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Australia: State marijuana trial hits supply snag
Sarah Price The Sun-Herald
Sunday 19 Dec 2004 The future of a state-run medicinal marijuana trial will rely on Federal Government agreement to allow the importation of the substance or for it to be grown locally. NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca will meet federal Health Minister Tony Abbott this week in a bid to win support for the trial. The State Government says importing or cultivating medicinal cannabis are the only options in the absence of a pharmaceutical product. Mr Della Bosca said while the Government had investigated the potential of Sativex, a cannabis nasal spray, its sale had been rejected by UK regulators this month. Regulators told the spray's manufacturers, GW Pharmaceuticals, that it would have to conduct another clinical trial before the spray could be licensed for sale. Mr Della Bosca said the spray was still some years away from being available in NSW. "Even then, I am advised Sativex is meant only for people with multiple sclerosis and neuropathic pain," he said. "It would therefore not provide relief for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS or spinal cord injury. "Work is taking place to develop sprays for these conditions, but they are many years away." After suffering from bone cancer for five years and having two bone marrow stem cell transplants, Edward, 55, decided to try marijuana after hearing how it could ease pain. Edward, who lives in regional NSW and asked for his surname not to be revealed, said: "I got a much better sleep and felt better in my stomach." Since then he uses it at night to help him bear the disease for which he has refused the latest round of chemotherapy because he says his body just would not take any more. "I was hesitant to do it, but when you're sick in the belly from the morphine, there's nothing else," he said. Mr Della Bosca said the Government had a responsibility to look to other solutions to help patients suffering from those conditions as soon as possible. In the absence of a pharmaceutical product, the only two alternatives were to import a "standardised, safe source of medicinal cannabis" from countries that already have such schemes in place, or to grow the medicinal cannabis in a regulated environment in NSW. The State Government does not favour individuals growing the drug. It is not known how the Federal Government will respond to the options.
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