PATIENTS IN WALES MAY BE OFFERED CANNABIS PILLS AFTER SURGERY

HOSPITAL patients who have surgery in North Wales could be offered cannabis
pills in a bid to discover whether the drug can ease pain.

Wrexham Maelor Hospital has been named as the only Welsh hospital to take
part in new cannabis research sanctioned by the Government.

People using the Class C drug illegally have reported painkilling effects
and it is thought that it could be effective in relieving post-operative pain.

Doctors are hoping to recruit 400 patients across the UK as part of
research into the medicinal properties of the recreational drug.

Dr Anita Holdcroft, of Imperial College London, who is leading the UK-wide
#500,000 Medical Research Council study, said anecdotal evidence suggesting
that cannabis could provide effective pain relief for a variety of
debilitating conditions needed to be assessed scientifically.

"My patients and clinicians want an answer to the question of whether
cannabis is effective at relieving pain," she said.

"We need to assess the scientific merits of some of the anecdotal evidence
and we need to do this in the same way as any other experimental pain
treatment.

"This is a proper study in a clinical setting where patients can be
routinely monitored, using an oral capsule containing a prescribed dose."

Research in the UK has already proved that cannabis can prevent muscle
tremors and spasticity caused by muscular sclerosis and the company GW
Pharmaceuticals, which carried out the initial research, has developed a
cannabis-based medicinal mouth spray to be used by patients.

The company also hopes that the medicine, called Sativex, which contains
some cannabinoids, could be used to help cancer patients control their pain.

Newport West MP Paul Flynn, a veteran campaigner for the medicinal use of
cannabis, said, "Cannabis is the forgotten medicine used by millions for
pain relief for thousands of years in all continents.

"Prohibition has poisoned public opinion against its beneficial values.

"In Britain cannabis was used as a recreational drug only after it was banned.

"Already there is a mountain of anecdotal evidence backed by impressive
recent scientific anti-pain work that proves cannabis to be a remarkable
analgesic without damaging side effects. The results of this trial will
bring safe pain relief to millions."

Every patient taking part in the new MRC research project will be randomly
assigned to one of four oral pain-relieving treatments which will contain
either standardised cannabis extract, tetrahydrocannabinol (an active
ingredient in cannabis), a standard pain-relieving drug or a placebo.

Researchers will assess the pain relief and side effects over six hours,
and patients will also be asked about their pain and feelings.

If oral cannabis plant extract is found to be effective, without causing
adverse side effects, it could provide another pain-relief option to
doctors and patients.

DrugScope, a charity that aims to advise and inform on drug-related policy,
has welcomed the trials.

The charity's director Frank Warburton said, "The therapeutic benefits of
cannabis have been well known for some time.

"This trial appears to be a sensible and rational exploration of these
benefits and I look forward to seeing the results of the evaluation."

A British Medical Association spokesman said, "BMA research has shown that
although cannabis itself is unsuitable for medical use some cannabis-based
medicines have the potential to relieve pain.

"There has long been a need for more research into the effectiveness of
cannabinoids for therapeutic purposes and this is a welcome development."

Consultant anaesthetist Dr David Counsell, who is expected to lead the
trial at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, was unavailable for comment last night.

A spokeswoman for North East Wales NHS Trust said the trust's ethics
committee had yet to approve the hospital's involvement in the research trial.