NEW TRIAL SHOWS CANNABIS WORKS

Cannabis can have a real role in reducing chronic, long-term pain,
according to the first results from a hospital trial. The trial at Great
Yarmouth's James Paget Hospital looked at the response of 23 patients to
measured doses of the various active compounds found in cannabis.

All were suffering chronic, long-term pain on which all other treatments
including morphine had failed. Half had multiple sclerosis, the remainder
had a variety of causes of pain including spinal injury and surgery.

They were asked to assess their pain on a scale from zero to 10, the
highest rating being unbearable, "the worst pain you could imagine", Dr
William Nortcutt told the British Association Annual Science Conference at
Glasgow University. The drug was administered as a spray under the tongue.
Their self-reported-pain was traced as a graph as they took different
active compounds - known as cannabinoids - or placebos, which had no
effect. The graphs showed that it was the compounds that were having the
effect.

Dr Nortcutt said: "Several patients had a dramatic effect. They reported
that their pain went from a 10 level to zero. We had responses from that
down to helping sleep.

"Only three patients did not benefit - one who had to leave the trial
because she could not stand the side effects, one for whom there were
protocol violations and we had to withdraw, and one on whom it simply had
no effect."

People could have taken doses of the drug which would have given them the
sort of high experienced by recreational drug smokers, he said."One or two
of the early patients pushed it to see what the high was, but having done
so, said that they were already trashed by their pain and didn't want to
sit round being stoned all day. They wanted to get on with their lives," he
said.

"They were fed up with being immobilised. One is working again in an
executive capacity, one is looking after a child successfully, several are
driving again, one actually told me the other day that he'd gone up a
ladder with a power tool to cut a hedge." These were things that would have
been impossible for them without treatment, he said. However, he added it
was too early to recommend use of the drug and more tests were still being
conducted.