ANTI-DRUGS CHIEF BACKS 'MEDICINAL' CANNABIS

The medical use of cannabis won the backing of the Government's chief
anti-drugs campaigner yesterday. Keith Hellawell, a former chief constable,
said doctors should be allowed to prescribe the class B drug to ease pain
and suffering, provided the beneficial effects were proven by research.

"There appear to be many qualities within the herb that are likely to have
an impact on different suffering," he told the Commons Home Affairs Select
Committee.

Mr Hellawell, UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator, recently visited a farm where
cannabis is being grown for medical research under a special licence issued
by the Home Office. Five thousand plants have been sown in a secure
glasshouse in southern England.

The Government allowed the trial because of increasing evidence that
cannabis could be useful as a painkiller and in treating illnesses such as
multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.

Mr Hellawell also told MPs that the popularity of cannabis was declining
among 15 to 25-year-olds because of its widespread use, and that smoking
heroin was frequently the first choice of drug.