Pubdate: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 Source: Olympian, The (WA) Copyright: 2004, The Olympian Contact: http://www.theolympian.com/forms/lettrfrm.shtml Website: http://www.theolympian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/319 Author: Richard Willing, Gannett News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICINAL MARIJUANA INHALER INCHES CLOSER Plans to make marijuana available by prescription to British multiple sclerosis sufferers promise to shake up the debate in the United States over legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. Sativex, an inhaler that dispenses medical marijuana in mist form, is in the final stages of testing by the United Kingdom's Department of Health, a spokeswoman said. Sativex's developer, GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company, hopes to sell medical pot in Western Europe and the Commonwealth countries, including Canada. The U.S. market is a "long-term objective," company spokesman Mark Rogerson said. Sativex would be the first prescription drug that uses real marijuana extract and not a synthesized form. The product offers hope of pain relief to an estimated 110,000 MS sufferers in the United Kingdom. Twin arguments Some say that by licensing the drug, the British government has confirmed pot's value in relieving pain. Others say that once government-approved marijuana is available, it will be more difficult to argue that disease sufferers should be permitted to grow or purchase marijuana for their own use. "The government's spin will be that there is a right way and a wrong way to pursue (medical marijuana), and that (Sativex) proves it," said Allen St. Pierre, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The Washington, D.C.-based group favors relaxing criminal penalties for all marijuana users. An estimated 2.5 million people have multiple sclerosis, including 400,000 in the United States. It is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system and can result in loss of muscle coordination. The Sativex device uses vapor distilled from marijuana plants grown under government supervision in southern England. It has proved successful in relieving the muscle and headache pain of a small number of test patients, according to trial results reviewed by the UK's Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency. The product is sprayed under the tongue and is said to be especially effective because it is absorbed quickly and contains all of the marijuana plant's pain-relieving properties - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom