A newsletter about cannabis and cannabinoids as medicine
The first batch of federally approved marijuana is available for shipment, the Health Ministry said on 21 December. "Marijuana from Prairie Plant Systems will be made available to researchers and patients who have received licences to possess," a department official said.
On 22 November the French National Health and Medical Research Institute (Inserm, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) presented a 58-page literature review with the title "Cannabis - which effects on behaviour and health?".
The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has written to Health Minister Allan Rock that the regulations that allow legal access to cannabis for patients since July 2001 place an unfair responsibility on physicians.
On 26-27 October the IACM hold its first international conference on cannabis and the cannabinoids in cooperation with the Berlin Medical Association and the Charité at the Virchow Clinic of the Berlin Charité with about 80 participants from 10 countries.
The Dutch government decided on 19 October to change the law to allow doctors to prescribe cannabis and pharmacists to supply it with "pharmaceutical quality". Parliament is expected to vote in the next few months on the proposal to put medicinal marijuana on the national health care plan. Most users would then have the cost of their joints paid by the government as long as it is prescribed by a doctor.
The Frankfurt firm THC Pharm got the approval from the authorities to produce a cannabis extract. The firm told the press that it wants to use plants from Central Asia, which are cultivated outdoors and not cloned.
Preliminary results of clinical research conducted in the UK and in Switzerland show that cannabis and THC are able to reduce hyperactivity of the bladder in patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.
GW Pharmaceuticals said on 10 September its cannabis spray had delivered significant benefit for 77 percent of chronic pain sufferers in clinical trials. 41 out of the first 53 patients enrolled in the Phase I and II studies derived statistically significant benefit, including reduced pain, improved sleep and overall symptom relief.
In an experimental study with 13 healthy volunteers smoked cannabis was effective in reducing nausea and vomiting, but the 5-HT3 (serotonin) antagonist ondansetron was significantly more effective.
GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company developing cannabis-based medicines for pain relief, said on 14 August it was starting clinical trials in Canada.
Canadians suffering from terminal illnesses and chronic conditions can legally grow and smoke cannabis, or designate someone else to grow it for them, under regulations that took effect on 30 July. About 300 patients are currently exempted from cannabis prohibition. More than 500 new applications are pending, and more are expected.
Two review articles of historical data on the efficacy of cannabinoids in pain and chemotherapy-induced nausea published in the British Medical Journal of 7 July received much media interest.
New regulations expanding the legal medical use of marijuana will take effect on 30 July. "Today's announcement is a landmark in our ongoing effort to give Canadians suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses access to marijuana for medical purposes," Health Minister Allan Rock said on 4 July.
A proposal to endorse the limited use of marijuana for seriously ill patients was rejected on 18 June at the American Medical Association's (AMA) annual meeting. The AMA preferred to allow individual doctors to make up their own minds about the issue.
Robert Randall, who made history in 1976 when he persuaded a federal court in Washington to give him access to government supplies of marijuana has died at 53. He died on 2 June at his home in Sarasota, Florida, of AIDS-related complications.
At the upcoming conference on October 25-27, 2001, it is intended to bring together scientists, clinicians, and physicians to share their experience on the therapeutic potential of cannabis and the cannabinoids, and to allow others interested in this topic to get first-hand information.
GW Pharmaceuticals said it had obtained encouraging results from phase II clinical trials with cannabis and was now extending its program into Phase III trials.
On 25 April the parliament of the Spanish autonomous region Catalonia unanimously decided to ask the government in Madrid to legalise the medical use of cannabis. The initiator of this decision was Agata, a Catalonian organization of women with breast cancer. Since five years Agata is calling for legal access to cannabis for patients suffering from side effects of chemotherapy.
Canada plans to make it easier to possess and cultivate marijuana for medical purposes, Canadian Health Minister Allan Rock said on 6 April. The government intends the new rules to apply by 31 July.
The International Association for Cannabis as Medicine in cooperation with the Medical Association of Berlin and the Charité, Medical Faculty of the Humboldt University of Berlin, would like to invite you to attend the next meeting of the IACM and to visit Berlin on 25-27 October 2001.
The Swiss government on 9 March endorsed a draft law that would legalize the consumption of cannabis and allow a limited number of shops where the drug could be sold, similar to the Dutch coffee shop model.
The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research in La Jolla ? a collaboration between the campuses of the University of California in San Diego and San Francisco ? announced on 22 February that it will spend about 841,000 U.S. dollars this year on four studies with cannabis.
Endogenous cannabinoids produced by the human body play an important role in emetic circuits of the brain. This is the conclusion of a study by researchers of the Department of Pharmacology, Kirksville College of Osteopathic (Missouri/USA), published in the February issue of Neuropsychopharmacology.
The first issue of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics has been released. Excerpts from the abstracts:
Belgium's government effectively decriminalized the possession of cannabis for personal use on 19 January. The legislation is expected to be approved by parliament early this year.
At the "Berner Klinik" in Montana a clinical study with anticipated 50 MS patients is conducted under the guidance of Dr. Claude Vaney, head physician of the hospital. The majority of patients have already been included in the study that is intended to be completed in spring 2001.