cannabisnews.com: UK's GW Pharma Buoyed by Hopes for Cannabis Drug
UK's GW Pharma Buoyed by Hopes for Cannabis Drug
Posted by CN Staff on January 19, 2005 at 17:25:07 PT
By Ben Hirschler
Source: Reuters
London -- Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals Plc reported further positive clinical trial results with its cannabis-based medicine Sativex on Wednesday and said a UK regulatory hearing on the drug was expected within six months.The company also announced it was looking at an eventual launch in the United States, the world's biggest drug market.
The news -- given alongside results showing an in-line net loss of 13.7 million pounds ($25.6 million) for the year to Sept. 30 -- lifted shares in the biotechnology company 2.6 percent to 120-1/2 pence by 0930 GMT.Investors in GW have been frustrated by a string of delays in the UK launch of Sativex, with the shares falling by more than half from a mid-2003 high of 264p.GW's under-the-tongue cannabis spray has won qualified approval in Canada for treatment of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and neuropathic pain, but it is still awaiting a green light in Britain.UK approval is viewed as crucial, as it would open the door to the larger European market. The registration of the medicine has proved more complicated and lengthy than expected, however. UK marketing approval was originally expected by the end of 2003.Executive Chairman Geoffrey Guy said the product was proving its worth in more conditions, with new Phase III tests in cancer pain showing 40 percent of patients achieved a 30 percent improvement in pain score."The clinical results for Sativex have just been going from strength to strength," he told Reuters in a telephone interview."We set out 5 years ago to develop Sativex in three areas -- symptom control on multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain and cancer pain. This latest study gives us a full house in those three areas."Guy added that GW was now preparing to start the lengthy process of applying for approval to sell Sativex in the United States.Julie Simmonds, an analyst with Nomura, said U.S. approval was likely to be more difficult politically than in many other countries.GW grows thousands of marijuana plants at a secret location in the English countryside, having been granted a dispensation by the government to use the plant for medical research.The company has a marketing deal with Germany's Bayer AG for Sativex.Source: Reuters (Wire)Author: Ben HirschlerPublished: January 19, 2005Copyright: Reuters 2005Related Articles & Web Site:GW Pharmaceuticalshttp://www.gwpharm.com/Cannabis Painkiller Hope for Cancer Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20138.shtmlCanada Approves Cannabis Drug http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20055.shtmlGW Cannabis Drug on Path To Approval http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20051.shtml
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on January 24, 2005 at 12:23:29 PT
Dr. Russo
Thank you!
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Comment #34 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 24, 2005 at 12:21:12 PT
Toronto Star Has It All Wrong
The Toronto Star's interpretation of the article in The Walrus is 100% wrong.Cannasat and GW Pharmaceuticals are distinct companies. Bayer Canada will be marketing GWP's product Sativex in Canada. Sativex will not be used with any monitoring device in Canada or anywhere else unless demanded by the national regulatory authorities of a given country. None is needed, as Sativex has not been associated with abuse or diversion in over 800 patient years of experience.The Advanced Dispensing System of GW Pharmaceuticals is being researched for use in methadone maintenance and diamorphine (heroin) maintenance programs in the UK.
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on January 24, 2005 at 11:12:58 PT
Excerpt from The Toronto Star
I found this on the ccc list.January 23, 2005Take two puffs followed by a heaping plate of cookies: In what could develop into one of the pharmaceutical industry's most lucrative new sectors, Germany's Bayer AG has teamed with Toronto's Cannasat Pharmaceuticals to develop cannabis-based medical sprays and inhalers.The products could treat illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, Brian Preston writes, and estimates suggest that as many as 400,000 Canadians could benefit from medical marijuana.That benefit, by the way, likely won't include "euphoria masquerading as a medicine." One of the safeguards under consideration is a dispensing system that delivers only the prescribed dose. Try to take more, and the device will cut you off cold turkey.http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1106435408868&call_pageid=970599119419
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on January 22, 2005 at 12:09:41 PT
ekim
Very interesting and good comment. Be careful shoveling snow. That can be hazardous to your health. We don't have enough snow to shovel. We only have about 5 inches so far. It's very pretty. It was 70 last week! Weird weather.
