A newsletter about cannabis and cannabinoids as medicine
The cannabis extract Sativex of the British firm GW Pharmaceuticals received Qualifying Notice for approval by the Canadian health ministry (Health Canada). Sativex will initially be indicated in Canada for the relief of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis.
An oral cannabis extract produced by GW Pharmaceuticals and investigated in clinical studies, called Sativex, did not get approval for sale by British regulators, the firm said on 3 December. The Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM), an advisory body to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), noted that the extract did not meet one of three criteria of drug approval.
On 17 November Senators Richard Durbin (Illinois), Patrick Leahy (Vermont) and Jim Jeffords (Vermont) have introduced the first-ever Senate bill to ensure that jurors of federal court hear the full story when medical marijuana patients and providers, operating legally under state law, are tried on federal marijuana charges.
On 2 November a medical cannabis initiative passed by a 62% to 38% margin in Montana, making it the tenth state to legalize the medical use of cannabis in the USA. Besides Montana, nine other states have laws that effectively protect medical marijuana patients from arrest: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. A Maryland law enacted in 2003 protects patients from the threat of jail but does not provide protection from arrest, since even the medical use remains illegal.
CALL FOR PAPERS: The program committee would like to invite you to present your research at the IACM 3rd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine in Leiden (The Netherlands) on 9-10 September. You may submit your abstract electronically until April 1, 2005 to info@cannabis-med.org. If your abstract is accepted you will have free accommodation and will be invited to the evening dinner on 9 September.
On behalf of the board of FRAN-GO, a non-profit organization founded specifically for this cause, and in particular as a member of the board of the IACM I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for your immediate and overwhelming preparedness to donate. We are deeply impressed by the willingness of friends and colleagues of Franjo Grotenhermen around the world to help. Here is our interim balance:
The IACM information will not be published until further notice, as the chronic disease of Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen, Executive Director of the IACM, has acutely deteriorated. The regular composition of the IACM information was honorarily carried out solely by Dr. Grotenhermen in recent years. At the moment, no one within the IACM Board of Directors feels in a position to take on this laborious work in addition to his or her respective own regular job.
Contrary to previous research findings cannabis smoking does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of developing oral cancer, according to a large study from the USA. The results appeared in the June issue of Cancer Research. The study of Dr. Karin A. Rosenblatt and colleagues found no association between cannabis use and increased oral-cancer risk, regardless of how long, how much or how often a person has used cannabis.
On 19 May the Senate gave a bill that allows the medical use of marijuana final legislative approval. Governor James Douglas said later that he would allow it to become law without his signature. Vermont now becomes the ninth state to allow qualified patients to grow, possess, and use cannabis for medical purposes without fear of arrest under state law, and the second state after Hawaii to do so via the state legislature rather than an initiative of voters. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington State already have similar laws.
Researchers of the University of California and the University of Amsterdam investigated the effect of criminal laws on cannabis use and concluded that "drug policies may have less impact on cannabis use than is currently thought." Their research was published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
A federal judge ordered the federal government on 21 April not to raid or prosecute a California group that grows and distributes marijuana for its sick members. The decision, by Judge Jeremy Fogel of Federal District Court in San Jose, was the first interpretation of an appeals court's ruling in December 2003 that federal prosecutions of medical cannabis users were unconstitutional if the cannabis was not sold, transported across state lines or if it was used for medicinal purposes.
CALL FOR PAPERS: The program committee would like to invite you to present your research at the IACM 3rd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine in Oxford. You may submit your abstract electronically until June 15, 2004. If your abstract is accepted you will have free accommodation and will be invited to the evening dinner on 10 September.
Canada plans to make government-certified marijuana available in local pharmacies. Officials are organizing a pilot project in British Columbia, modeled on the program in the Netherlands.
On 3 March the Cologne administrative court rejected law suits of 5 patients who tried to achieve a certificate of exemption for the medical use of cannabis, as it is possible for example in Canada. They suffer from multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease and HIV.
Medicinal marijuana may soon be available in pharmacies, according to proposals being examined by a variety of special interest groups in consultation with Health Canada. Officials from Health Canada on 18 February met with pharmacists, medical experts, police and medicinal cannabis users behind closed doors to discuss access to medicinal cannabis.
The stigma attached to cannabis use keeps seriously ill patients from taking advantage of the medicinal benefits of the drug, according to a study by palliative care specialist Dr. Romayne Gallagher, a professor at the University of British Columbia.
The new British cannabis law took effect on 29 January. The drug has been downgraded to the same status as anabolic steroids and anti-depressants. This means that cannabis possession will no longer lead to arrest in most cases. According to a new poll of 2,500 Britons 52 percent said they support reclassification.
Endocannabinoids may be responsible for the euphoric feeling that some people get when they exercise, researchers of the Georgia Tech in Atlanta and the University of California in Irvine said. Endocannabinoids are produced by the body and bind to the same receptors in the brain as THC, the psychoactive substance in cannabis.
After 2.5 years of delay, a study on the benefits of cannabis as a pain reliever is underway in Montreal. Dr. Mark Ware, a professor of family medicine and anesthesia at McGill University is heading the study. He wants to determine the therapeutic value of cannabis in neuropathic pain under real-life conditions and to find out the best dose. 32 patients will be enrolled. They smoke a pipe, now licensed as a medical device. Patients will receive different strengths of cannabis at home in a random order and report their experiences.