Subj: Nurses set to back use of cannabis

Date: Apr 19, 1998

Source: Scotland on Sunday

Nurses set to back use of cannabis

By Sue Leonard

Health Correspondent

Nurses are joining the fight to get cannabis products
prescribed for patients. The move follows concern that
people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis and cancer
are not getting adequate pain relief from traditional
treatments.

A motion calling for patients to be prescribed the drugs has
been put forward by the Royal College of Nursing's Pain
Forum and will be debated at the RCN's annual conference in
Bournemouth this week.

Only two cannabis-based products, known as cannabinoids, are
currently used therapeutically. One, nabilone, is used in
hospitals in Britain to prevent nausea in cancer patients
receiving chemotherapy. The other, tetrahydrocannabinol, is
used in the US to improve the appetites of patients with
Aids.

Hundreds of people are thought to be illegally using
cannabis to fight their symptoms despite the risk of prison
sentences and claims by some doctors that it can speed up
the heart, causes paranoia and even insanity.

Celia Manson, an RCN adviser, said nurses were concerned
about the restrictions on current cannabis-derived products
which could benefit so many people. "Few doctors are able to
prescribe them at the moment. Nurses from the Pain Forum
feel there is potential for much greater use and these
should at the very least be investigated."

A previous motion to decriminilise cannabis was defeated at
the conference a few years ago but this one may well be
passed by RCN members on Thursday.