House of Lords To Hear
Licensed UK Medical Cannabis Grower –
BBC To Air Special On Medical Marijuana
(Ed. note: The progress being made on medical
marijuana in the UK seems very rapid, at least to those not in actual pain. What this
doctor is doing is very worthwhile, and it may provide cover for the medical establishment
to change course, but the arrests of medical marijuana users continue, and many others are
deprived of its benefits in the meantime. All the while, the Blair government has yet to
show any sign of deviating from the DEAland party line.)See
British Firm To
Spend Huge Sums To Turn Medical Marijuana Into An Expensive Pharmaceutical While Arrests
Continue
and
As Lords
Spiritual and Lords Temporal Discuss Cannabis Policy, Lords Nark Persecute The Sick And
Dying -- IoS
and
British Medical
Journal Reports That UK "Experts" Will Speed Up Work On Alternatives To Medical
Marijuana
and
Cannabis
Medical Use Trials Backed by House of Lords Committee
Independent on Sunday
1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL England
http://www.independent.co.uk/sindypot/index.htm
sundayletters@independent.co.uk
July 26, 1998
Cannabis campaign - Marijuana farmer to meet House of Lords
By Vanessa Thorpe
Dr Geoffrey Guy, the British entrepreneur licensed by the Government to farm cannabis,
is to speak to the House of Lords health sub-committee looking into the legalisation
question during a final public meeting on 28 July.
This month Dr Guy, of G W Pharmaceuticals, is planting his first crop at a secret
location. He is expected to tell the sub-committee that he believes legal research into
the beneficial properties of the drug is now essential.
Following the public meeting next Tuesday, the Lords will meet
again in private at least twice before drafting a report that will eventually be published
and presented to the Government in November.
As the debate surrounding the legal status of the drug is brought closer than ever to
Britain’s policy-makers, the BBC has chosen to poll viewers of tomorrow night’s
Watchdog Healthcheck programme to find out whether they agree that cannabis should be
legalised for medicinal purposes.
The telephone vote will be preceded by a filmed investigation into the benefits of
treating a series of chronic conditions with the currently illegal drug.
Visiting a Cannabis Buyers’ Club in Los Angeles, the BBC
reporting team has examined the state laws in that area and the way they allow certain
registered sufferers legal access to a small amount of the drug each week.
In the film, reporter Wesley Kerr interviews club members about their illnesses and
about the effect of cannabis on their condition.
"The whole club, which was run on the floor above an indoor cannabis-growing
facility, had a very organised, clinical atmosphere. I could see that those running the
club took the medical verification of their members very seriously and made sure they were
only helping people who were genuinely ill and who felt they needed the drug in order to
continue," he told the IoS.
In order to avoid prosecution for dealing, the "patients", whose conditions
range from arthritis to cancer and Aids, are only dispensed with 27 grams a week. They
must also present themselves at the club with an "advisory note" from a doctor,
rather than a straightforward prescription.
The British segment of the filmed report will focus on the need to find an efficient
delivery method for the drug to ensure that there are no unpleasant side effects.
Andrew Coldwell, an MS sufferer for 18 years and a member of the Alliance of Cannabis
Therapeutics, will explain his struggle to cope with a succession of legal drugs
prescribed for his condition. For the last five years, he will argue, his life has been
immeasurably improved by the use of cannabis.
See
Director Of UK
Alliance For Cannabis Therapeutics Before The House Of Lords Committee
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, of the British Medical Association, will also set out the
collective view of her organisation, which has called for greater research into the
potential therapeutic uses of the drug.
See
British Medical
Association and Government Graciously Allow Sick and Dying Synthetic Cannabis In
2 Years, Maybe
and
British Medical
Association Calls For Decriminalizing Medical Marijuana, But Wallows in Reefer Madness
Supported