BRITISH FIRM TESTS AEROSOL POT

Will Anne McLellan opt for sprayed instead of smoked?

The federal health minister told doctors recently she is uncomfortable with
the idea of Canadians smoking marijuana to relieve pain. But England is
offering an alternative.

A British pharmaceutical company is producing a cannabis aerosol spray
under licence to the U.K. government.

Similar to a breath spray, it seems to offer the medical benefits of
marijuana without the harmful side effects of smoking, said Justin Gover,
managing director of GW Pharmaceuticals Inc.

It has been testing the spray in clinical trials over the past five years
in Britain and Europe with 400 people who have multiple sclerosis, cancer,
rheumatoid arthritis and spinal-cord injuries.

The company offered the spray to Health Canada for use in clinical trials,
but the federal government turned it down, Gover confirmed when contacted
this week.

"We've had discussions with Heath Canada for a number of years," he said
from Salisbury, England.

"The discussions really centred on GW establishing a clinical trials
program in Canada of sufficient size to allow Canadians to take part."

But McLellan's predecessor, Allan Rock, who was minister when Ottawa was
first approached, chose instead to have a supply of marijuana cultivated
domestically for use in clinical trials.

The result was a 200-kilogram harvest that was grown under contract to the
government in an abandoned Manitoba mine.

McLellan, however, has announced that the crop will not be used in clinical
trials after all because it contains too many different strains. The plants
were grown from seedlings seized in police drug raids.

A group of seven Canadian medical marijuana users and suppliers are suing
for access to that crop, but one of their lawyers says a cannabis spray
would be the first choice.

"I'm quite certain the spray is the way to go," Alan Young said. "I've
never had a client extol the virtues of smoking."

The legal problems faced by medical marijuana users in Canada are the same
in many parts of the world, Gover said.

His company's solution is to convert marijuana into a form that can be
approved under existing laws, as was done with morphine.

Although opium is a banned substance in most countries, morphine, which is
one of its derivatives, can be prescribed to control pain.

The firm is on track to apply early next year to have use of the spray
approved under Britain's regulatory regime for prescription drugs, Gover
said. Its target is to have the spray on the market in early 2004.

"If our program is successful in the U.K., we have every intention of
applying to Health Canada for approval of our product in Canada," he said,
adding if that happens, the spray could conceivably be available here at
about the same time as in Britain.

A Health Canada spokesperson could not be reached for comment.