HARVEST TIME FOR LEGALLY GROWN CANNABIS

THE first licensed crop of cannabis plants to be grown in Britain is
now being harvested at a secret location, it was revealed yesterday.

The initial crop of 5,000 plants will be used for research into
medicinal uses of the drug, which campaigners believe can relieve the
symptoms of conditions including multiple sclerosis and glaucoma.

The 8ft tall plants, which have been growing in a climate-controlled
glasshouse at a secure research facility in the south of England, are
being cut off just above the stem and hung up to dry before transfer
to the laboratory.

Eventually as many as 20,000 plants will be cultivated by GW
Pharmaceuticals, the company granted a Home Office licence to grow the
plant for research purposes.

Dr Geoffrey Guy, the chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, said: "The plants
we are harvesting now will be used for prototype further extraction
studies and prototype formulations as well as in our initial clinical
trials.

"By the end of 1999 we intend to be working with pharmaceutical grade
extracts from cloned plants rather than growing from seed. We will
then be growing and harvesting on a regular basis."

The cannabis seeds were sown in August after the company was granted
two licences, allowing them both to cultivate the drug and to possess
and supply it for medical research.

The licences were only granted after extensive consultation with the
Home Office and the Department of Health.

The move followed a groundswell of opinion backing the use of
derivatives of cannabis, known as cannabinoids, for medicinal use. The
British Medical Association is among those who have backed trials of
cannabinoids in treating the symptoms of illness.

After the plants have been dried, they will be processed to produce a
thick treacle-like liquid, which will then be thinned so that it can
be used in inhalers.

Dr Guy said: "Clinical trials will commence in spring 1999 and
eventually involve up to 2,000 patients in 18 to 24 months time. We
will be using whole plant extracts for delivery by inhalation since
this is far more precise and controllable than the oral route. The
first area of study in patients will concern the relief of nerve
damage pain including sufferers of multiple sclerosis."

Hundreds of MS sufferers are known to use cannabis illegally to
relieve their symptoms. They tend to buy a product which is rich in
THC, the compound which induces the high associated with the drug.

GW Pharmaceuticals grew particularly potent plants rich in THC and
cannabidiol (CBD), which could provide a treatment for strokes and
epilepsy.

The plants have been under constant electronic surveillance. A GW
Pharmaceuticals spokesman said older staff had been employed
deliberately. "It was thought that they would have a more mature
attitude and be less mesmerised by the whole thing," he said. "They
would be less likely to give in to peer pressure if their friends
found out where they were working."

As the project progresses, Dr Guy will be able to supply specific
researchers with the product for the purposes of research. The licence
will be extended to cover those professionals nominated by Dr Guy and
approved by the Home Office to perform specific sections of the
programme. These will include analytical chemists, clinical
investigators, hospital pharmacists and formulation
pharmacists.

As a Schedule 2 drug, the use of cannabis and its constituents could
be restricted, in the same way as morphine, but not banned. Schedule 1
drugs, which include ecstasy, are those with high potential abuse and
no therapeutic value.

GW Pharmaceuticals was founded solely to operate its Home Office
cannabis medical research licences.