Carol led the debate on medical cannabis use
TRIBUTES have been paid to Dr Carol Coombes, a champion of the medical use of cannabis in the UK, who has died following a two-year battle with throat cancer.
Dr Coombes, OBE, had been a non-executive director of health insurer BHSF from October 2014 until her death on August 13.
She was chief executive of the Citizens Advice Bureau in Birmingham and later became senior programme director for Common Purpose in the West Midlands.
She was awarded a doctorate from Birmingham City University for her Outstanding Contribution to Business, and in November 2009 an OBE for her Services to Leadership and her Charitable Work.
But she is perhaps best known as a medical cannabis advocate for cancer patients.
The UK started to allow NHS doctors to prescribe some form of cannabis last November but due to many bureaucratic barriers access to it is still very limited, even though many support the reform.
Despite her tough diagnosis, Dr Coombes started to fight for other cancer patients and to promote the debate about the importance of medical cannabis in the UK
She established Banned Aid: Weed the World, a Facebook group joined by experts from all over the world who provide valuable and impartial information about medical cannabis
Andrew Milner, Chairman of BHSF, said: “Carol always ensured that concern for people was at the forefront of any discussions.”