cannabisnews.com: Dutch Approve Cannabis as Prescription Drug Dutch Approve Cannabis as Prescription Drug Posted by CN Staff on September 01, 2003 at 09:02:59 PT By Paul Gallagher Source: Reuters Amsterdam -- The Netherlands Monday became the world's first country to make cannabis available as a prescription drug in pharmacies to treat cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis patients, the Health Ministry said. The Netherlands is making the drug widely available to chronically ill patients amid pressure on countries like Britain, Canada, Australia and the United States to relax restrictions on its supply as a medicine. Dutch doctors will be allowed to prescribe it to treat chronic pain, nausea and loss of appetite in cancer and HIV patients, to alleviate MS sufferers' spasm pains and reduce physical or verbal tics in people suffering Tourette's syndrome. "From September 1, 2003 pharmacies can provide medicinal cannabis to patients with a prescription from a doctor. Cannabis has a beneficial effect for many patients," the Health Ministry said. The Netherlands, where prostitution and the sale of cannabis in coffee shops are regulated by the government, has a history of pioneering social reforms. It was also the first country to legalize euthanasia. Two companies in the Netherlands have been given licenses to grow special strains of cannabis in laboratory-style conditions to sell to the Health Ministry, which in turn packages and labels the drug in small tubs to supply to pharmacies. As well as pharmacies, 80 hospitals and 400 doctors will be allowed to dispense five-gram doses of SIMM18 medical marijuana for 44 euros ($48) a tub and more potent Bedrocan at 50 euros. The Health Ministry recommends patients dilute the cannabis -- which will be in the form of dried marijuana flowers from the hemp plant rather than its hashish resin -- in tea or turn it into a spray. HIV SUFFERERS WELCOME MOVE A British drug firm pioneering cannabis spray medicine to give pain relief for multiple sclerosis patients is hoping to launch the product in Britain later this year. The association of HIV patients in the Netherlands welcomed the government's move to make cannabis available in high-street pharmacies. "We are glad the government recognizes that for some people it can improve the quality of life," said Robert Witlox, managing director of HIV Vereniging. The association has called on health insurers to cover the cost of the drug like any other. The government, which recognized many chronically ill people were already buying cannabis from coffee shops, said it should only be prescribed by doctors when conventional treatments had been exhausted or if other drugs had side-effects. The government said it would start distributing to pharmacies Monday. The Health Ministry's Office of Medicinal Cannabis has a monopoly on wholesale distribution of the drug, grown in laboratory-style conditions to ensure medicinal purity. The ministry estimates up to 7,000 people in the Netherlands have used cannabis for medical reasons, buying it in coffee shops. It said this could more than double once it was available from pharmacies in pure medicinal form. Cannabis has a long history of medicinal use. It was used as a Chinese herbal remedy around 5,000 years ago, while Britain's Queen Victoria is said to have taken cannabis tincture for menstrual pains. But it fell out of favor because of a lack of standardized preparations and the development of more potent synthetic drugs. Critics argue that it has not passed sufficient scientific scrutiny at a time when researchers are trying to determine if it confers the medical benefits many users claim. Some doctors say it increases the risk of depression and schizophrenia. Source: Reuters Author: Paul GallagherPublished: September 1, 2003Copyright: 2003 Reuters News ServiceRelated Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedical Marijuana Sold in the Netherlandshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17201.shtmlDutch To Prescribe Cannabis for Painhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17200.shtmlMedical Marijuana Goes on Sale in Pharmacieshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17198.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by FoM on September 01, 2003 at 17:59:49 PT EJ That's Right Cannabis isn't water soluble. If it was water soluble more people would make tea. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on September 01, 2003 at 14:52:52 PT They can't be serious about the tea Cannabinoids don't dissolve in water. I would think that Dutch pharmacists would realize this, it is about the most basic fact about cannabinoids that they are lipophilic. I would think that any pharmacist in the world should understand quickly why making tea from cannabis is a bad idea.Well, this is a lesson in how the wisdom of the common person is superior to the wisdom of the organized elites.All of these elite Dutch doctors and officials still can't understand the most basic property of cannabinoids, that they dissolve in oil and not in water.All hail to the common man, so to speak. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 01, 2003 at 13:25:55 PT News Article from WGALChannel.com State Medical Marijuana LawsSeptember 1, 2003The issue of legalizing medical marijuana has pitted individual states against the federal government. Although federal law prohibits any use or possession of marijuana, more than half of the U.S. states have enacted favorable medical marijuana laws since 1978. However, most of the laws are ineffective because of their contradiction to the federal prohibition. Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books that recognize the drug's medical value, according to a Marijuana Policy Project report released by the Drug Policy Alliance in February 2001. Eight states have enacted effective laws allowing marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Another 12 states have Therapeutic Research Program laws. These laws allow patients to legally use medical marijuana through a state-run research program. However, none of these programs have been in operation since 1985 because of an increasingly cumbersome federal approvals process. Ten states and the District of Columbia have laws that recognize marijuana's medical value, but don't protect users from arrest. Several allow patients to possess marijuana if obtained directly from a valid prescription -- but there isn't a legal supply of the drug to fill a prescription. Doctors are not allowed to prescribe marijuana, and pharmacies can't dispense it. The federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 established five "schedules" into which all illicit and prescription drugs are placed. Marijuana is currently in Schedule 1, which defines it as having a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in treatment. The U.S. government doesn't allow Schedule 1 substances to be prescribed by doctors or sold in pharmacies. However, states have their own controlled substance schedules, which typically mirror the federal government's. But the states are free to place the substances in whatever schedules they see fit. However, the only significance for a state placing marijuana in a less restrictive schedule is that it simply recognizes the drug's supposed therapeutic use. Click on the states in the map below to see their medical marijuana policies, based on information from NORML and the Marijuana Policy Project. http://www.thewgalchannel.com/health/2255025/detail.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment