BRITAIN ABUZZ OVER CANNABIS MEDICINE

Prescription pot may be available in 3 years, firm
says

LONDON - A British drug company hopes to have cannabis-based medicine
ready to be prescribed by doctors within three to four years.

Sufferers from diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which attacks the
central nervous system, have been calling for a pain-relieving
cannabis medicine for years and many have broken the law by buying the
drug from street dealers.

GW Pharmaceuticals said yesterday it was making progress in clinical
studies with cannabis-based medicines.

A small group of volunteers had been taking cannabis under clinical
conditions in order to determine the best dose.

Some had taken cannabis lozenges that dissolve under the tongue while
others used an inhaler.

Dr. Geoffrey Guy, chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, said his company had
carried out its first studies in which human subjects were given
standardized extracts of cannabis.

"I am pleased to report that the progress of our development program
from the laboratory to human clinical dosing has proceeded without
problems," he added.

Guy said there was evidence cannabis could relieve pain in multiple
sclerosis, spinal cord injury and neuralgia. His company would be
evaluating these uses in some 2,000 patients over the next two to
three years.

"Subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, we hope to have a
cannabis-based medicine available for prescription by doctors within
three to four years," Guy said.

GW Pharmaceuticals is licensed by the British Home Office to grow and
supply cannabis for medical research. If trials are successful, the
Home Office will change the law to allow prescription of
cannabis-based medicines, the company said.

GW has been growing cannabis in secure, computer-controlled
greenhouses in the south of England.

Although the plants are the same as those grown for illegal
recreational use - cannabis sativa - the trials are designed to
maximize the drug's analgesic, or pain relieving, effect rather than
to make subjects so high that they do not care about the pain.

While medical marijuana is still illegal in Canada, federal Health
Minister Allan Rock has issued several ministerial permits to grow it
and his department is studying its use.