http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010731/sc/health_cannabis_dc_2.html
Tuesday July 31 7:33 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Advocates of the
medical use of marijuana got a boost on Monday when Canada became the first
country in the world to allow people suffering from chronic illnesses to
legally grow and use the drug.
The landmark decision puts the therapeutic
use of the popular recreational drug on the world agenda and could sway
other nations reviewing the use of the drug in relieving pain from illnesses
such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, cancer and degenerative muscle and
bone diseases.
"It is very courageous for the Canadian
government to do this," Roger Pertwee, a leading expert on cannabis from
Aberdeen University in Scotland, told Reuters.
"It is the first country that has
legalized cannabis for medical use, so in that sense it is very groundbreaking.
It will certainly make other countries take it seriously," said Pertwee,
a neuropharmacology professor.
Possessing, growing and selling cannabis
for recreational use is still a crime in Canada but patients whose doctors
write a certificate saying they need it for medical reasons will be allowed
to grow and use the drug without fear of prosecution.
BREAK THE LAW
Patients with chronic illnesses have
been forced to either break the law to get cannabis or stick with legal
drugs that may not work for them or have unpleasant side effects.
"It is very tough on people who
genuinely need it and can't have it just because it is being used so much
recreationally and the government is so worried about that," Pertwee said.
The Canadian decision puts it on
a collision course with the United States, whose Supreme Court ruled in
May there could be no exceptions to the illegality of cannabis.
The federal ruling effectively ended
the legal distribution of medicinal marijuana in California and other states
where it had been permitted.
Most other countries, apart from
the Netherlands where its use has been decriminalized, have a similar policy.
Pertwee applauded the Canadian decision
because it relieves the dilemma of patients, but he and other scientists
and clinicians say problems remain with the supply, dose and delivery systems
of marijuana into the body for medicinal use.
SCIENTIFIC PROOF
Some scientists also agree with the
Canadian Medical Association, which is against the new law because it feels
there is not enough scientific proof about how it works, how much should
be taken or how it interacts with other medication.
Scientists who conducted an analysis
of data from 39 clinical trials of cannabis reported in July that it is
no better than codeine in controlling pain.
But Mark Rogerson of GW Pharmaceutical,
which aims to develop the world's first cannabis-based medicines, said
the Canadian decision supported arguments for the medical benefits.
"There is no doubt this demonstrates
the Canadian health authorities recognizes the potential contribution of
cannabis-based medicines," he said in a telephone interview.
"Anything which contributes toward
putting cannabis center-stage in the medical picture, we are in favor of."
Britain's Medical Research Council
is doing research into the benefits of cannabis for multiple sclerosis.
The Science and Technology Committee of the House of Lords (upper house)
has also suggested there should be more leniency in the therapeutic use
of cannabis.
"There may be some countries which
don't have a policy on this now which may be forced into having a policy
and some of those countries may go the same route as Canada," Pertwee
said.
By Patricia Reaney