BRITAIN TESTS DRUGS BASED ON MARIJUANA

LONDON, Monday, Feb. 18 (Reuters) — British doctors could be filling out
prescriptions for cannabis-based pain-killing drugs as early as 2004 if
clinical trials prove a success, the Department of Health said today.

Canada became the first country to legalize the use of marijuana as a
treatment for chronic illnesses last year and now Britain plans to consider
offering cannabis-based pills through the National Health Service.

The British health minister, Lord Hunt, said trials paid for by the Medical
Research Council and supported by the Department of Health and the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society had been set up to "assess the use of cannabinoids
in multiple sclerosis and post-operative pain."

"Results are expected at the end of 2002 and the National Institute for
Clinical Excellence will use these results in its appraisal of these
drugs," he said.

Britain's Medical Research Council, a government-financed organization, has
already begun trials with cannabis-based tablets on hundreds of people with
multiple sclerosis.

The results of those tests will be forwarded to clinical institute,
Britain's medical watchdog, which will decide whether the cannabis tablets
should be offered by prescription through the National Health Service.

Marijuana is favored by many people who have multiple sclerosis and cancer;
they say cannabis kills pain and stimulates appetite without the corrosive
side effects of many alternatives.

A British company, GW Pharmaceuticals, is developing cannabis-based
prescription medicines. It recently said it would expand clinical trials
into dealing with cancer pain.