SCIENTISTS STUB OUT CANNABIS AS WONDERDRUG

LONDON (Reuters) - Cannabis is no better than codeine at controlling
pain and a series of undesirable side effects means it has no place at
present in mainstream medicine, scientists said on Friday.

After trawling through 39 past clinical studies on its use in easing
pain and nausea, two groups of researchers writing in the British
Medical Journal poured cold water on the idea that cannabis was a
neglected wonderdrug.

"It hasn't turned out to be a great success. There are, at the moment,
much better alternatives," Eija Kalso, associate professor in the
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at Helsinki
University Hospital, told Reuters.

Future research might provide better cannabinoids -- the active
substances in cannabis -- which could help treat multiple sclerosis (MS)
and nerve damage pain, but current information suggested adverse effects
outweighed the benefits, she said.

"On current evidence cannabinoids can be recommended only for use in
controlled clinical trials in carefully selected conditions for which
there is no effective treatment," Kalso concluded in an editorial in the
magazine.

Interest in the therapeutic use of cannabis has grown recently, and
patient groups in a number of countries have called for freer
availability. Thousands of MS sufferers are already breaking the law by
buying the drug from street dealers.

GW Pharmaceuticals Plc, a recently listed British company which aims to
develop the world's first cannabis-based medicines, is currently
conducting trials to try to prove the value of cannabis extracts in
treating MS and cancer pain.

Side Effects

Fiona Campbell of the Pain Management Centre at Queen's Medical Centre
in Nottingham, England -- who led the study on pain -- said cannabinoids
compared poorly with modern medicines in controlling acute pain.

Furthermore, there were many adverse effects -- including cognitive
impairment, psychosis, blurred vision and palpitations -- which limited
its use.

Campbell said carefully selected cannabis derivatives might yet help
some MS patients or those with complex pain, but more research was
needed before it was put into clinical use.

"You can't have the process in reverse -- you cannot introduce something
into clinical practice and then see whether it's helpful afterwards,"
she said in a telephone interview.

Martin Tramer of Hopitaux Universitaires in Geneva, head of the second
research group, had slightly more encouraging results in looking at
treatment for chemotherapy-related sickness.

His team, analysing studies involving more than 1,300 patients, found
cannabinoids were more effective than some conventional drugs but
concluded that potentially serious side effects would limit widespread
use.

"The really important point is that where we have good alternatives, we
should not use cannabis, which is not as effective and also causes
adverse effects," said Kalso.