TOP-SECRET CANNABIS READY FOR MEDICINAL HARVEST

BRITAIN'S first crop of government-licensed cannabis is to be harvested
secretly for medical research this week by a specially vetted team of
mature botanists. No younger staff were employed to grow the crop because
of fears that they might be tempted to mix business with pleasure.

Trials on up to 2,000 people will begin once medicine has been distilled
from the plants in the spring, in the hope of developing treatments for
illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.

The crop has been guarded round the clock as hundreds of fully potent
plants have reached 8ft in the past four months. No one but the Home Office
and the staff of GW Pharmaceuticals know the location of the greenhouse in
southern England.

Geoffrey Guy, chairman of the company, holds the only licence for growing
the controlled drug for medical research, and the trials will take several
years. Next week the Government is set to approve guidelines for a separate
series of trials by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Dr Guy said that Britain was alone in its pragmatic and open-minded
approach to research of the drug. "We enjoy a very liberal research
environment," he said. "Our first objective is to get research done, not to
find a thousand reasons to block it."

Botanists chose ten varieties for the first crop, aimed at getting a high
yield of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The estimated
1,000 MS sufferers who use cannabis illegally buy a product high in THC,
the pyschoactive ingredient liked by recreational users for its euphoric
and drowsy effects.

Scientists are also interested in CBD as it is believed to reduce the
side-effects of THC and be useful in treating strokes and epilepsy. Dr Guy
said: "Eventually we aim to breed a special MS variety or epilepsy variety."

After the harvest, the plants will be hung up to dry, then processed to
produce a treacly liquid. This is cleaned up and can be modified into a
thinner liquid for use in inhalers.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan