Pubdate: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 Source: Scotsman (UK) Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2000 Contact: http://www.scotsman.com/ Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/ Author: Jenny Percival, Political Correspondent REVIEW MAY CLEAR WAY FOR CANNABIS TREATMENT DOCTORS could be allowed to prescribe cannabis for multiple sclerosis and other painful medical conditions after a review of government drugs policy. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, and Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, are thought to have agreed that the illegal drug could be used for medicinal purposes, although they are still not prepared to decriminalise it for recreational use. Mo Mowlam, the Cabinet Office minister with responsibility for drugs policy, had hoped to persuade Mr Blair to set up a Royal Commission to review the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. Downing Street has rejected this idea over fears that a commission may recommend the decriminalisation of cannabis but is considering allowing its medicinal use. A spokesman for No10 insisted yesterday that there were no immediate plans to legalise any controlled drugs and said the Prime Minister was waiting for the results of a number of trials into the medical use of cannabis. However, he did not rule out a relaxation of the government's hardline policy to allow cannabis to be used under medical supervision. Two trials into the medical use of cannabis were announced last year. A UKP1 million Medical Research Council study is looking at its effects on 660 patients with multiple sclerosis. A second trial by GW Pharmaceuticals, into its effects on 2,000 patients with MS, spinal cord injuries and chronic pain, is due to start later this year. Doctors have already urged the government to allow cannabis to be used for medical purposes - the British Medical Association's board of science declared in 1997 that there was evidence that the drug could help muscle spasm in patients with MS. There was also limited evidence of benefits for patients with epilepsy, glaucoma, asthma, high blood pressure and weight loss caused by AIDS. However, doctors have warned that raw cannabis can be harmful - tar levels are three times higher than in cigarettes and new research has suggested that smoking four cannabis joints causes as much lung damage as 20 cigarettes. A test of the government's attitude towards cannabis will come on Tuesday with the publication of a two-year Police Foundation study into the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. The inquiry is expected to recommend that people should no longer be jailed for possessing cannabis for their own use. Doctors found guilty of serious professional misconduct will be struck off the medical register for life under new government proposals. The General Medical Council will also be given new powers to suspend doctors as soon as a complaint is made or they are arrested for a serious crime. Under the proposed changes, doctors struck off the medical register will be erased for life "save in the most exceptional circumstances". Doctors will not be able to apply for re-admission for at least five years, instead of the present 18-month period, and the GMC will be obliged to tell employers if one of their doctors is under investigation. The health minister, John Hutton, is proposing the tough new changes to the Medical Act in the wake of the Harold Shipman case. Shipman, a former Greater Manchester GP, was convicted last month of murdering 15 women patients. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D