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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis mouth-spray medicine may be on prescription next
Ananova
Tuesday 05 Nov 2002 Cannabis-based medicines could be available on prescription in the UK by next year. GW Pharmaceuticals has announced the preliminary results of Phase III clinical trials - the last stage of drug evaluation before it can be approved - on a cannabis-based mouth spray. The trials involving around 350 patients showed that those taking the medicine had significant reductions in nerve damage pain, spasticity and sleep disturbance. GW Pharmaceuticals, which is based in Salisbury, says it intends to submit its first regulatory application to the Medicines Control Agency early next year. Subject to regulatory approval this means the UK market launch of the first cannabis based medicine could be in 2003. Dr Geoffrey Guy, executive chairman of GW, said the results represented a "major milestone". "The performance of GW's medicine has exceeded our own expectations and holds out the prospect of providing a significant advance in the treatment of these most challenging of medical conditions," he said. A spokesman for the Multiple Sclerosis Society said: "These preliminary trial results appear very encouraging and we look forward to seeing the full results reviewed. "We hope we are moving much closer to the day when people with MS will have access to cannabis-derived drugs which have been proved both effective and safe in the treatment of symptoms of this long-term condition. "In the meantime we continue to argue that people should not be criminalised for using a drug which can alleviate those often painful symptoms and have asked the police and prosecuting authorities to deal with cases sympathetically."
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