GOVERNMENT-backed agencies are to issue official guidelines for testing the medical benefits of cannabis.

The guidelines, to be announced on January 11, are expected to form the basis of tests on more than 1,000 patients throughout next year.

If approved, each of the initial three tests will cost GBP 500,000, funded by taxpayers.

Medical respectability for the drug will come a step closer when The Medical Research Council and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society will set the guidelines at a closed meeting to be attended by Department of Health officials.

The move comes after growing pressure to look at the drug’s possible benefits.

Prince Charles last week joined the debate when he asked a woman struck down by the nerve disorder multiple sclerosis whether she had smoked the drug.

Karen Drake, 36, said: ‘He said he had heard it was the best thing for relief from MS. I was surprised that he asked me about it.’ The drug, which has side-effects including paranoia, was barred from use by doctors under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.

But a number of people struck down by MS have argued that smoking the drug can lessen their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

Peter Cardy, chief executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Society said earlier this month: ‘Quite a lot of people with MS do use cannabis because they find conventional remedies do not work or are not prescribed for some of the nasty symptoms like spasms and pain.

See
UK Jury Acquits Man For Growing "Medicinal Cannabis;" More Pressure On Government, Reports London Times
and
IoS Cannabis Campaign Influencing Public Opinion; UK Jury Acquits Medical Marijuana Grower; Ignores Judge.

‘It is sad and regrettable that when they find something that works for them they have to deal with the criminal world.’ In November the Government rejected a call from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee for doctors to be immediately allowed to prescribe the drug for medical purposes.

The British Medical Association maintains its opposition to any change in the law until there is scientific proof of its therapeutic efficiency.

See
Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
Criticizes UK Government’s Rejection Of Report On Medical Marijuana
– 2 Articles With 2 of the Worst Prohibitionist Arguments

From The Scotsman
Letters_ts@scotsman.com
http://www.scotsman.com/
December 24, 1998

By Tom Little

CHARLES JOINS CANNABIS DEBATE

THE debate on the legalisation of cannabis was reignited yesterday when it was claimed that the Prince of Wales had told a multiple sclerosis sufferer he had heard it was the "best thing" for the disease.

The prince’s surprising intervention was welcomed by campaigners who have called for the drug to be made available on the National Health Service for the treatment of various medical conditions. However, the prince was accused of meddling by critics who advocate a "zero tolerance" approach to drugs.

The row erupted after Prince Charles made an annual visit to a day care centre where he met Karen Drake, 36, who has suffered from multiple sclerosis for ten years.

Details of the conversation between the two emerged yesterday when Ms Drake said she was astonished when the prince brought up the illegal use of cannabis as a form of pain relief by many sufferers.

Ms Drake, a wheelchair-bound divorcee from Cheltenham, said his comments came out of the blue after they had discussed a mutual interest in painting. She said: "He asked me about MS and how long I had had it. He asked if I had taken cannabis. He said he had heard it was the best thing for it. I was surprised that he asked me about it, but he is a lovely man, he is really caring."

She added: "I was surprised, but I think I would like to at least try it. Anything that can help relieve the pain can only be for the good."

Ms Drake spends several hours a week at the Sue Ryder Home, in Cheltenham, of which Prince Charles is patron. The centre caters for sufferers of cancer and motor neurone disease as well as multiple sclerosis.

Gillian Rose, the home’s appeals co-ordinator, said the prince’s visits were usually informal. She added: "He was talking with one of the ladies in the day care centre who sufferers from MS. I only presume he mentioned it because it is a talking point for MS sufferers."

Prince Charles was accompanied on his visit on Tuesday by Lady Ryder, who set up the Sue Ryder Foundation in 1952. She said she did not overhear the conversation.

A spokeswoman for the prince later stressed he had not taken a stance on the medical use of cannabis.

The spokeswoman added: "We are not going to deny that a conversation of this nature took place but the point is that we was not advocating one way or the other. He merely asked a question relating to the matter.

"He is not entering the debate but is aware that there is one. Indeed it would be surprising if someone with the prince’s interest in health was not aware of such a debate."

Cannabis has been used as a painkiller for at least 5,000 years and recent research, including ground-breaking work by Dr Roger Pertwee of Aberdeen University, has been used by those who claim it should be available on prescription.

The House of Lords science and technology committee this year recommended further research, and last month George Howarth, the Home Office minister indicated the Government was prepared to license clinical trials.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society has advocated such research and Peter Cardy, the charity’s chief executive, welcomed Prince Charles’s intervention. He said: "The prince is right to say some sufferers who take cannabis find relief from the unpleasant symptoms. I think the prince’s concern just shows how important it is that this issue gets addressed instead of being swept under the carpet.

"It is good to have his recognition of not only the disease but how nasty the effects can be.

"Quite a lot of people with MS do use cannabis because they find conventional remedies don’t work or are not prescribed for some of the nasty symptoms like spasm and pain.

"People with MS don’t choose to become criminals and we think it is sad and regrettable that when they find something that works for them they have to deal in the criminal world."

However, Jan Betts, 49, whose daughter Leah died after taking an ecstasy tablet on her 18^th birthday, said: "Prince Charles doesn’t know what he’s talking about. How does he know cannabis is the best thing for MS?"
(Marijuananews note: The Betts family is a sad example of the workings of prohibitionism. Mr. Betts is former police officer. Their daughter actually died of an overdose of water, really, after consuming what she thought was Ecstasy. Since then the Betts have become crusaders for marijuana prohibition, even opposing medical marijuana. Of course, the media has never questioned their expertise, much less this non sequitur. They are "victims" -- and therefore experts.)

Linda Hendry, the Scottish spokeswoman of the Legalise Cannabis Campaign, said: "Anything which raises awareness of the issue is welcome. Prince Charles is a compassionate person."