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UK: MPs attack 'cruel' ban on medical use of cannabis

Sarah Schaefer

The Independent

Wednesday 10 Jan 2001

The government came under intense pressure yesterday to make cannabis legally available to multiple sclerosis suffers, after the Commons was told about a former undercover drugs squad officer who had been forced to scour the streets for the drug to relieve her pain.

Peter Bradley, the Labour MP for The Wrekin, said that the sufferer, a "courageous but desperate" constituent of his, was a victim of an injustice and was not a criminal.

During health questions, Mr Bradley disclosed that the constituent was, until recently, an undercover drugs squad officer with the West Midlands Police. "It was her job to pursue and to lock up the people who peddled drugs. Now, she is out on the streets seeking to secure the only relief that she can have for the pain that she suffers from," he said. "They are victims of the torment of MS; they should not be made to be victims of an injustice."

Alan Milburn, the Secretary of State for Health, has signalled that the Government is likely to allow the use of the cannabis for medical purposes. But Paul Flynn, the Labour MP for Newport West, branded the Government's present policy on the matter "stupid and cruel" because sufferers would have to wait too long for any changes. He said: "Cannabis has been tried and tested for 5,000 years in every continent by millions of people and has not had any serious side-effects in all that period.

"One hundred members of this House, the majority of the BMA [British Medical Association], the House of Lords' select committee, all agree that natural cannabis should be used now medicinally." Gisela Stuart, a Health minister, confirmed that Government research into the issue was under way, and that it involved about 660 sufferers of the degenerative disease.

She said that the Government would make a decision based on a report on the research to be published in 2003.

"I sympathise with any patient who is suffering," she said. "However, as with any chronic illness, it is very important to evaluate the benefits and risks of treatment. The possession of cannabis is against the law for good scientific reasons in terms of acute and chronic health effects.

"Any medicine ... needs to be properly tested, properly assessed, and only when it is deemed to be safe and effective will it be used within the NHS."

During later exchanges, ministers said that more realistic prosthetic limbs would be available on the NHS for the first time in April. The high and low-definition "silicone cosmesis" limbs, which are more natural-looking than the artificial body parts now available, will be provided to patients across the country. Silicone cosmesis is able to mirror characteristics of the remaining part of an individual's limb. High-definition cosmesis can incorporate different skin tones and hairs.

John Hutton, a Health minister, told the House of Commons: "In 2001-02, and recurrently, funding will be provided for the NHS to increase existing provision of high to low-definition cosmesis, which will be available in future through a new contract from the NHS purchasing and supplies authority."

 

 

 

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