CANNABIS REVIEW READY BY 2004

THE Government showed its willingness yesterday to allow cannabis to be
prescribed on the NHS to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis sufferers and
patients recovering after operations.

Although trials have not been completed, drugs derived from the active
constituents of cannabis are being referred to the National Institute of
Clinical Excellence (Nice) which advises on new treatments.

Appraisal of the drugs would begin in April next year and advice would be
ready by 2004, the Department of Health said yesterday.

Lord Hunt, the health minister, announced that the use of cannabinoids to
relieve pain in multiple sclerosis sufferers and post-operative patients
was being referred to Nice.

"If these pharmaceuticals are licensed for medical use, it is of critical
importance that Nice guidance is in place for the clinicians who will have
to make decisions about their use," he said.

Results of trials funded by the Medical Research Council, supported by the
Department of Health and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, are expected
before the end of the year and will form part of the Nice deliberations.

A spokesman for the MS Society said: "We have pressed for a long time for
proper research into the potential use of cannabis as an MS treatment.

"These trials are now well in progress. If referring to Nice at this stage
means that the process of approval could be speeded up, we welcome it."

Licensing cannabis derivatives for official medical use is thought "likely"
in 2004 or 2005. If they are licensed, the NHS would need "timely and clear
guidance" from Nice on their clinical and cost-effectiveness, the spokesman
said.

It has been claimed that cannabis can prevent nausea caused by cancer
chemotherapy, alleviate muscle spasms in MS, relieve chronic pain, and help
in the treatment of anorexia, glaucoma, epilepsy and mood disorders.

Under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, neither cannabis nor its derivatives
can be prescribed or dispensed and the act would have to be modified.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, said last year that he wanted the laws
covering cannabis to be eased so that possession would no longer be an
arrestable offence.