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A man who has suffered from chronic back pain for more than 20 years claims he is being forced to break the law by self-medicating with cannabis.

Gareth Harrison was just 15 when he hurt his neck and started having problems with his back, which left him bed-bound for several years.

He also began suffering chronic migraines and cluster headaches, including one which lasted for 52 days.

(Image: Getty)

Despite taking a host of opiate-based painkillers, medics have been unable to rid Gareth of his pain.

Gareth, 36, was previously prescribed a cannabis-based mouth spray called Sativex. But when he asked his GP for another ­prescription, he was told it was too dear.

The gardener says he is now being forced to illegally smoke cannabis to help ease his pain and get his life back.

He said: “I used to take hundreds of tablets a week – you name it, I’ve tried it. I told the doctors many years ago that opiates didn’t help but they kept giving me them. Then about four years ago, I decided to try cannabis to see if it would help.

“I’m not smoking it to get high. It allows me to be able to do things I’ve not done since I was a teenager. All my wages go on ­medication.”

He added: “The only ­alternative is Sativex. But my doctor refuses to give it to me because it's too ­expensive – not because it doesn’t work.

(Image: Daily Record)

“It’s around £175 a bottle which lasts a couple of weeks. I’ve looked at using cannabis oil but it’s just too expensive. So I’ve no alternative but to break the law.”

NHS Fife medical director Dr Frances Elliot, said that, like other Scots health boards: “Sativex is not on the NHS Fife formulary as it is not approved by the Scottish Medicines ­Consortium.”

He added: “Where a specialist feels a drug not on the formulary would be more beneficial, they can complete an ­individual patient ­treatment request, which gives them a platform to make a case for its prescription.”