures).
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Safe Journey
Card.
If you have a fear of falling on the bus you'll find
this a great help. With a first Safe Journey Card you can privately let the
driver know what sort of help you need and they will wait for you to reach your
seat safely before driving off.
(As an ex bus/coach driver the driver is meant to do this anyway
as the their first priority should be the safety and consideration of their passengers).
Just show the Safe Journey Card to the driver when
you get on the bus with your pass or ticket. There are several versions of
the card from which you can chose the one that best suits your particular needs.
In addition, on the reversed side there is a section
you can fill in which allows you to give details to the driver of your destinations.
Download you safe Journey Card from by clicking
here or the picture below.
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26th
May 2010.
Hydrate for Health.
Our branch chairman was sent an email which the
committee have looked at and we feel this may be of use to our members for more
information on this click
here. Adobe Reader Required (PDF file).
Alternatively go to their own website by clicking
here.
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21st Jun 2010.
Cannabis on the NHS.
MS sufferers from today can be prescribed medical marijuana in the
form of a spray, It cost the NHS £11 a day and has not been approved by the
government watchdog. Sativex will be made widely available after it was approved
by the medicines regulator last week. Cannabis is a Class B drug and remains
illegal in the UK but Doctors can prescribe Sativex patients experiencing cramps
and spasms associated with spasticity.
More click
here (External Links).
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8th
Jul 2010.
Save Leuchie Campaign.
I am sure that you are already aware that the MS Society’s Board
of Trustees has announced that the Society will no longer directly provide residential
respite care.
This decision means that Leuchie House, the Society's only Respite Holiday Centre
in Scotland, faces closure by the end of the year unless an alternative provider
can be found.
The Save Leuchie Campaign Team are actively campaigning to encourage the Trustees
to re-assess their decision. Anyone who wishes to support the Campaign can find
more information via their website (EXTERNAL LINK) by clicking
here.
More see next subject underneath for an interesting email sent out
from an ex trustee and vice chair.
Top
9th Aug 2010.
An Interesting email from Janice Cook (former
vice chair and trustee).
Web Editor:- Enclosed below is a copy of an
email I received this morning.
Dear Colleague Members
LET'S HAVE OUR SAY!
On 10th June 2010 the Trustees of the MS Society decided to no longer directly provide
respite care WITHOUT ANY REFERENCE TO US AS MEMBERS. Within a few weeks the Trustees
had put our 3 respite care centres in England on the market to sell them off and
decided to close our centre in Scotland, with no guarantee of these services continuing.
The Trustees say they consulted with 1,600 people BUT THAT IS NOT THE SAME AS ASKING
THE MEMBERS TO AGREE SUCH AN IMPORTANT DECISION FOR PEOPLE WITH MS AND THEIR CARERS.
A petition campaigning against this decision started soon after it was announced
and has already gathered over 8,000 signatures, with more coming in every day. One
of the signatories is Simon Cave whose father founded the MS Society in 1953. Simon
was the first member of our Society. If you would like to sign the petition, please
go to www.savemsrespite.com (or click
here) where you can download a petition form.
Members are putting two resolutions to the AGM - one to suspend this decision and
give Members a chance to vote on this decision, and one calls for a vote of no confidence
in the Trustees. What will the Board decide to do next without asking Members? Stop
MS Research funding? Close the Branches? Scotland tried to stop this Board from
making important decisions without reference to the Membership and not enough people
voted - let's make sure that doesn't happen again!
If you agree that this decision should be suspended and a more thorough consultation
process put in place, then be careful when you vote. You have to Vote NO to the
resolution which is asking us to agree with the Board's decision. And then you have
to Vote YES to the resolution asking for the decision to be suspended. Do not be
fooled by this underhand attempt to 'waste' our votes.
If you agree that our Board of Trustees should ask members to vote before making
such important decisions, then Vote YES to the Vote of No Confidence in the Board.
DON'T WASTE YOUR VOTE WHEN THE AGM PAPERS ARRIVE LATER THIS MONTH
PLEASE PASS ON QUICKLY TO AS MANY MEMBERS AS POSSIBLE
You can find more information on the MS Society website where you can view all the
Board papers.
