CANNABIS MAY BE LEGALISED AS PAINKILLER

PATIENTS with chronic pain may soon be given cannabis to ease their
suffering as the Government considers legalising the drug for medicinal
purposes. Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs
Strategy Eoin Ryan said the Government would consider the initiative after
meeting his British counterpart Mo Mowlam in Dublin earlier this week.

Minister Mowlam, who heads the UK Drugs Strategy, said she hoped to have a
cannabis prescription system in place by 2003. A Government backed trial was
due to be completed by the end of next year, after which the cannabis based
product would go before the British medical regulatory body for approval,
she said.

Mo Mowlam was telling me about this development and it is something we will
be looking at, said Mr Ryan. People recognise that it does relieve pain
and nausea.

Research shows that cannabis has some accepted and many potential medical
benefits, Dr Des Corrigan of Trinity College Dublin, chairman of the
Governments National Drugs Advisory Committee said.

One proven benefit is in the treatment of nausea from chemotherapy in
cancer patients. There are also many potential benefits, particularly in
relation to muscle spasticity.

He said cannabis could also be used to treat epilepsy and glaucoma, a
painful eye condition, while its hunger inducing effect could benefit
sufferers of anorexia, Aids and cancer.

What is important in the UK research is that it involves large numbers of
people, so that it will be able to show statistically if it is beneficial
and it will also compare it to existing treatments, said Dr Corrigan.

The trial, carried out by GW Pharmaceuticals, is mid way through the second
stage of a three part process.

In the second stage patients are given cannabis based medicinal extracts
while others are given a placebo, a harmless dummy. Neither patient nor
doctor know which material is being tested on each occasion.

The third phase, which is due to start next year, will involve large scale
studies of the patients. Patients receive cannabis through an inhaler in
spray form, a method that is expected to be proposed to UK Medicine Controls
Agency.

Dr Michael Moriarty of the Irish Cancer Society and consultant radiologist
at St Vincents Hospital, Dublin, has welcomed the trials.

We know from smaller studies that cannabis can have two main benefits: one
as a pain relief and secondly as an anti nausea treatment.

Its possible that cannabis will find a niche where conventional drugs
arent effective. Its mood elevating properties could also be a benefit.

Disability organisations here are keeping a close watch on the trials. We
often get phone calls from members asking about developments in relation to
cannabis, so we are awaiting the results of the trials with interest, said
Michelle Kerrigan of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland.

Rheumatologist Dr Oliver Fitzpatrick said there was a lack of scientific
research into how cannabis might benefit people with severe arthritis.
There are anecdotal reports and case studies where patients have reported
an improvement, but we need trials that can stand up to rigorous scientific
scrutiny.

Experts have also warned that cannabis would not be suitable for people with
mental illnesses.

Cannabis can have an adverse effect on people with depression, bipolar
disorder or schizophrenia, said consultant psychiatrist and chairman of
depression group Aware, Dr Patrick McKeon.

Regarding the general debate on the decriminalisation of cannabis, The
decision should be based solely on the scientific evidence. Politics should
have no part in this, said Dr Moriarty.