MS Sufferer Wait for Results of Dope Pain-Killer Trials

TESTING TIME FOR CANNABIS USERS

A COUPLE of years ago the tabloids picked up on a story in the
Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre's magazine.

The story focused on Kate Bradley, who had been diagnosed with the
disease in 1991.

Five years later she began taking cannabis. It was the only thing
which helped ease her increasing pain.

What made journal-ists, politicians and the public generally sit up
was not that Kate took cannabis.

They were more interested in what Kate had been - a sergeant in the
West Midlands Police vice squad who arrested cannabis pushers.

Now she was actively seeking out and buying from the people she had
once helped put behind bars.

Kate Bradley's plight was tabloid heaven.

Two years down the line and Kate is still breaking the law. But things
have moved on.

Now post-surgery patients are to be part of a Medical Research Centre
study to test cannabis for pain relief.

The trials are being carried out at hospitals throughout the UK,
including Princess Alexandra in Harlow, South Essex, and Ipswich
Hospital in Suffolk, where researchers hope to measure the effects of
cannabis plant extract against other pain-relieving drugs.

Guidance

North Essex isn't yet on the cannabis-testing agenda, but that doesn't
mean it won't be.

A spokesman for the Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust said the Trust would
be "closely following" the trials.

"We will then await national guidance from the National Institute for
Clinical Excellence (Nice) and act accordingly," he said.

Lawrence Wood, chief executive of the Colchester-based charity
Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre, was less reticent. He thinks the
study is long overdue.

"Medical people have known for years that, when it comes to pain
relief, cannabis works," he declared.

"A lot of people out there who have multiple sclerosis (MS) find
cannabis is the only thing which really works for them - but it is
still illegal."

The reason, he insists, is not so much concern about the side-effects
from a banned substance as the political fallout.

"Yes, cannabis - even for medical purposes - is still politically
sensitive," he agreed.

"But things are improving. Soon, there will be a cannabis-based
pain-killing spray available to those with MS."

To develop the spray, G W Pharmaceuticals was given a special
Government licence.

"Trials have been so successful that we are all hoping the spray will
be available next year," revealed Mr Wood.

But it wouldn't be a free-for-all. The spray would not be for sale on
supermarket shelves. It would only be stocked by pharmacies and only
available on prescription. But possession and supplying cannabis is
against the law. How does the spray get round that one? "The spray
itself will not be illegal," explained Mr Wood.

"It has been developed by using only the cannabis extracts which
relieve pain. That means the spray does not break the law."

It is difficult to estimate how many people in the UK have MS. Mr Wood
estimates anything between 85,000 and 100,000. But, because MS is
not a notifiable disease, noone knows the true figure.

"There is no cure for MS and it doesn't only affect those with the
disease. It affects their families, too," he said.

"They need all the help they can get - and if that means pain relief
by taking cannabis, then they should be allowed to take cannabis.

"That is why we would definitely like to see cannabis legalised, but I
don't think the Government has any intention of doing that."

But he does believe attitudes are changing. Even five years ago
cannabis as medicine was still socially unacceptable. Today,
research has got the backing not only of the British Medical
Association but, crucially, of the Government.

Kate Bradley, though, is still breaking the law.

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CANNABIS ON TRIAL

Doctors carrying out the UKP 500,000 study to test cannabis for pain
relief hope to recruit 400 patients to take part. Each will be
randomly assigned to one of four oral pain-relieving treatments either
standardised cannabis extracts, tetrahydrocannabinol (an active
ingredient of cannabis), a standard pain reliever drug or a placebo.

The drug will be administered orally via a capsule containing a
dose.

The pain relief and side effects will then be assessed over a 6 hour
period.

Doctor Anita Holcroft, of Imperial College London, who is leading the
nationwide study, said anecdotal evidence suggesting cannabis could
provide effective pain relief for a variety of debilitating conditions
"need to be assessed scientifically

A spokesman for the British Medical Association (BMA) said although
cannabis itself is unsuitable for medical us, some cannabis-based
medicines have been potential to relieve pain.

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CANNABIS FACT FILE

The cannabis sativa plant -also known as Indian hemp. marijuana pot
weed, hash, ganja dope, gear and Mary Jane is a hardy plant which
grows all over the world and has been in use for thousands of years

The active ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the plant's
dried leaves are smoked and induce a mildly euphoric state in the user

THC has cardiovascular effects, and a heart attack is 4.2 times more
likely to occur within an hour of smoking cannabis.

Around 3.2 million people in Britain smoke cannabis

Between 1999 and 2001, the number of 14-15 year olds who had tried
cannabis rose from 19% to 29%

Regular use of cannabis is associated with a higher risk of mental
illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression

In Amsterdam, where cannabis is decriminalised, 55% of people who say
they have tried the drug only end up using it a couple of dozen times
or less

Source - British Medical Journal

WHAT IS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

MULTIPLE sclerosis is a chronic progressive disease of the central
nervous system. It results in: Speech and visual disorders
Tremors Muscular inco-ordination Partial paralysis.