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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Testing time for cannabis users Iris Clapp Essex Evening Gazette Thursday 28 Aug 2003 A COUPLE of years ago the tabloids picked up on a story in the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre's magazine. The story focused on Kate Bradley, who had been diagnosed with the disease in 1991. Five years later she began taking cannabis. It was the only thing which helped ease her increasing pain. What made journalists, politicians and the public generally sit up was not that Kate took cannabis. They were more interested in what Kate had been - a sergeant in the West Midlands Police vice squad who arrested cannabis pushers. Now she was actively seeking out and buying from the people she had once helped put behind bars. Kate Bradley's plight was tabloid heaven. Two years down the line and Kate is still breaking the law. But things have moved on. Now post-surgery patients are to be part of a Medical Research Centre study to test cannabis for pain relief. The trials are being carried out at hospitals throughout the UK, including Princess Alexandra in Harlow, south Essex, and Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk, where researchers hope to measure the effects of cannabis plant extract against other pain-relieving drugs. GUIDANCE North Essex isn't yet on the cannabis-Testing agenda, but that doesn't mean it won't be. A spokesman for the Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust said the Trust would be "closely following" the trials. "We will then await national guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) and act accordingly," he said. Lawrence Wood, chief executive of the Colchester-based charity Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre, was less reticent. He thinks the study is long overdue. "Medical people have known for years that, when it comes to pain relief, cannabis works," he declared. "A lot of people out there who have multiple sclerosis (MS) find can=ADnabis is the only thing which really works for them - but it is still illegal." The reason, he insists, is not so much concern about the side-effects from a banned substance as the political fall-out. "Yes, cannabis - even for medical purposes - is still politically sensitive," he agreed. "But things are improving. Soon, there will be a cannabis-based pain-killing spray available to those with MS." To develop the spray, G W Pharmaceuticals was given a special Government licence. "Trials have been so successful that we are all hoping the spray will be available next year," revealed Mr Wood. But it wouldn't be a free-for-all. The spray would not be for sale on supermarket shelves. It would only be stocked by pharmacies and only available on prescription. But possession and supplying cannabis is against the law. How does the spray get round that one? "The spray itself will not be illegal," explained Mr Wood. "It has been developed by using only the cannabis extracts which relieve pain. That means the spray does not break the law." It is difficult to estimate how many people in the UK have MS. Mr Wood estimates anything between 85,000 and 100,000. But, because MS is not a notifiable disease, no-one knows the true figure. "There is no cure for MS and it doesn't only affect those with the disease. It affects their families, too," he said. "They need all the help they can get - and if that means pain relief by taking cannabis, then they should be allowed to take cannabis. "That is why we would definitely like to see cannabis legalised, but I don't think the Government has any intention of doing that." But he does believe attitudes are changing. Even five years ago cannabis as medicine was still socially unacceptable. Today, research has got the backing not only of the British Medical Association but, crucially, of the Government. Kate Bradley, though, is still breaking the law. Side bars: CANNABIS ON TRIAL Doctors carrying out the £500,000 study to test cannabis for pain relief hope to recruit 400 patients to take part. Each will be randomly assigned to one of four oral pain-relieving treatments either standardised cannabis extracts, tetrahyydrocannabinol(an active ingredient of cannabis), a standard pain reliever drug or a placebo. The drug will be administered orally via a capsule containing a dose. The pain relief and side effects will then be assessed over a 6 hour period. Doctor Anita Holcroft, of Imperial College London, who is leading the nationwide study, said anecdotal evidence suggesting cannabis could provide effective pain relief for a variety of debilitating conditions "need to be assessed scientifically A spokesman for the British Medical Association (BMA) said although cannabis itself is unsuitable for medical us, some cannabis-based medicines have been potential to relieve pain. CANNABIS FACT FILE The cannabis sativa plant, also known as Indian hemp, marijuana, pot, weed, hash, ganja dope, gear and Mary Jane, is a hardy plant which grows all over the world and has been in use for thousands of years The active ingredient is tetrahydrocannibol (THC) - the plant's dried leaves are smoked and induce a mildly euphoric state in the user THC has cardiovascular effects, and a heart attack is 4.2 times more likely to occur within an hour of smoking cannabis. Around 3.2 million people in Britain smoke cannabis Between 1999 and 2001, the number of 14-15 year olds who had tried cannabis rose from 19% to 29% Regular use of cannabis is associated with a higher risk of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression In Amsterdam, where cannabis is decriminalised, 55% of people who say they have tried the drug only end up using it a couple of dozen times or less Source: British Medical Journal WHAT IS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS MULTIPLE sclerosis is a chronic progres=ADsive disease of the central= nervous system. It results in: - Speech and visual disorders - Tremors - Muscular inco-ordination - Partial paralysis.
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