London, United
Kingdom: Marijuana extracts administered under the tongue greatly reduce pain,
muscle spasms and bladder dysfunction in patients with multiple sclerosis, according
to results of a Phase II study recently completed by GW Pharmaceuticals in England.
Seventy subjects participated in the study. Patients consumed marijuana as a
sublingual spray, which allows it to be absorbed rather than swallowed. Patients
began experiencing relief two to three minutes after administration, GW Pharmaceuticals
spokesman Mark Rogerson said. "It makes the pain go away," Rogerson
told Bloomberg news. "It also helps multiple sclerosis patients control
their limbs and get a good night's sleep" because they can control their
bladders. Patients' neurological function was also improved by medical marijuana,
he said.
The company announced that it expects to begin Phase III trials shortly, and
will also be commencing preliminary trials in Canada. A 1999 study by the U.S.
Institute of Medicine reported: "Basic animal studies ... have shown that
cannabinoid receptors are particularly abundant in areas of the brain that control
movement and that cannabinoids affect movement and posture in animals as well
as humans. The observations are consistent with the possibility that cannabinoids
have antispastic effects ... and carefully designed clinical trials testing
the effects of cannabinoids on muscle spasticity should be considered."
GW Pharmaceuticals has been growing medical marijuana for research purposes
in cooperation with British Home Office authorities since 1997, and hopes to
bring a medical-marijuana spray to market by 2003.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751.
Quelle: NORML - Weekly News, 2. Mai 2001