NEWS: Medicinal marijuana OK'd for MS patients

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Medicinal marijuana OK'd for MS patients

Canada is 1st nation to approve use of the cannabis-based drug to treat

disease pain.

By Beth Duff-Brown

Associated Press

TORONTO -- Canada has become the first country in the world to approve

a cannabis-based painkiller for patients suffering multiple sclerosis,

a move applauded by those with the disease and proponents of medical

uses for marijuana.

Health Canada, the federal agency that oversees medical care for

Canadians, announced on Tuesday it had approved the prescription

painkiller Sativex, made from components derived from the cannabis

plant that have been shown to ease pain.

The British drug company GW Pharmaceuticals, which developed the drug,

said Canada is the first country to approve Sativex, which could be in

pharmacies by summer. The drug can be sprayed under the tongue or

inside the cheek, avoiding the carcinogenic dangers of smoking pot.

Medical professionals voice high hopes for the drug's success.

" The pain (of multiple sclerosis) can be absolutely excruciating and

very debilitating, " said Judith H. Watt-, a professor at the

University of Toronto's Center for the Study of Pain. " There's an

urgent need for more options. "

Many people with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects

the central nervous system, suffer from chronic pain and treat it by

smoking marijuana. But the dose is hard to regulate and the drug is

hard to get legally.

Dr. Allan Gordon, a neurologist and director of the Wasser Pain

Management Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said that because

Sativex is administered as a spray, it provides controlled doses and

allows the patient to decide how much he or she needs.

Proponents of legalizing medicinal marijuana are hailing the new drug.

" This product offers patients and doctors a new option, and we hope

Americans will have access to it soon, " said Rob Kampia, executive

director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

In the United States, the federal government has classified marijuana

as a dangerous drug.