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Home  Latest News Latest Asperger's Syndrome: Cannabis Convict Needs Help, not Prison
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Asperger's Syndrome: Cannabis Convict Needs Help, not Prison |
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Judge tells defendant to "Put up with your condition like thousands of others do".
| A Scottish man who grew cannabis to treat a mental disability, has been sent to jail for 7 months having been found guilty of growing 26 cannabis plants at his cottage in Broxburn.
42 year old Peter Tinlin suffers with Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of autism.
The condition, which was first recognized by Hans Asperger in 1944 is a lifelong mental disability. It affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to other people. Autism is often described as a 'spectrum disorder' because the condition affects people in many different ways and to varying degrees.
People with Asperger’s Syndrome are often described as having social skills deficits, reluctance to listen, difficulty understanding social give and take, and other core characteristics. The condition is typically quite misunderstood and/or misdiagnosed in our country today.
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Helen McCannell, senior procurator fiscal depute, told Linlithgow Sheriff Court that workers from a housing association had visited Tinlin’s former home at Cooper Cottage, Buchanan Lane and saw the cannabis plants.
They contacted the police who obtained a search warrant and raided the house on May 15 2007.
The prosecutor continued: “It was fully fitted up as a cannabis factory."
Tinlin’s solicitor, Des Macquire, told the court his client remained embittered about the failure to diagnose him with Asperger’s Syndrome until a few years ago.
Mr Macquire said: “It appears to be a condition for which there is no specific treatment and it is his submission that it is the only substance that can help him with it. He advises me that he has no intention of growing cannabis again.”
But Sheriff Donald Muirhead was not convinced and jailed Tinlin, whose address was given as Wester Drylaw Drive, Edinburgh, for seven months.
Sheriff Muirhead said: “This is a very serious offence. It is an illegal drug and you were producing it in full knowledge of its illegality in a cannabis factory in your house."
“It is in your favour that you didn’t seem to be selling it but using it for personal use. As for your Asperger’s Syndrome — you have chosen that cannabis is treatment for your disorder."
The judge then went on to give his own opinions regarding Mr Tinlin's condition, by saying "“The report says there is no medical evidence to support this. There are thousands of people in the community that have similar conditions that don’t use cannabis."
“They just put up with it and do what their doctors tell them to do rather than use illegal drugs as treatment."
Canna Zine Comment
If you feel as strongly about this as we do, please write to your Member of Parliament and ask why this man was sent to prison. Better still insist he is set free immediately.
Peter Tinlin has been jailed under the 1971 misuse of drugs act, but as the following reports prove, Mr Tinlin wasn't in fact, misusing drugs. Not according to the American Journal for Autism Research.
Medical marijuana proves a valuable treatment for autism
Cannabis is a First-Line Treatment for Childhood Mental Disorders - Case Study
Cannabis for ADD/ADHD? - Video
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