HEALTH CANADA OKAYS SATIVEX

GW Pharmaceuticals, the British firm seeking to market a
cannabis-plant extract called Sativex, has gotten a "qualifying
notice" for approval from Health Canada. GW scientists are confident
that the additional data they now must provide the regulatory
authorities will be satisfactory. Sativex could be approved as a
treatment for neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis (and other
conditions, as doctors see fit) as early as May 2005.

GW grows plants in large glass houses under rigidly controlled
conditions, then blends the buds and flowers into extracts with
uniform contents formulated for spraying in the mouth. Bottles contain
approximately 55 doses. For most conditions for which Sativex has been
tested in clinical trials, patients used 8 to 10 doses a day to
achieve beneficial effect.

Sativex contains almost equal amounts of THC and cannabidiol (CBD, a
component almost entirely lacking in cannabis plants bred for
psychoactive effect). A standard dose (one spray) contains 2.7
milligrams THC and 2.5 mg CBD.

GW also makes an extract in which CBD is predominant ('Nabidolex') and
a high-THC extract ('Tetranabinex'). All contain a full range of
terpenoids and some flavonoids that may modulate the effects of the
cannabinoids within the body.

Final approval will make Sativex the first cannabis-based medicine
available by prescription in North America since Prohibition was
imposed in 1937.

RICKY DOES '60 MINUTES'

Mike Wallace and his producer did their best to ridicule and incite
jealousy towards Ricky Williams on '60 Minutes' Sunday night, but
could not bring him down.

MW: We're about to tell you a very strange story about a football
superstar name of Ricky Williams. He won the Heisman trophy in 1998 as
the best football player in the country. (Cut to footage of Williams
running for a touchdown -misleading in that his job mainly involved
slamming straight into the line.) Then five years of glory in the NFL.
He carried the ball more often over the last two seasons than any
other player in the league! (Said as if it was some honor the ingrate
didn't appreciate instead of a speed-up that any self-respecting
worker would have resisted.) And he made millions doing it for the
Miami Dolphins as the team's star player.

But then, just before Dolphins training camp this past July, he turned
his back on all of it -the stardom, the fame, the salary of five
million dollars a year. His sudden decision to quit stunned his
teammates, infuriated fans, and ruined the Dolphins' entire season. He
never really explained why he quit (actually Williams did explain to
Dave Le Batard of the Miami Herald, but why not claim the scoop for
CBS?) and he has stayed out of public view for the past six months
(except for the interview he gave Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco
Chronicle). But wait till you see what he's doing now...

(An Om-like chant is heard. Wide shot of Ricky and fellow students
seated on mats.) He's studying holistic medicine in the California
hills outside Sacramento where, surprisingly, he agreed to answer any
questions we asked about how, at the peak of his earning power, he
could just walk away.

Ricky Williams: My whole thing in life is I just want freedom. I thought
that money would give me that freedom. I was wrong.

MW: Why were you wrong?

RW: Because especially when you're 21 and you're given as much money
as I was given...

MW: How much were you given?

RW: At 21 I received my first check, it was 3.6.

MW: Million.

RW (nodding): before taxes. After taxes it was 2.4.

MW: Oh, poor fellow.

RW: It bound me more than it freed me, because now I had more things
to worry about, more people asking for money, I thought I had to buy a
house and nice cars and different things that people with money are
supposed to do.

MW: And you did not find that satisfying?

RW: No, it just created more problems.

MW: You would have made five million bucks this year. You said, "It's
blood money as far as I'm concerned. The money is what made me
miserable. I want to be free of that stress." Forgive me, but that's
bulls---.

RW: It is bullshit. I agree. When hearing you say that, I agree, it
is...

MW (as narrator): The real reason he left, he told us, was to avoid
the public humiliation over news that he had just failed a drug test
- -his third failed drug test.

RW: All right, here's what happened, okay? The thing I had the most
trouble with was, after you fail your third test, it becomes public
knowledge that you failed the test. And that's one thing I couldn't
deal with at the time -people knowing that I smoked marijuana.

MW: So the problem with failing your third NFL drug test was that it
would be made public?

RW: That was my biggest fear of my whole entire life. I was scared to
death of that.

MW (narrating): So rather than face the music and the media about his
failed drug test, he quit football and ran away, far far away, to
Australia, where he lived in a tent community that cost him just seven
dollars a day.

RW (over shot of a tent): In my tent I had about 30 books. Every
morning I'd wake about five in the morning and I'd take my flashlight
and I'd read for a couple of hours.

MW: Books about what?

RW: Everything from nutrition to Buddhism to Jesus. I was trying to
figure out, "What am I? What am I?" I just kept reading and reading
and couldn't figure out what I was but I learned a lot.

MW: It was there he learned about an ancient healing science from
India called Ajurveda.

RW: It's using nature to heal yourself, to put yourself in
balance.

MW: Are you in balance now?

