Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2003
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2003 The Age Company Ltd
Contact:  http://www.theage.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

EXPERTS BACK MEDICAL MARIJUANA TRIAL

People who expressed outrage at a planned trial of marijuana for medicinal 
purposes should think of the victims of chronic disease before condemning 
the idea, medical experts said today.

Support for the NSW trial came as pain management authorities put forward 
an "electronic bong" device capable of administering a controlled amount of 
cannabis without the harmful effects of smoking.

Professors, doctors and researchers today threw their weight behind the NSW 
government's move to provide the chronically ill with prescription cannabis 
where appropriate.

They played down concerns controlled marijuana use in such cases would lead 
to addiction or mental illness.

Cannabis dependency was much less of a threat than addiction to other 
prescribed pain relievers such as morphine, and those at risk of diseases 
such as schizophrenia would be ruled out of contention for the trial.

Instead of scaremongering, those concerned about the trial should consider 
the suffering it would alleviate, NSW Cancer Council chief Andrew Penman said.

"I would say to them, think of the patient at the end of the issue," he 
told reporters.

"I would say to those people, get off your soapbox and think about the person."

Pain management experts from Royal North Shore Hospital and Sydney 
University said health concerns about smoking the drug could be overcome by 
using a device that gave the user a concentrated aerosol spray.

"A kind of electronic bong," is how anaesthesia and analgesia researcher 
Professor Laurie Mather described it.

"That would be absolutely perfect for doing this."

The device would be activated by the user inhaling and deliver a controlled 
quantity of dense aerosol fog containing cannabis, as effective as smoking 
but with no cancer risks and more powerful than eating the drug.

The instrument also had the advantage of being an Australian innovation, 
Professor Mather said.
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