HUFF AND PUFF OVER 'CUREALL' CANNABIS
SCOTTISH OFFICE CHALLENGES B.M.A.

DOCTORS' leaders clashed with the Government yesterday when they urged the
Scottish courts to take a more lenient view of cannabis use for medicinal
purposes.

The British Medical Association is calling for a change in the law to allow
cannabis to be prescribed for certain medical conditions such as glaucoma
and multiple sclerosis.

They yesterday presented evidence which showed certain chemical derivatives
of cannabis cannabinoids could alleviate the symptoms of some
conditions.

But the Scottish Office hit back at the BMA's report, claiming cannabis had
no recognised therapeutic use.

A Scottish Office spokesman said: "There is considerable anecdotal evidence
of the therapeutic benefit of cannabis but little scientific evidence.

"Current controls of cannabis, a designated drug under the Misuse of Drugs
Act 1971, reflect the views of the World Health Organisation that unlike
morphine and the other opiates, cannabis has no recognised therapeutic
use."

He added: "Legalisation of cannabis forms no part of, and would be
inconsistent with the Government's antidrugs strategy and policy.

"Legalisation or decriminalisation would send entirely the wrong message.

"There is no evidence to suggest that legalisation of any drug, including
cannabis, would do anything other than increase the use, the health risks
and the real harm such drugs cause young people."

The BMA's report notes that thousands of people resort to taking cannabis
illegally in an attempt to relieve pain.

It has identified priority conditions where cannabinoids could yield a
beneficial effect. They include MS, spinal cord injury, stroke and other
spastic disorders.

Dr. Brian Potter, the BMA's Scottish secretary, told reporters yesterday
it would press the Lord Advocate to take a more lenient view or turn a
blind eye to those who took cannabis for medicinal purposes.

He said: "From anecdotal evidence patients have been saying to doctors the
only thing they find to have been of help is cannabis.

"We're suggesting that the Lord Advocate look sympathetically at people who
have been using cannabis in certain conditions such as those with multiple
sclerosis or people who have limbs amputated.

"We've got no comment to make on it's recreational use but what we want
to do is discover ways of getting it into the bloodstream."

Chairman of the BMA clinical cannabinoids group, Dr Roger Pertwee, of
Aberdeen University, said: "This report shows that cannabis should be a
legally prescribed medicine.
There is now no doubt that cannabis derivatives can relieve pain in cases
where all other drugs fail or produce very nasty side effects.

"At the moment people are forced to turn to drug dealers for their
cannabis, leaving themselves open to all kinds of problems. They also run
the risk of being given cannabis which contains other substances. Cannabis
should become a legal medicine out of patients safety."

The BMA is also calling for the Government to change the Misuse of Drugs
Act. It wants patients to be prescribed with particular medical conditions
whose symptoms are inadequately controlled under the present system.

However, the BMA conceded that more research was needed, including
examination of the longterm effects of cannabinoids on chronic conditions.

It recommends that cigarettes containing the drug or herbal preparations be
included in prescription, if and when they are formulated.

Dr. Potter hopes the BMA's recommendations will be welcomed
"sympathetically" and not "hysterically".

Peter Cardy, chief executive of the multiple sclerosis society, "thoroughly
endorsed" the BMA's report yesterday.

He said: "It seems very sad that people who are not helped by other drugs
should have to break the law."