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canr.;zbis:~ews.com: Cannabis a Medical iVLiracle -It's Official <br /> aspirin and penicillin and become a 'wonder drug' prescribed fox, a wide range of <br /> conditions. <br /> Bowing to pressure for a less hard-line attitude, the Home Office started the firs± major <br /> cannabis trials in the world to see whether there was any scientific basis for its use as <br /> medicine. A licence was granted to a specially formed drug company to grow the plants <br /> under controlled conditions in a secret location in southern England. <br /> Twenty-three patients, suffering from multiple sclerosis and arthritis, were recruited on <br /> to the first trial, and given daily doses of cannabis by spraying it under the tongue, <br /> before wider trials were started. <br /> The remarkable stories of the patients will be revealed tonight on the BBC programme <br /> Panorama ,which was granted unique access to them. <br /> Alex Ure, a former paratrooper, suffers from a severe spinal condition. The pain was so <br /> bad he considered suicide; he found legal painkillers turned him into a zombie and he <br /> couldn't have sex with his wife, Wendy, for five years. But after starting the trial he <br /> became a father. 'I couldn't even bend down and play with a child before - I could do <br /> anything now,' he said. <br /> His doctor, Willy Notcutt, of James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth, was sure the <br /> cannabis was responsible: 'His pain has been sufficiently controlled to engage in sex <br /> again,' he said. <br /> Tyrone Castle, a former publican, started suffering from multiple sclerosis when he was <br /> 21 and became so incapacitated he needed two helpers to winch him out of bed. He also <br /> suffered fram uncontrollable spasms. Cannabis has transformed his life. <br /> 'It has really helped sort out my spasms. It helps me sleep because I don't spend the <br /> night jumping about. The difference in my legs is unbelievable -they are no longer stiff <br /> as a board,' he said. <br /> Jo, the wife of a school chaplain, suffered so badly from multiple sclerosis she would <br /> struggle to lift her legs up in the aix• six times. After she started the trial, she could lift <br /> her legs 25 times. 'It's miraculous, really extraordinary. I've never had any sort of relief <br /> of this kind, and I've tried px°etty well everything,' she said. <br /> Notcutt said the trial was a success: 'The results have exceeded what I dared hope for. <br /> We're getting 80 per cent of patients good-quality benefit from the cannabis. For some <br /> we are getting almost total relief from their pain, with pain scores going down to zero.' <br /> Doctors believe cannabis could eventually prove useful in conditions such as <br /> osteoporosis, cancer. HIV and Aids, arthritis. spine injury and certain forms of mental <br /> illness. <br /> 'Cannabis from the Chemist' will be shown on 'Panorama' on BBC1 tonight at 10.15pm. <br /> Note: Scientific tests of 'wonder drug' give patients new hope. <br /> Source: Guardian Unlimited. The (LTK) <br /> Author: Anthony Browne, Health Editor <br /> <br /> ~ °f 12/~/2001 11:18 X111 <br /> <br />