RW: I'm more in balance now than I was a couple of months ago, but
it's a journey that people spend their whole lives on.

MW: What's balance?

RW: It's easier to talk about what's out of balance. Anytime you have
any disease -meaning lack of ease, lack of flow-you're out of
balance, whether it's jealousy, anger, greed, anxiety, fear.

MW: And you've had experience in all of the above.

RW: I've had a little bit of all of it -most people
have.

MW: This fall he enrolled in an 18-month course at the California
College of Ayurveda. Free from the structured life of the NFL, he's
immersed now in (Shots of Ricky and other students on mats) The search
for his soul.

RW: Playing in the National Football League you're told where to be,
when to be there, what to wear, how to be there. Being able to step
away from that I have an opportunity to look, deeper into myself and
look for what's real.

(Cut to Dr. Mark Halpern, who runs the Institute, a
sent-from-central-casting California guru with a trim beard and a
soothing voice. Even in slacks and a jacket he appears to be wearing
draw-string pants.)

Halpern: I see burn-out in probably 60 to 70 percent of society at any
given time.

MW: Halpern says Ricky is studying to become an holistic
healer.

Halpern: He will help individuals to live in greater harmony with their
environment through all five of their senses. When we're living in harmony
with our environment, our bodies naturally express themselves in the form
of health.

(Cut to a tight shot of Ricky's back being lathered and stroked by two
beautiful white women. Long, sensual strokes guaranteed to incite
jealousy in some and a desire, in others, to enroll in the Ayurvedic
Institute.)

MW (voice over): Receiving this massage is part of his training to
become an Ayurvedic masseur.

Halpern: The specific hand strokes in order to balance the various energies
of the body And it's very calming and soothing and nourishing for the mind.
And he's following the whisperings of his soul as opposed to the shouting
of his own ego. It's our ego that desires the fame and the fortune. It's
the whisperings of the soul that lead us towards the pursuit of harmony,
the pursuit of health and well being. Including sometime facing the
consequences of letting go of the fame and fortune.

WW: Fact is, Williams has gone from fortune to deep debt. And from
fame to infamy. The Dolphins claim he owes them more than 8 million
dollars -much more money than he has-for leaving in the middle of his
contract. His sudden departure just days before training camp doomed
the Dolphins to their worst season in franchise history and infuriated
his former fans and especially his teammates. (Undoubtedly some of
Williams's teammates and fans understood and respected his decision,
but Wallace got away with the overstatement.)

Dolphins tackle Larry Chester says, "Ricky owes lots of people an
apology. Not just the fans, but a lot of guys in the locker room." Do
you want to apologize to them right now?

RW: If I can find a reason to apologize then I'd love to apologize.
And if they want me to apologize just to apologize, then I'll
apologize. But it doesn't mean anything unless I understand what I'm
apologizing for.

MW (as if it's all real simple): You're apologizing for letting them
down. The Dolphins thought with you, and mainly with you, that they
had a chance at the Super Bowl.

RW: What if I disagree, do I still have to apologize?

MW (momentarily confused; he is accustomed to asking the questions,
not being asked): If you disagree with?

RW: That I cost them their season.

MW (displeased, almost sneering): Oh, come on, Ricky.

RW: I played my butt off. I played as hard as I could when I put that
uniform on, but I'm not doing that anymore, you know, I've moved on.
So when is it okay for me to stop playing foot-when would it have
been okay for me to stop playing football? When my knees went out?
When my shoulders went out? When I had two concussions? When would it
have been okay? I'm just curious? When is it okay to not play football?

MW: Maybe if you'd given them a clue ahead of time.

RW: I didn't know ahead of time or I would have given them a clue. It
happened in the course of two days, boom boom boom boom.

MW: Since you quit...

RW: (correcting him) Retired -I'm only kidding, I'm only
kidding.

MW: Well, have you retired or did you quit?

RW: I retired from that lifestyle.

(Exterior shot of a cute country cottage.)

MW: He's renting a one-bedroom house in Grass Valley, California, with
no TV, no long-distance phone and no regrets. Do you like yourself?

RW: I love myself.

MW: You do? Why?

RW: Because I'm all that I have and if I don't love myself, no one
else will.

MW: You don't dislike anything in yourself?

RW: Whenever I feel myself starting to dislike something I tell
myself, "This is who I am," so what's the point in disliking it?

MW: You can't pay that 8 million dollars that you're supposed to pay.
(Mocking Williams1 high tenor) "Hey, I'm Ricky! I can just go through
life the way I want to go."

RW: Let's look at the alternative, all right? If every day I woke up
and I said, "God, I've got all this money to pay back, got all these
problems," I wouldn't be sitting here with you with a smile on my face
right now.

MW: Why are you smiling?

RW: Because I'm happy.

MW: And the people who are angry at you because you deserted them?
Betrayed them. That doesn't bother you?

RW: No, because I did.

MW: Deserted and betrayed?

