Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jan 1999
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited.
Author: Daniel Simpson
Note: $1.6095 Pound

HIGH HOPES AS UK TESTS CANNABIS FOR MEDICAL USE

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Two clinical research doctors are to volunteer
to run the first government-sanctioned trials on the therapeutic value of
cannabis, the governing body for British pharmacists announced on Monday.

Two separate trials, examining the effects of cannabis and cannabinoids
(its active ingredients) on spasms in multiple sclerosis patients and on
post-operative pain sufferers, will follow new protocols to give the
results scientific weight, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great
Britain said.

"Although trials into the therapeutic use of cannabis and cannabinoids have
taken place in the past, they have never been accepted by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as proof of therapeutic benefit," the society's chief
scientist Tony Moffat said.

"Nobody has yet conclusively proven there is anything in cannabis which
will help alleviate suffering," he added.

Previous tests have been hampered by the illegal status of cannabis, listed
by the WHO and thus the British government as a schedule one drug of abuse,
with no therapeutic value.

If the trial results are conclusive, the WHO line will probably change,
paving the way for Britain to reclassify cannabis for controlled medical use.

The new clinical tests, each of which would cost around 500,000 pounds
($800,000) and involve around 300 volunteers, should present their findings
within two years.

Under the likely guidance of Dr John Zajicek, a placebo group of about 100
patients, mostly MS sufferers, would be given the normal treatment for
controlling muscle spasms.

A second group would be given a standardised preparation of cannabis with a
high concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), believed by scientists to
be the principal active ingredient with pain-relieving properties.

The third group would receive a dose of THC alone, so scientists could see
if other cannabinoids were responsible for the benefits reported by many MS
suffers using the drug.

A spokesman for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, which has been involved in
clarifying the protocols for clinical testing, said: "We are very pleased
to have taken this significant step towards proper trials."

"Cannabis is made up of lots of constituents, some of which are
psychoactive and some which are toxins. We want to identify the bits which
can be helpful and to demonstrate they're safe."

The second series of trials, to be conducted by Dr Anita Holdcroft, would
follow a similar pattern, using patients suffering from acute
post-operative pain or from cancer.

If cannabis is reclassified, THC could be prescribed by doctors, as in the
US, to named patients in controlled capsule doses. Several pilot projects
are also growing cannabis under government licence to explore ways to take
the drug without smoking it.

Geoffrey Guy, whose firm GW Pharmaceuticals harvested 5,000 potent cannabis
sativa plants last Tuesday, hopes to develop plant extracts for inhalation.
"We have moved further in the past year than I dared think," he said. GW
now plans its own series of nationwide clinical trials on 2,000 MS sufferers.

British doctors were allowed to prescribe cannabis until 1973, when it was
removed from a list of prescription drugs that still includes heroin and
morphine.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake