Pubdate: Tue, 21 May 2002
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Lorna Duckworth
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

MEDICAL CANNABIS ON THE NHS MOVES A STEP CLOSER

The use of cannabis-based drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and 
terminal cancer moved a step closer yesterday when ministers asked 
for an investigation by the panel which vets medicines for the NHS.

Cannabis derivatives are undergoing clinical trials to see if they 
relieve the symptoms of MS and alleviate the pain endured by cancer 
patients as well as those with spinal-cord damage.

The trials will run for at least another year and if they prove 
successful the earliest envisaged date by which a manufacturer could 
obtain a licence to market the drugs would be 2004.

But yesterday the Department of Health included cannabinoids in the 
latest batch of drugs to be referred for assessment by the National 
Institute for Clinical Excellence. The move was seen as a tacit 
acceptance that the medicines will prove to be of value in relieving 
symptoms such as spasms, bladder dysfunction and pain in patients 
with severe nerve damage.

It comes ahead of plans by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, to 
make possession of cannabis a non-arrestable offence. This more 
relaxed approach to cannabis, will be endorsed by a report from the 
Commons Home Affairs Select Committee today.

If approved for medicinal use, drugs derived from the cannabis plant 
would probably be formulated so the patient did not experience any 
narcotic effect.
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