cannabisnews.com: Doctors Begin NHS Cannabis Trials Doctors Begin NHS Cannabis Trials Posted by CN Staff on June 30, 2002 at 19:19:01 PT By Gethin Chamberlain Source: Scotsman UK Hospital trials have begun on a cannabis spray intended to relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis sufferers and of other National Health Service patients in need of long-term pain-relief treatment. Doctors began prescribing the drug and a capsule version to NHS patients at nine hospitals around Britain, including Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow, after permission for the trials was granted earlier this year. At the time, GW Pharmaceuticals, the British firm manufacturing the treatments, said it hoped to test the drug on up to 1,000 patients. The trials come as ministers are said to be ready to press ahead with plans to reclassify cannabis, a move which will be seen as the effective decriminalisation of the drug. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, is expected to announce the changes later this month after a pilot scheme in south London, which allowed police to concentrate on more serious crimes, was judged to have been a success. The purported medicinal benefits of cannabis have long been championed by MS sufferers, but until the start of the clinical trials they have had to buy the drug illegally. If the trials are successful, the drug could be licensed by the Medicines Control Agency and made available on prescription by 2004. Early results from the first two phases of the tests were said to have been encouraging, with MS sufferers and patients with spinal cord injuries reporting significant improvements in their symptoms. GW Pharmaceuticals is expected to use up to 90 tonnes of the drug each year to produce enough for the trials, with 30 tonnes grown under greenhouses in the south of England. The drug is administered to patients under the tongue, either in the form of a spray or a capsule. Gartnavel Hospital is one of a number around the country taking part in the trials, after the west Glasgow hospitals ethics committee gave permission for the trials to go ahead. However, trials at Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth, have halted after a charity refused a £150,000 grant to extend the project. MS sufferers have frequently complained that they have been criminalised by having to purchase the drug illegally, but, under the government’s proposals for the reclassification of cannabis, the drug should be more readily available and with less risk of prosecution. Cannabis is currently classified as a class B drug, possession of which can bring a five-year prison sentence. As a class C drug, its possession would merit only a police warning or a small fine.Source: Scotsman (UK) Author: Gethin Chamberlain Published: Monday, July 1, 2002Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2002 Contact: Letters_ts scotsman.com Website: http://thescotsman.co.uk/Related Articles & Web Site:UK Medicinal Cannabis Projecthttp://www.medicinal-cannabis.org/Blunkett 'To Legalise Cannabis' http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13267.shtmlScots Patients Given Cannabis For Pain Reliefhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13261.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by Industrial Strength on July 01, 2002 at 00:22:26 PT One more big red X For awhile, hope reared her pretty little head. I thought that they were aiming at protection from the federale's. Then the balloon was oh so popped. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by ekim on June 30, 2002 at 21:29:46 PT GOV. DEAN QUIETLY SIGNS COMPROMISE MEDICAL MARIJUA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 27, 2002GOV. DEAN QUIETLY SIGNS COMPROMISE MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL Advocates Expect Study to Lead to Legal Protection in 2003MONTPELIER, VERMONT -- Without comment or fanfare, on June 21 Gov. Howard Dean (D) signed legislation setting up a state task force to study how Vermont should go about protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest. While the measure provides no immediate protection to seriously ill Vermonters who need marijuana to relieve their symptoms, the new law sets the wheels in motion for solid patient protection next year.Text of the bill is available in PDF format: http://www.mpp.org/pdf/vermontbill02.pdfThe compromise measure was agreed to by a House-Senate conference committee after a strong bill, modeled on the medical marijuana laws now on the books in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, passed the House of Representatives on March 15 and a much weaker bill passed the Senate on May 14. "The General Assembly finds that state law should make a distinction between the medical and non-medical use of marijuana," the conference report declared. The measure, S. 193, establishes a task force "to investigate and assess options for legal protections which will allow seriously ill Vermonters to use medical marijuana without facing criminal prosecution under Vermont law."This committee, which will include representatives from law enforcement, the medical community, and seriously ill patients, must report its findings to the governor and the General Assembly by Jan. 15, 2003, in time for legislators to take up the matter next year."This is a mixed bag," said Billy Rogers, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "We had hoped that Governor Dean and the Senate leadership would accept the House bill, which would have spared patients fighting cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis from the possibility of arrest simply for trying to relieve their suffering. They had an opportunity to protect Vermont's most vulnerable citizens, and they failed."Still, the committee this bill sets up isn't studying whether to protect patients, but how to protect them," Rogers added. "After they review the success of the eight state laws now on the books, we believe they will conclude that in 2003, Vermont should become the ninth state to protect seriously ill people who need medical marijuana. Chances are excellent for passage of a solid bill next year, but it's frustrating that people in real need have to spend another year living in fear."The Marijuana Policy Project works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana -- both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. To this end, MPP focuses on removing criminal penalties for marijuana use, with a particular emphasis on making marijuana medically available to seriously ill people who have the approval of their doctors. For more information, please visit http://www.mpp.org . [ Post Comment ] Post Comment