A registered nurse has spoken out to promote the use of medicinal cannabis.
The woman, who wished to be known only as 'CJ', suffers from a raft of medical conditions, including musculoskeletal conditions osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, and uses cannabidiol (CBD) oil to ease her pain.
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CJ turned to medicinal cannabis as an alternative to the anti-inflammatory painkillers prescribed by her doctor, many of which led to unpleasant side effects, which she says have all but disappeared through the use of CBD.
"It's helped amazingly, I don't wake up feeling like an absolute zombie.
"I used to be constipated and all the different drugs would make me nauseated. They would do all these things to me that cannabis doesn't."
CBD is a high cannabidiol/low THC strain of cannabis that does not induce the psychoactive 'high' associated with higher THC strains.
CJ is both a user and an advocate for CBD's use in medicine.
She agreed to speak to Newshub on the condition of anonymity, but hopes that in the future, she can be more open about the issue within her workplace.
"I think, in the future, we could be talking to them, and people like myself could be helping them understand how our patients want it and need it."
"It's about human rights. Patients aren't criminals - they need to be listened to and given that choice to be able to take the medicine that they want."
This week, arrests of 'green fairies' led to as many as 2000 terminally ill patients, cancer sufferers and amputees going without their medicinal cannabis-based pain relief.
'Green fairies' supply cannabidiol products - either for free or a small fee - to patients who say it eases their pain.
CJ's 'green fairy' was caught up in this week's bust, meaning her pain relief will dry up until she can find another.
"My GP just keeps on adding medications that she thinks I should be taking," she says.
"I find it really insulting, because there's a lot of really expert people out there that are too scared to speak up, out of the fear of what could happen."
Watch the video to hear CJ's story
Newshub.
