DUTCH CABINET APPROVES MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

AMSTERDAM, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Netherlands, famous for its permissive
attitude towards drug use, on Friday became the second country after Canada
to allow medical use of marijuana.

Marijuana use is widely tolerated in the Netherlands in "coffee shops," but
is not legal.

The Dutch cabinet agreed on Friday to change the law to allow doctors to
prescribe marijuana and chemists to supply it, Health Ministry spokesman
Bas Kuik told Reuters.

"People with painful diseases such as AIDS are going to coffee shops, but
there is no doctor who is controlling the use," he said.

The Bureau for Medicinal Cannabis will supervise the growing of marijuana,
its quality control and distribution. Talks are to be arranged on the plans
with the International Narcotics Control Board of the United Nations.

No exact date has been set for the programme's launch as it was not yet
clear how long preparations would take, Kuik said.

In July, Canada became the first country in the world to allow terminally
ill patients to grow and smoke their own marijuana.

Canada said the move would improve the quality of life of patients
suffering serious pain from conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer
and arthritis.