UK Firm Hopes to Have "a
cannabis-based medicine ready to be prescribed by doctors
within three to four years." How Time Flies When You Are Not In Pain!
(Marijuananews note: This article candidly
acknowledges that people are having to break the law in order to get relief from their
suffering, but there does not seem to be any concern about this. GW Pharmaceuticals is
making excellent progress and I wish them well, but I think that their business will
suffer when marijuana is legalized.
See
Member of
Parliament Claims UK Government Moving Toward Medical Marijuana:
"It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when."
and
Nearly 100 UK MPs Support Bill To
Legalize Medical Marijuana;
Florida High Court Dismisses State’s Challenge To Medical Marijuana Necessity Defense
-- NORML PR
None of this is happening in a moral void.)
See
Acquittal Of UK
Medical Marijuana Co-Operative Operator Gets Massive Media Coverage
– There, Not Here, Of Course –
"Cannabis Law In Chaos As Dealer Is Cleared" -- 5 Articles
November 16, 1999
Brits Plan Pot Medicine
From Reuters
LONDON -- A British drug company said on Tuesday it hoped to have
a cannabis-based medicine ready to be prescribed by doctors within three to four years.
(Marijuananews note: So the patients should just bite the bullet and suffer until
then.)
Sufferers from diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which attacks the central nervous
system, have been calling for a pain-relieving cannabis medicine for years and many have
broken the law by buying the drug from street dealers.
See
Chairman of
the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
Criticizes UK Government’s Rejection Of Report On Medical Marijuana
– 2 Articles With 2 of the Worst Prohibitionist Arguments
GW Pharmaceuticals said it was making progress in clinical studies with cannabis-based
medicines.
See
UK Guidelines For
Tests On Medical Marijuana To Be Set Today;
Muddled Reporting On Muddled "Experts" -- 2 Articles
and
UK Moves Toward
Medical Marijuana Trials; The Prince Seems To Approve,
But Not the BMA -- 2 Articles
A small group of volunteers had been taking cannabis under clinical conditions in order to
determine the best dose. Some had taken cannabis lozenges which dissolve under the tongue
while others used an inhaler.
Dr. Geoffrey Guy, chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, said his company had carried out its
first studies in which human subjects were given standardized extracts of cannabis.
"I am pleased to report that the progress of our development program from the
laboratory to human clinical dosing has proceeded without problems," he added in a
statement.
Guy said there was evidence that cannabis could relieve pain in
multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and neuralgia. His company will evaluate these
uses in some 2,000 patients over the next two to three years.
GW Pharmaceuticals is licensed by the British Home Office to grow, possess, and supply
cannabis for medical research.
See
It Is
Almost Harvest Time In UK For First Medical Marijuana Crop; But It Can Only Be Used For
"Research"
If trials are successful, the Home Office will change the law to
allow prescription of cannabis-based medicines, the company statement said.
(Marijuananews note: Until then the UK will continue to persecute the sick and dying
for their own good.)
See
UK Government Blocks
Medical Marijuana Bill;
Prime Minister Refuses To Oppose Arresting Sick And Dying
-- Association for Cannabis as Medicine Bulletin
GW has been growing cannabis in secure, computer-controlled greenhouses in the south of
England.
Although the plants are the same as those grown for illegal
recreational use -- cannabis sativa -- the trials are designed to maximize the drug's
analgesic, or pain relieving, effect rather than to make subjects so high that they do not
care about the pain.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.
(Marijuananews note: If that last sentence means anything, it would be that these are
strains that are relatively low in THC, but have other cannabinoids. Some of the strains
that they acquired from Holland are like that.
See
Swedish
Prohibitionists Investigate British And Dutch Medical Cannabis Research;
But Omit Crucial Facts
Now consider that the DEAland Drug Czar says that medical marijuana isn’t necessary
because synthetic THC is available in a pill.)
See
ABCNews Promotes Web
Debate Between NORML and The Czar
|
Supported