BRITISH COMPANY TO TEST CANNABIS FOR CANCER PAIN

LONDON (Reuters) - UK patients suffering from terminal cancer will soon get
the chance to test cannabis-based medicines if a pioneering British
pharmaceutical company gets its way.

GW Pharmaceuticals, which has a government license to grow cannabis, said
Wednesday it was expanding clinical trials to ease the pain of cancer
patients. Trials involving patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord
injury had already proved successful, it said.

While cannabis use is illegal, many people in the UK suffering from serious
diseases have been lobbying for its use for medicinal purposes.

GW said more than 100 patients with terminal cancer who are suffering pain
that is not responding to current therapy will take part in trials at more
than 20 centers throughout the country. Patients will not actually smoke
the drug, but instead will use an under-the-tongue spray.

Executive Chairman Geoffrey Guy said this represented a key milestone for
GW since "cannabis-based medicine has the potential to provide considerable
advantages over current medications to cancer patients."

Around 40% of cancer patients could benefit if the trials were successful,
he added.

Guy said GW was on course to become the first company in the world to win
regulatory approval for prescription cannabis-based medicines.

"We remain confident of being able to present data to the UK regulatory
authorities in 2003, and--subject to approval--bring the first
cannabis-based prescription medicine to market in early 2004," Guy said.