You can also find more information on Facebook - search on MS respite care
If you would like to check anything before voting, either email me or Sue Tilley.
Voting papers are due out on in mid-August, voting in person can be done at the
AGM on 25th September.
LET'S KEEP OUR SOCIETY AS WE LIKE IT - INVOLVING AND ENGAGING MEMBERS IN SIGNIFICANT
DECISION-MAKING
Janice Cook (former Vice Chair and Trustee)
Sue Tilley (former Assistant National Treasurer and Trustee)
Ruth Wigmore (former Trustee and Chair of Welfare)
(for more on this try)
Leuchie closing campaign.
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14th Aug 2010.
Brian our chairman's 2 forwarded emails.
Hi All,
Received this to-day thought you should have a copy and maybe add it to our web
page.
Brian r.
1st Email
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tobias Stubbings <tobias@tiscali.co.uk>
Date: Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 8:10 PM
Subject: MS Society AGM - please could we count on your support?
To:
Cc: Martyn Tilson
Simon Cave, the Society's very first member and son of the founder Richard Cave,
has stated that one of the founding aims of the MS Society was the provision of
specialist respite care, and has added his name to the petition.
If you were a member of the MS Society on 25th June 2010 then you can help our campaign
to save Helen Ley and the other respite centres by voting on resolutions that are
being tabled at the AGM in September. Please forward this email to anyone else you
know who is a member.
MS Society AGM will take place on 25th September 2010, at Wembley Hilton Hotel,
London
There will be 3 resolutions on the sale/closure of the respite centres at the AGM
(full text of each available on www.helenleyactiongroup.com and are attached).
(click
here to go to the website shown.) WebEditor
If you support our campaign to save the MS respite centres then please vote in the
following way:
Resolution 4 entitled "Supporting the Board's respite care decision" - vote AGAINST
Resolution 5 entitled "Suspending the Board's respite care decision" - vote IN FAVOUR
Resolution 6 entitled "Vote of no confidence in the Board of Trustees" - vote IN
FAVOUR
It's important that you vote on all 3 resolutions. The board have shown that they
would rather not have to listen to the voice of the members when making a sea change
in the society’s approach to respite care. They will rely on apathy and lack of
awareness to carry the day for them. Please help us to force them to listen to the
real people who are the members.
We are described by the board as “mutinous” for daring to voice opposition to the
blatant misrepresentation of views expressed in the survey. We have asked them to
check with those who make up the infamous 65%, they claim said in the survey that
the care centres do not provide what they want for the future, who is right about
what they wanted. That would give members honest information on which to base their
decision. We must assume from the deafening silence that is something they do not
want you to have.
Any who have dared to express doubts about the decision from staff to branch members
have been bullied and threatened by MSNC. Free speech clearly has no place for the
present leadership
Resolution 4 represents an attempt by the board to get their decision to sell/close
respite centres ratified by members after the event and we believe should be opposed.
Resolution 5 was the result of an amalgamation of 3 separate resolutions that were
submitted to get the closure or sale suspended until proper consultation has taken
place. We believe it should be supported.
Resolution 6 is a result of the general dissatisfaction at the way the whole review,
subsequent decision and response to opposition has been conducted. We believe it
should be supported.
Further details are available on the website, www.helenleyactiongroup.com, on the
AGM page.
(click
here to go to the website shown.) WebEditor
Spread the word and vote! Not all of these letters will make it to all members.
Please send it on to any friends who are or might be members.
Thank you for your support.
Martyn Tilson
Chair Helen Ley Action Group
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19th Aug 2010.
2nd Email
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Moni Robson <saveleuchie@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 5:27 PM
Subject: Vote to Save Leuchie
To:
Dear Supporter of Save Leuchie,
A civilised (MS)Society should look after its most vulnerable.
For this reason we are writing to reach out to the members of the MS Society, their
friends, carers, partners and soul mates. We realise that some of you are not members
of the Society but have shown your support because you have a connection with a
person with MS. If you are not a member yourself, please pass this message on to
the person you know who has MS.
As many of you are aware, we have campaigned tirelessly over the last 9 weeks to
reverse the MS Society's Board of Trustees' decision to stop funding Leuchie House
from December this year (and the three respite centres in England next year) and
effectively closing it, but to no avail! The decision is causing extreme distress
and anxiety amongst Leuchie's past and present guests and their carers and families.
