HEALTH CANADA TO STUDY MARIJUANA AS PAINKILLER

OTTAWA -- Health Canada is contemplating expansion of the medical use of
marijuana with the launch today of a year-long study on the drug's
potential as a painkiller.

The McGill Pain Centre has received a $235,000 federal grant to conduct a
study on the benefits of marijuana for people who suffer from chronic pain
due to damage to the nervous system.

So-called neuropathic pain, which is extremely difficult to control, can
affect people who suffer from such ailments as diabetes or spinal-cord injuries

Health Canada has already allowed people with AIDS, multiple sclerosis,
arthritis, epilepsy and other serious conditions to use the drug if it
eases their symptoms.

In a press release obtained by The Globe and Mail, to be released
officially today, Health Canada says the results of the study "will
eventually help contribute to the development of health policy to address
the medical use of marijuana and cannabinoids."

Health Minister Allan Rock also heralds the study as a "historic step
forward" in the scientific research on the potential health benefits of
marijuana. He adds that the study "furthers our compassionate effort to
ascertain the potential of marijuana to provide therapeutic benefit to
Canadians."

In a second press release, lead researcher Mark Ware says his goal is "to
discover how much cannabis is needed to obtain pain relief and whether this
amount produces any side effects."

Mary Walsh of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids
said in an interview that, if the research is successful, it could lead to
additional medical use of the drug.

"If there is well-controlled data out there, there will be a greater
comfort level on the part of physicians and patients with regards to its
use," she said.

The new McGill study is being billed as "the world's first peer-reviewed
clinical trial examining the effects of smoked cannabis in a non-HIV or
Multiple Sclerosis population."

It is also the first time that participants will take the drug at home.

Researchers plan to recruit 32 patients who are unresponsive to usual
treatment methods. The participants will take the drug daily through a pipe
over a four-week period and report the effects through what is known as the
McGill Pain Questionnaire.

Among other things, researchers hope to find out more about the appropriate
dosage of the drug and its effects on the patient's quality of life and mood.

At a recent appearance before a Senate committee on illicit drugs, Ms.
Walsh complained about the lack of sound research on marijuana's potential
as a painkiller. She said there is plenty of research on animals but not
enough on humans.

"There is a lot of compelling data showing us that cannabinoids are very
good pain drugs," she said.

"However, it is surprising how few human studies have been done on these
agents as good painkillers. There are only six published control trials in
the world literature, and only three of them are on chronic pain.

The three on acute pain have been mixed. Unfortunately, they are all old
and small."

Dr. Ware, an anesthesia professor at McGill University, said the study that
will be launched today is part of a longer-term research plan.