SCIENTISTS BACK MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF CANNABIS

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said they had for the first time
scientifically demonstrated the link between cannabis and the
suppression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) 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 told Reuters.

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

Layward 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 one million people worldwide and 85,000
in Britain. There is no cure.