RW: To them I did, yeah.

MW: Do you care about what people think who are looking
in?

RW: No.

MW: Right now.

RW: No

MW: This is from a Sporting News columnist: 'Ricky has always been one
of the most selfish, unpredictable, purposely bizarre and more than
slightly off kilter athletes. He doesn't care how his behavior might
affect anyone around him. It has always been about Ricky.' Reaction?

RW: Half of it's accurate. But how can I expect him, if I don't know
anything about him, to really know anything about me.

MW: Want to hear it again?

RW: Can I see it in print?

Wallace (hands over the page he was reading from): Sure. Read it
aloud.

RW (after reading it aloud). He got the name right. I mean I am
unpredictable but who -what-is supposed to be predictable?

MW (reading again): This is more from him: "You know the type. They
fancy themselves as shining knights in a dull world, they try to be
unique. Instead of looking brave, they look foolish."

(C-Notes thinks Williams looks like the prince in War and
Peace.)

RW: I look very foolish, that's accurate. To a lot of people I look
foolish in what I'm doing and I understand that.

MW: And it doesn't bother you at all?

RW: No, the only thing that matters is how I feel and if I let how
they feel affect me it'll change how I feel.

MW: Another columnist: 'To some Williams is a selfish quitter. To
others he's a hero who took his job and shoved it, leaving a brutal
game before it brutalized him. To close friends, Williams is a
deep-thinking free spirit, who despised the stereotype that came with
football, fame and fortune.'

RW (relieved): That's a little more accurate.

MW: Got a girl?

RW: I have a daughter but I don't have a girlfriend.

MW: How come?

RW: Just haven't found anyone that fits the bill.

MW: And the bill is?

RW: I'll know when they fit it.

MW: Never married?

RW: Never married. But I have three children.

MW: What about the mothers of those three. They're all
different.

RW: They're all different. They're all special.

MW: Do you support the mothers of these children?

RW: Financially. Yes. (still smiling but understanding Mike's drift)
Of course I do! I'm a very generous person. At least I try to be.

MW: Who's your hero, if any?

RW: I would say Bob Marley, probably.

(Cut to footage of Marley in performance.)

MW: Bob Marley, the legendary reggae star from Jamaica inspired Ricky
to wear dreadlocks for years. But in Australia, while he was off
taking pictures, Ricky cut them off.

RW: So I set up my tripod and started taking some self-portraits.

MW: And the dreadlocks got in the way.

RW: And the dreadlocks got in the way so I ran up to the top of the
hill, I had scissors in my van, I cut my hair then and there.

MW: Beyond the dreadlocks, Williams named one of his daughters
"Marley," and he and his hero have something else in common... (to
Ricky) He used hash.

RW: He smoked a lot of marijuana, yeah.

MW: And you've done the same.

RW: I have done the same.

MW: Could you pass an NFL drug test today?

RW: No.

MW: So you still smoke marijuana.

RW: Mmm-hmm.

MW: Anything worse than marijuana?

RW: Worse? What do you mean by worse?

MW: (annoyed by the question): More addictive. More dangerous,
conceivably.

RW: Sometimes I have sweets. (Wallace doesn't react)
Sugar.

MW: (sarcastic) Oh, I see, yeah.

RW: Sometimes I'll have a glass of wine, but that's about
it.

MW: Steroids?

RW: No. Thank God I never needed that.

MW: Why?

RW: I was gifted. I'm very blessed. I never needed anything to help me
play football.

MW (slightly hushed tone, as if discussing the sacred) Do you think
you'll ever play football again?

RW: I have no idea.

MW: Oh, come on.

RW: I really have no idea. I can't even tell you what's going to
happen tomorrow.

MW: I'll make you a bet. You'll play football again.

RW: Okay. What are we going to put -what's the wager?

MW: (Surprised that Williams took him literally) You don't care about
money.

RW: We could bet dinner, lunch. Why do you think I'll play football
again?

MW: Because I think that you will want to have the freedom that you
have now but you're going to need more money to have the freedom that
you now have. You've said that you might like to play for the Oakland
Raiders.

RW I did say that.

MW: And Raider fans like weirdos like you.

RW: I have a much easier time fitting in in Oakland.

MW (narrating) He did admit that from time to time he still misses the
game (Cut back to the interview) You're 27. When you're 50, what do
you want to be?

RW: Alive.

MW: You like what you're doing here.

RW: I love what I'm doing here.

MW: Why do you love it?

RW: Just because I'm doing whatever I want to do. Like I said, I've
followed freedom for a long time and I finally feel I've got more of
it.

MW (wrapping it up) So for Ricky Williams, money couldn't buy
happiness. But he says that now he's never been happier.

RW: People talk about the money that I've given up and the money that
I've lost. But the knowledge and the wisdom that I've gotten from this
experience is priceless. So, the way I look at it I'm still way, way,
way up. Way, way up.