|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Pain relief from cannabis
The Herald, Glasgow
Tuesday 11 Sep 2001 Research timescale will not ease anxiety of patients Many patients suffering chronic pain from conditions such as multiple sclerosis or spinal-cord injuries know from personal experience the relief which cannabis brings them. The House of Lords select committee on science and technology said three years ago that it believed cannabis almost certainly does have genuine medical applications. Preliminary results from the trials of cannabis-based pain killers now appear to prove the point of both the patients and their lordships. Of 53 patients taking the drugs as part of the controlled study, 41 reported clinically significant benefit in pain relief. That is an impressively high proportion for any scientific trial, but the necessarily measured pace of scientific investigation means that conclusive data on quality, safety, and efficacy of the medication involved will be available to the regulatory authorities no earlier than 2003. In strictly scientific terms, this means that the first cannabis-based pain relievers could be available for patients in 2004, but that date depends entirely on political approval of the process. On that point there are no guarantees. Politicians, and Tony Blair in particular, are understandably nervous about the legalisation of any banned drug. But pharmacology abounds with examples of medications which are prescribed readily to patients and which, in terms of potency, make cannabis look like a cough sweetie. There have even been suggestions lately that the drug Ritalin, which is prescribed for some hyperactive children, may be as potent, or perhaps more so, than some banned substances. The widespread political support for the public consumption of substances which probably far surpass cannabis in the damage which they cause to the human organism, namely tobacco and alcohol, is hypocritical. The new evidence confirms the sense of pushing ahead with further research as soon as possible. But the timescale, and the uncertainty of the position to be taken by politicians, will do nothing to ease the anxiety of patients. The Canadian government has already become the first in the world to legalise the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Although some see the Canadian decision as precipitate, it at least has the benefit of relieving pain immediately. A further advantage is that Canadian patients taking medicinal cannabis have the confidence of knowing that the active ingredient in their medication is regulated strictly. In other words, they will know what they are getting, unlike those in Britain, whose illegal supplies are of variable quality and strength. At the very least we should resolve in Britain to abandon the prosecution of multiple sclerosis patients who take cannabis. That would relieve a source of anxiety from those who already have enough to worry about.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!