Galway man fails in latest bid to return home with medicinal cannabis

Galway man living in Netherlands and suffering from MS told again he may be arrested if he visits Ireland and brings his medicinal cannabis with him.

The European Ombudsman has told Galway man Noel McCullagh that a trip back to Ireland may well result in him being arrested if he brings his medicinal cannabis compound Bedrocan with him.

34 year-old McCullagh, originally from Ballinasloe, lives in Amsterdam and part of his treatment there for multiple sclerosis is medication including Bedrocan which is legal in the Netherlands. He had been seeking permission to visit his family in Ireland without being arrested for possession of the drug that is outlawed in Ireland.

McCullagh has sought permission in the past to return home to visit his family but had been told the likelihood was that he would be arrested for possession of cannabis. In light of this he contacted the European Ombudsman about his case.

The Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, while admitting to being “deeply touched” by McCullagh’s case also said that though the Irish authorities could exercise discretion in this case on humanitarian grounds it was solely up to them to make a decision on the matter.

The use of cannabis and cannabis compounds as medication for ailments including multiple sclerosis has been ongoing for some years now; a study in late 2009 from the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation showed that the benefits of using cannabis in multiple sclerosis therapies far outweigh the light side effects they have.