Lords Say Clinical Trials Of
Whole Cannabis Should Be Launched
"as a matter of urgency for compassionate reasons"
-- Call For Rescheduling – Major Breakthrough
(Marijuananews note: This is a major victory for
the medical marijuana movement. While there is talk here of "derivatives" of
cannabis, it is quite clear that they are talking about whole cannabis, and leaving it up
to the doctors to determine whether their patients would benefit from it.Following the
initiatives in DEAland, this report by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
makes quite clear that the move for medical marijuana is not some sort of counterculture
plot. Of course, this means that the Drug Czar’s office will have to think of new
lies: perhaps, that the murder rate in the House of Lords is ten times that of DEAland.
It will be interesting to see if this is reported in DEAland media.)
See
Lords Committee To
Call For Legalized Medical Cannabis On Tuesday UK Paper Claims
and links
Peers support cannabis use
November 11, 1998 From
The Independent
London
http://www.independent.co.uk/
By Sarah Schaefer Political Reporter
The likelihood of cannabis being legalised for medical use increased yesterday after a
powerful Lords committee said it would be "unjustified" and "inhumane"
to delay clinical trials of the drug further.
Peers recommended an urgent change in the law to allow derivatives of the drug to be
used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. The 53-page report from the
Lords’ Science and Technology Committee concluded an eight-month inquiry. It will put
pressure on the Government to relax the blanket ban on cannabis, which has lasted for the
past 25 years.
The Department of Health has always insisted evidence of the medical benefits of
cannabis was too weak to justify a relaxation of the law.
But the committee said that it has been persuaded that cannabis
should be moved from its listing as a Schedule 1 drug, where it cannot be used except in
research, to Schedule 2, allowing doctors and pharmacists to supply it on prescription.
Lord Perry of Walton, the committee’s chairman, said clinical trials of cannabis
should be mounted "as a matter of urgency for compassionate
reasons" as thousands of patients could be helped. "It would be unjustified and
inhumane to make them wait much longer," he said.
The committee was less convinced about the drug’s effectiveness in tackling other
conditions, including epilepsy, glaucoma and asthma, but Lord
Perry made clear it would be at doctors’ discretion when to prescribe the drug.
He denied the legalisation of cannabis for medical use would be the first step towards
the decriminalisation of the drug for recreational use, saying they
were "completely separate matters".
Lord Perry, who is 77, said: "Before any of you ask us if
we have ever smoked pot, the answer is that we’re not going to tell you. It’s
not relevant to the inquiry. But cannabis can be used to reduce the amount of morphine or
heroin that is used for terminal conditions like cancer."
Supported