ITALIAN REGION BACKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

FLORENCE, Italy - The council of Italy's northern region of Lombardy
approved on Tuesday a motion in favour of marijuana-based medicines, asking
the Italian government and the parliament "to regulate the medical use of
cannabis and its derivatives."

While Canada, the UK, Spain, Australia, Holland and some US states allow
the use of marijuana as a treatment for chronic illnesses, at least in
clinical trials, in Italy there is no legal way to obtain it but to ask for
a magistrate's ruling.

After listing several scientific studies showing the efficacy of
cannabinoids--the active substances in cannabis--in moderating pain, spasms
and nausea, the Lombardy document specifies that "the choice to approve the
therapeutic use of cannabis should not be included in the debate on the
prohibitionist and anti-prohibitionist approach to drugs."

"Physicians must be able to prescribe their patients the drugs and the
therapy they consider most appropriate. Thousands of patients are waiting
for the legislation to regulate the therapeutic use of cannabis," Yasha
Reibman, a doctor and regional councillor of the radical party, which
presented the motion, said in an official statement.

The Lombardy document "commits the president of the Regional Council and
the president of the Region to communicate its content to the government
and the parliament."

But health minister Girolamo Sirchia remained skeptical. "From what we
know, cannabis' benefits are not particularly significant. Also, they are
not exclusive: on the market there are already products with the same
indications," he told the daily Corriere della Sera.