David Wright is now calling for cheaper medical cannabis to be made available to help with his pain agter costs soared.
David Wright lived for basketball as a teenager but one daring move on court ended in disaster and the Clydebank man has been fighting to get his life back ever since.(Image: UGC)
A man who became a “zombie” on prescription painkillers after a sports injury has told how his life was saved by medical cannabis.
David Wright, from Clydebank, suffered a serious back injury as a 16-year-old during a basketball game but his life spiralled after he was put on opioid painkillers by his doctor.
He finally discovered medicinal cannabis which gave him his life back, only for the choice to be snatched away by the soaring price of the private prescriptions.
Now he’s backing calls for cheap medical cannabis to be made widely available.
David, now aged 49, said: “My diagnosis is degenerative disc disease and curvature of the spine caused by long-term damage to the lumbar discs at the base of the spine.
“I suffer trapped nerves that cause sharp shooting pains and severe muscle spasms and stiffness, episodes of debilitating pain that can leave me unable to stand, sit or lie down comfortably. When it’s bad, my back locks completely and the nerves trap. It’s like being electrocuted from the inside out.
David Wright(Image: UGC)
“I have Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD), and of course that leads to chronic sleep deprivation which leads to extreme fatigue and low energy. I’ve also suffered depression and anxiety associated with long-term pain and the loss of my independence.”
David told how a bid to beat his pain left him dependent on the drugs he needed to function.
He said: “Doctors discussed surgery but the risks were too high so I was treated with opioids, nerve pain medication and spinal injections but nothing brought lasting relief.
“I was prescribed paracetamol, co-codamol, tramadol, gabapentin, morphine – the lot. The morphine was the only thing that touched the pain, but it made me like a zombie. I could barely concentrate on anything. I was just existing, not living. The morphine dulled the pain but it dulled me too.
“I ended up in this fog where I wasn’t in agony, but I wasn’t really present either. That’s not living – that’s just surviving.”
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In late 2020 he discovered prescribed medical cannabis after watching Grassroots, a Netflix documentary about legal access in the UK.
He said: “I thought surely if it works for others, it might help me too and it did. It didn’t take all the pain away but moved it to the background instead of it being my whole life.
“I signed up with a clinic and in 2021 I had my first prescription for vaped flower. The effects were incredible. It felt like a miracle. My dosage was gradually adjusted and I stayed on treatment for around 12 months and life was good again.
“I got off all the opioids. I could sleep, I could eat, I wanted to move. I got my life back.
David says prices have soared(Image: UGC)
“Before medical cannabis, I barely slept but once I started the treatment, I got some of the best sleep I’d had in years. When I finally slept properly, everything else started to improve – my mood, my energy, my mental health. It’s all connected.
“For me, medical cannabis wasn’t about getting rid of my pain, it was about managing it in a way that let me be me again. It gave me back a level of control and focus; I could play music, I could sleep.”
But David was to be hit by more bad news when prices for his legal cannabis drugs soared.
When he first started treatment his initial prescription cost around £6 per gram giving him an affordable bill of around £160 a month – but it soon doubled.
He said: “I could see the price increase with every renewal, eventually reaching £12 per gram by 2022. With consultation fees, repeat prescription charges and delivery the total monthly cost of the prescription increased to more than £500 a month. I just couldn’t afford it anymore.
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“So that financial pressure basically forced me to stop treatment. It wasn’t that the medicinal cannabis had stopped working – it had worked brilliantly for me but I just couldn’t keep up with the cost. When I stopped, everything just started to slip back again.
“Patients shouldn’t be forced to choose between paying rent or paying for their medicine. So it’s tough but I’m hopeful of change and I’m hoping I can get back on it soon, because that’s when I felt most like myself.”
Now David is backing a new initiative aimed at making high quality prescription medical cannabis available in Scotland at a fair and steady price.
Cannabis campaigner Charlotte Caldwell’s I Am Billy Health initiative, which aims to offer affordable access to privately prescribed medical cannabis, is being launched in Scotland.
David playing basketball(Image: UGC)
David said: “I’m hoping that a fair and consistent pricing model will make it possible for me to resume treatment. Charlotte’s new system could change everything. If patients like me can get consistent, affordable access, it’ll give us our lives back.”
Charlotte Caldwell’s I Am Billy campaign brought about a change in the UK law around medical cannabis in 2018, but today NHS GPs remain reluctant to prescribe it.
She demanded the drug for her son Billy, who suffers from horrific seizures, but she was regularly arrested on returning to the UK from Canada or Holland – where she could legally get cannabis drugs.
In 2018 the UK government finally legalised the prescription of cannabis-based medicines by specialist doctors – but soaring prices have stopped many accessing the medicine they need.
Now Charlotte is launching a new initiative to make cheaper cannabis medicine available to all.
She said: “With I Am Billy Health, we’re taking the next step. We’re creating a trusted, fair and transparent way for people to get the medicine they deserve, prescribed properly, priced fairly and delivered consistently.
“Those who need prescriptions will be able to access high-quality, laboratory-tested medical cannabis prescribed by qualified, licensed doctors. The initiative’s mission is simple: to ensure that no one is left behind in the journey toward safe, effective, and affordable treatment.”
*To get access to the I Am Billy Health programme, go to their website at https://iambilly.uk/i-am-patient/