A British regulatory agency that advises the National Health Service (NHS) on new medical treatments and issues guidelines to doctors will begin appraising the effectiveness of a pair of cannabis-derived medications, according to an announcement made this week from the UK Department of Health. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) expects to complete its evaluation by 2004. The NHS seeks guidance from NICE on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new medications.
The medications under consideration by NICE are sublingual (under-the-tongue) marijuana extracts and the synthetic THC pill Dronabinol, legally available in the United States as Marinol. A similar synthetic THC agent known as Nabilone is already legally available in the UK.
Currently, London’s GW Pharmaceuticals is conducting phase III human trials in United Kingdom and Canada on the effectiveness of non-synthetic cannabis-based extracts for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, cancer pain and other forms of nerve pain. This past fall, the company announced that approximately 80 percent of MS and spinal cord patients who used their herbal preparations experienced significant pain relief and an improved quality of life.
GW Chairman Geoffrey Guy called the upcoming NICE evaluation a “positive move by the government. Recommendation by NICE would further smooth the way for our cannabis-based medicines to be available nationwide … [by] prescription.” The company hopes to bring its first products to market by early 2005.
The fact that the British government has recommended NICE to begin their appraisal of GW’s products while the extracts are still under development may be an indication that Parliament intends to “fast-track” their approval of medicinal pot. In the past, NICE has been criticized for delaying the approval of new medications because the agency failed to begin its evaluation until after the drug had already been licensed by Parliament’s Medicines Control Agency (MCA).
A survey conducted last year by the London-based Market and Opinion Research International (MORI) polling firm found that 91 percent of Britons believe medical marijuana should be legalized by prescription.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Director of Publications and Research, at (202) 483-5500 or visit the GW Pharmaceuticals website at: http://www.gwpharm.com.