SUFFERERS FROM MS AWAIT TEST RESULTS

Doctors have known of the medicinal benefits of cannabis for decades.
Two drugs based on its active ingredient - tetrahydrocannabinol - have
been used in the UK for over 30 years to treat nausea in cancer
patients undergoing chemotherapy, although their use has declined as
new drugs have taken their place.

Interest in other medicinal uses of cannabis is growing. A 1997
report by the British Medical Association's Board of Science,
"Therapeutic USEs of Cannabis", concluded that there was evidence that
the drug could help muscle spasm in patients with multiple sclerosis.
There was also limited evidence of benefits in epilepsy, glaucoma,
asthma, high blood pressure and the weight loss associated with Aids.

The BMA stressed that it was not advocating the use of the whole
cannabis plant, which could be as damaging as tobacco, but called on
the courts to show compassion to people using it for medical reasons.

The aim of research is to extract the active constituents of cannabis,
in the same way that morphine was purified from opium, in order to
establish which are of benefit. There are at least 60 psychoactive
substances arming the 400 chemicals contained in the drug.

Two trials of the drug in patients were announced last year. A 1
million pound Medical Research Council study is examining its effects
in 660 patients with multiple sclerosis.

A second trial by the company GW Pharmaceuticals involving 2,000
patients suffering from MS, spinal cord injuries and intractable pain,
is due to start this year.