BRITISH DRUG COMPANY TO STUDY MARIJUANA

LONDON, Jun 18 (Reuters) -- Britain has awarded two licenses to a new
company, GW Pharmaceuticals Ltd, to cultivate marijuana with the aim of
investigating medical uses of derivatives of the plant, the company
announced last week.

GW Pharmaceuticals will make extracts of cannabis sativa, determine the best
nonsmoking method for delivery of the drug and provide material for
research, according to a statement issued by Dr. Geoffrey Guy, the company's
founder. The company is applying for a product license from Britain's drug
regulator, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA).

"There is a considerable body of evidence to suggest that cannabis may have
a number of medicinal uses: for the relief of pain and spasticity in
multiple sclerosis; for pain relief in other neurological disorders, such as
paraplegia and neuralgia; as an appetite stimulant in treating AIDS patients
with wasting disease; for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated
with cancer chemotherapy; and in the eye disease, glaucoma," said Guy in the
statement. "But there have been very few systematic research programmes or
controlled clinical trials. Our aim will be to establish the medical facts."

A spokeswoman for Britain's Home Office, which enforces the country's drug
laws, told Reuters Health, "If and when the benefits of a cannabis-based
medicine are scientifically demonstrated and a marketing authorisation is
issued by the MCA, the government would be willing to propose amendments to
the misuse of drugs legislation to allow the prescription of such a medicine."

Dr. Bill O'Neill, science adviser to the British Medical Association, said
that the physicians' group welcomed the government's decision to award
licenses to GW Pharmaceuticals.

"We are very pleased that a company has come forward to try and produce the
(cannabinoid) derivatives," he told Reuters Health. "While we welcome this,
we do not in any way see it as a move toward the decriminalization of
cannabis," O'Neill added.

The research work will be carried out at secure facilities in the UK,
according to GW Pharmaceuticals. The company has recently negotiated a
collaboration agreement with the Dutch firm, HortaPharm BV, which has
experience cultivating and standardizing cannabis sativa for medicinal
purposes. GW Pharmaceuticals hopes to expand internationally with the help
of researchers from universities and other pharmaceutical companies.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett