'POT PILLS' GO ON TRIAL IN BRITAIN

Scientists Seek To 'Scientifically Acquire Anecdotal
Evidence'

LONDON, Aug. 21 - In the latest sign of medical marijuana hitting
mainstream medical practice, British scientists say they will use the
drug in pain-reducing clinical trials involving some 400
post-operative patients here.

THE STUDY, announced by the British Medical Research Council, is
particularly poignant in Britain, where the government's view on
marijuana is seen as more relaxed than in the United States. Partly to
free up officers needed to fight serious crime, British police have
taken a "softly-softly" approach to smoking marijuana in public places
in London. In the past year, cannabis cafes also have been testing the
law.

The clinical trail will use cannabis capsules, called Cannador, to
test their effect on patients needing pain medication. Regularly
prescribed painkillers and placebos will be used to control the study.

Similar studies with so-called "pot pills" have been performed in the
United States, with doctors saying cannabis shows no more effective
than codeine in pain reduction. However, British scientists and the
Berlin-based Society of Ontological and Immunological Research, the
developer of Cannador, say they hope the new pills - containing more
extracts, or cannabinoids, from the marijuana plant - will have a more
pronounced affect on pain sufferers.

SEEKING SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

In a statement on Wednesday, the Medical Research Council said it
wants to "scientifically acquire anecdotal evidence of the
efficaciousness of cannabis in pain-relief."

Cannabis has a long history of use in Britain, dating back to
Victorian times when Queen Victoria is said to have taken it for
menstrual pains. Her doctor once described marijuana as "one of the
most valuable medicines we possess."

The invention of the syringe at the end of the 19th century nearly
spelled the end to the use of medical marijuana in Britain, because
cannabis cannot dissolve in water and quickly enter the
bloodstream.

Research shows that oral administration of cannabis hampers its
effectiveness because of the slow absorption rate. Many sufferers of
diseases alleviated by cannabis - like multiple sclerosis, high blood
pressure, migraines and arthritis - simply smoke the drug which,
despite the harmful side effects of smoking, gives many sufferers
relief within minutes.

CANNABIS SPRAY

Seeking a solution to the problem, British biotech firm G.W.
Pharmaceuticals has developed a cannabis spray, whose effects could be
felt faster than waiting for a capsule to ingest and be released into
the bloodstream.

Sylvia Barber of Bayer pharmaceutical company, manufacturers of G.W
Pharmaceuticals' products, said researchers are awaiting government
approval of their product.

"The proposal was issued to the Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency in March of this year, and we are still awaiting
approval. We have submitted the product for the treatment of the
symptoms of [multiple sclerosis] and neuropathic pain."

She added that G.W Pharmaceuticals is still doing extensive research
into the spray's application to other medical conditions.

The British Medical Research Council said it hopes the results of its
study will be ready for publication within a year.