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Cannabis-Based Prescription Drugs May be Available in U.K. This Year

By Lindsay F. Wiley [Bio]

March 24, 2003 - Cannabis-based prescription drugs could be available in British pharmacies as soon as the end of this year, according to British drugs minister Bob Ainsworth. GW Pharmaceuticals, which was licensed by the British Home Office to conduct clinical research trials on cannabis, has submitted a request for final approval of a cannabis-based under-the-tongue spray. The spray has been found to reduce nerve damage pain and sleep disturbances for multiple sclerosis patients. Additional clinical trials are underway to evaluate the drug’s effectiveness in treating pain from cancer and spinal cord injuries.

Cannabis-based drugs were made illegal in the U.K. in 1968 when legislation was passed banning doctors from prescribing a tincture of cannabis that contained a high concentration of the active psychotropic ingredient THC, which is found in recreational cannabis. The main ingredient in the medications developed by GW does not contain THC and so patients taking the new drugs should not become intoxicated.