TAKE ONE DOSE OF DAGGA - THAT'S DOCTOR'S ORDERS

Amsterdam - The Netherlands is to make dagga available as a prescription
drug to treat chronically ill patients.

It would be world's first country to do so, a top Dutch health official said
yesterday.

The Dutch government has given the country's 1 650 pharmacies the green
light to sell cannabis to sufferers of cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis (MS)
and Tourette's syndrome from this week in a ground-breaking acceptance of
the drug's medicinal use.

"It's a historic step. What is unique is that we are making it available on
a prescription-only basis through pharmacies," said Willem Scholten, head of
the Office of Medicinal Cannabis at the Dutch Health Ministry.

The Netherlands, where prostitution and the sale of dagga in coffee shops
are regulated by the government, has a history of pioneering social reforms.
It was also the first country to legalise euthanasia.

The government, which recognised that many chronically ill people were
already buying dagga from coffee shops, said it should be prescribed by
doctors only when conventional treatments had been exhausted or if other
drugs had side-effects.

The Health Ministry recommends patients dilute the dagga in tea or turn it
into a spray in a nebuliser. - Reuters