Nobody has come forward to take over Leuchie House. There are no alternatives to
Leuchie in Scotland or the north of England. Only Leuchie provides this unique combination
of individualised holidays and respite for people with high dependency MS, including
their carers and families; fun, companionship, sightseeing, great food and pampering
in beautiful surroundings, whilst being looked after and cared for by specialist,
dedicated staff in a well equipped and adapted place. Leuchie caters for all ages,
in particular for those severely affected by MS with complex care needs.
To Save Leuchie, we are now asking the members of the MS Society to vote at the
upcoming AGM;
against resolution 6.4 - which is to support the Trustees' decision to stop funding
for Leuchie and
for resolution 6.5 - to disagree with the Trustees and therefore save Leuchie House.
We also ask the members to vote
for resolution 6.6, a Vote of No Confidence in the Trustees, because they have failed
to listen to the many greatly concerned and worried voices and cannot be trusted
any more. These are the same trustees who suspended the Scottish Council and lost
JK Rowling as the patron.
We sincerely thank you on behalf of the Leuchie guests, their carers and families
who all rely on your support.
Yours
Save Leuchie Campaign Team
Moni Robson
John McCluskie
Paula Steele
saveleuchie@gmail.com
We are very passionate about the threatened closure of Leuchie House but appreciate
that not all of you might feel this strongly. Please accept our apologies should
we have overstepped the mark with this letter.
Save Leuchie Campaign PO Box 27140 Edinburgh EH10 9AS www.saveleuchie.com
Top
18th
Aug 2010.
The national vote for the AGM has real issues regarding how much
money should go to research and whether or not to close Leuchie House.
Think hard before voting on these issues as not voting or voting
wrong could have the wrong results for you in the future. I suggest you have
a read of the 3 topics just above this and then think hard about what way you wish
to vote.
Once you have made up your mind on which way you are going to vote
and if you wish to do it online and armed with your details in the pack which you
should now been sent to you through the post. Then click
here to go there.
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14th Aug 2010.
HM Government response to petition.
Deliver on the rights of every person with multiple
sclerosis to world-class healthcare, to independence and to support to lead a full
life.
Go to the Governments own response on their own
website click
here.
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25th
Aug 2010.
Blue Badge Reform.
The Government is to be reforming on how the blue badge is going
to assessed and applying new rules. If you wish to read this reform click
on this
link to read it. This is a fairly large pdf document (458kb) so please
allow time for it to download to your computer. You may also require a pdf
reader to open this document but most computers should now have this but if you
do not you can download one
here for free.
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25th Aug
2010.
Pot Head, Weed, Cannabis more on this for
MS.
Letter from the Web-Editor.
On the 21st June this year I published on this webpage about
getting Cannabis on the NHS (click
here to read it).
Well I thought it would be interesting to show a completely
unbiased view on this very subject. I must point out I am totally neutral
on this but still have doubts on whether it is ok or not. Ruby
my wife their mother is suffering more and more now with her MS and is
experiencing the same type of problems as the woman in the clip shown at the end
of this letter.
So when I got an email from my son asking me to watch a clip on
you tube and I must admit at first I was a bit sceptical about doing this.
The video starts off by telling you the ins & outs of how they progressed with
the battle and beliefs of whether or not smoking cannabis is the right or wrong
thing to do. So if you do decide to watch this film please be patient it
gets better later on.
Nearer the end of the clip it shows a woman with MS and how she
is getting on in her life dealing with pain and medication etc., which I must
admit is similar to my wife's MS. So if you care to watch this just
for your own thoughts I don't care what your views are on this I am still
undecided but it is just more information which may or may not influence your
thoughts on the weed. This is purely for your information?
The film can be viewed online using the link below but remember
it depends on how good or not your internet connection is at the time or how
much hits it is also getting. There are loads more parts to the film and
lots of more information follow up film regarding the film at the end of the
film. You can find the film by clicking
here.
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© www.msangusbranch.co.uk
This page was last updated on
27/08/2010 20:20
MS Awareness Week: 26th Apr – 2nd
May.
1st to the 7th June (every year).