HEALTH CANADA OKS MARIJUANA-BASED MOUTH SPRAY TO TREAT MS SUFFERERS' PAIN

A mouth spray made from marijuana could be available in Canada as soon
as the end of the spring, making it the first marijuana-based
pharmaceutical for sale in the world.

Approved by Health Canada last week, Sativex is a spray made of
pulverized cannabis plants, used to treat pain symptoms in multiple
sclerosis patients.

"It's the first cannabis-derived pharmaceutical product approved
anywhere in the world," said a spokesman for Bayer Inc., which is
distributing the tincture here.

Though Health Canada has asked for more "confirmatory studies" from
the drug's manufacturer, approval for Sativex was expedited to fill
what the agency describes as an unmet medical need.

No treatments currently exist to treat the symptoms of pain suffered
by MS patients. They take everything from over-the-counter ASA to
morphine in what are often futile attempts to quell their discomfort.

Sprayed into the absorbent red tissue on the inside of a patient's
mouth, Sativex is "a bit like a breath freshener" and tastes like a
"rather bitter Guinness," said Mark Rogerson, spokesman for the
product's manufacturer, British-based GW Pharmaceuticals.

Most patients start with a single spritz every four hours, about five
times a day. Each dose releases a tincture made of
tetrahydrocannabinol, the potent principal ingredient in marijuana,
and cannabidiol, its mellower counterpart.

Together, they produce an effect that numbs pain affecting the nervous
system without numbing a patient's brain as well.

"It is absolutely not necessary to become intoxicated in order to get
pain relief," Mr. Rogerson said.

Intoxication, or getting high, can be a major deterrent for patients
who would otherwise benefit from marijuana's pain-relieving properties.

MS sufferers named it as one of the main reasons for not using
cannabis in a 2003 study published in the Canadian Journal of
Neurological Studies.

"I have to take care of myself, and being stoned and forgetting stuff
can't be part of my life," one respondent said.

Canada's liberal approach to marijuana as a medicine made it a logical
marketplace for Sativex, which is still in the approval process in
Britain.

It will only be introduced to American regulators at the end of the
year, long after approximately 25,000 MS patients in Canada are given
the treatment option by their doctors.

"When we were talking to Health Canada, we found that we were talking
to people who were on the same wavelength as us," said Mr. Rogerson.

Manufacturers predict Sativex will be available, by prescription, in
drugstores by the end of June. The price for a 50-dose bottle is still
being determined by distributors, who will import the product from
England, where the marijuana is grown.