RESEARCHERS BACK MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF CANNABIS

May alleviate MS symptoms, British scientists say

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said yesterday they had for the
first time scientifically demonstrated the link between cannabis and
the suppression of multiple sclerosis symptoms.

"This is the first time it has been shown objectively and
scientifically that cannabis derivatives can control some of the
symptoms of multiple sclerosis," Lorna Layward of the MS Society of
Great Britain said.

In the science journal Nature, Layward and colleagues said their study
of mice suffering from chronic allergic encephalomyelitis (CREAE) - an
animal model for MS - found that compounds that mimic cannabis
improved CREAE symptoms.

"This work gives support to anecdotal reports from people that say
cannabis can alleviate spasticity and tremor," Layward said.

MS sufferers have been calling for a cannabis medicine for years and
many have broken the law by buying the drug from street dealers.

"It is an unacceptable state of affairs when people suffering from a
serious disease feel driven to break the law," Layward said.

Clinical trials into the medical benefits of cannabis for MS sufferers
were about to start in Britain, Layward added.

She said it was now up to drug companies to develop compounds that
mimicked cannabis but avoided the side-effects experienced by cannabis
smokers.

"We are going to get away from the plant," Layward
said.

MS is an auto-immune disease in which the body's immune system
destroys a sheath which protects the nerve cells in the brain and
spinal cord. It affects about 1 million people worldwide. There is no
cure.