CANADA LEGALISES THE COMPASSIONATE JOINT FOR CHRONIC AND TERMINAL ILLNESSES

Canada yesterday became the first country in the world to legalise the use
of cannabis for medical purposes, allowing those with chronic and terminal
illnesses to grow their own and to smoke, inhale in some other way or eat
the drug as they prefer. Under pressure from people with conditions such as
multiple sclerosis who say cannabis brings them relief, the UK government
has agreed to scientific trials to establish whether it has medical
benefits and how it - or extracts of it - can be taken without smoking,
which itself damages health.

But the Canadian government has taken the greater leap and allowed people
whose doctors certify they have certain conditions to roll a legal joint.
The move drew immediate criticism from doctors who want proper research
into efficacy and the dose needed, and the Marijuana Party of Canada which
argues that legalising the drug altogether would be a lot less bureaucratic.

Those with terminal illnesses - with the expectation of only a year to live
- - and those with certain specified conditions will be eligible for the
weed, if their doctor and two other experts sign the legal forms. The
conditions include Aids, arthritis, cancer, MS, epilepsy and degenerative
muscle and bone illnesses.

The patients will be allowed to grow their own cannabis or have someone
grow it for them. It will still be illegal for anyone else to produce or
sell cannabis, but that could change. The Canadian supreme court has agreed
to hear arguments that criminalisation of cannabis is unconstitutional, on
the grounds that it poses no significant health risk.

The Canadian government is also pushing forward with research. In a
mineshaft, deep below a lake in Flin Flon, Manitoba, a government-funded
cannabis plantation has been established with tighter security than the
Canadian lab that stores the deadly and highly contagious Ebola virus.

The plantation, which is bigger than three football pitches, is expected to
produce 185kg of the weed next month. This will mostly be used in clinical
trials, although some is expected to go to those with official medical
approval. One of the advantages of this source is that users can be sure of
what they are getting. The amount of tetrahydrocannabinol - the active
ingredient in cannabis - in the government plants is only 5-6%, compared
with 15-18% in street supplies.

UK scientists are currently running clinical trials using cannabis
extracts, called cannabinoids, taken orally.

GW Pharmaceuticals, one of the British companies involved in UK trials, has
been negotiating with the Canadian government. It is researching the use of
a cannabis extract that is sprayed under the tongue. Mark Rogerson, the
company's spokesman, said: "I fully understand why they are going for the
compassionate joint, but we would see that as a short-term measure."

The main Medical Research Council-funded clinical trials in the UK are
based in Plymouth, looking at the effects of cannabinoids on MS patients
and those who need pain relief. In November 1998 a House of Lords select
committee urged that cannabis should be legalised immediately for medical
use, allowing doctors to prescribe it for patients. But since the trials
began, there has been greater willingness to wait for a reliable and safe
cannabis pill to be approved.

"We want to see results from proper trialling," said David Harrison,
spokesman for the MS Society. "Although people try to play down some of the
suggestions that have been made about the downside and possible
carcinogenic effects, we don't think it is right that somebody with a
lifelong condition has their problem exacerbated by something else."

But Rod Hermeston, from Disability Now magazine, said 70% of his readers
found cannabis greatly relieved their pain or muscle spasms. "If you ask
disabled people they don't say we want the outcome of a clinical trial.
They just say leave us alone to get on with our lives and alleviate our pain."