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Comment #31 posted by ekim on January 22, 2005 at 11:52:01 PT
just think--cop cars- school buses- fire trucks -
yes good ol Capitalism? here were fighten wars for oil and no one is asked to think out side the box.
Last week we did our cable access show with two chemistry professors from WMU who have been maken bio-diesel for the last year and can not understand why as a country we do not do more.
As Stick knows if a tanker of the stuff turns over and it spills there is no explosion and its biodegradable. A caller to our show said he is working with Esters cooked plant material used for the best lubrication as its pure and does not have impurities that drop out at high temps.Put aside that the stuff is cleaner to burn --- where are the lawmakers that want this country to start using good ol American ingenuity. The profs said that one acre of soy yields 65 gal of oil. Someone wrote that CA. had looked in to Hemp and that it could yield 85 gals to a acre.
To top that the guys in Golden CO. at the Natal renewable energy research Labs (NREL)www.eere.energy.gov are using cellulose for feed stock for Ethanol .Last i knew was corn stover, switch grass, willow trees, some field grasses, i repeatly wrote and asked what the Hemp plant could yield but no reply.
It use to be that the NREL would send out up dates on how the experimentation was going but the last several years --nothing has been released to the public that i can find and i have been on the mailing list for almost ten years.Today in our local paper Kal Gazette front page comes a story inVT about a 1500 head cow farm that is selling its energy from its cow waste back to the grid and 1000 locals are paying 4 cents more per KWH to help the farm. Where are we asked to help out our children and our country. Who is talken about all the countless jobs in Wind Solar Ethanol Bio-Diesel .
gee i been ranten --better get out and start shoveling the foot of snow in the drive:)
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on January 22, 2005 at 10:14:45 PT
Thanks ekim
I want to comment on the VS article. Many years ago my husband's job of 10 years at General Electric ended. They sent the work to Mexico and we had just built our house and it was costing us a lot of money to finish. Very hard time it was. We thought how could we make a living and to make a long story short we decided a Video Store was up and coming and worth a try. We grew faster then I could comprehend. It was a time for us and after a year or two other people decided if they can be so successful lets do it too. After a few more years we decided to supply the grocery store because if we didn't some other company would. In the end good movie prices dropped and the public benefited and it isn't hard or expensive to collect your own DVD library now. Remember in capitalism the one that wins in the end is the consumer. That's all.What is Capitalism?An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
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Comment #29 posted by ekim on January 22, 2005 at 09:49:00 PT
Good one FoM
So they hired Harvard's Grinspoon as their scientific adviser.Grinspoon has been proselytizing about the benefits of marijuana for more than 25 years. He put forward the first business proposals to develop whole-plant products and has been a tireless crusader for medical pot.After a lifetime of studying marijuana, here are Grinspoon's conclusions, which are prominently featured in Cannasat's promotional literature:"There is very little to support the proposition that smoking marijuana represents a great risk to the pulmonary system. Although cannabis has been smoked widely in this country for four decades now, there are no reported cases of cancer or emphysema which can be attributed to marijuana."I suspect that breathing a day's worth of the air in Houston or any other city with poor air quality poses more of a threat than inhaling a day's dose of smoked marijuana.
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on January 22, 2005 at 09:23:38 PT
About The Article from Canada
I went ahead and put the article on my Canadian page. It's the top article if anyone is interested. The VS doesn't archive links I don't think so I thought I should do this.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmHere's the article too: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/potinc.htm
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on January 22, 2005 at 08:29:38 PT
Canadian News Article from a Snipped Source
Pot Inc.: Big businesses have sprung up around the fuzzy legal boundaries of marijuana cultivation in Canada. Are some crossing the line?
Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 22, 2005Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/observer/story.html?id=5b957f12-8909-446d-ad37-f2311bf734d3
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Comment #26 posted by Max Flowers on January 20, 2005 at 18:31:58 PT
Re comment #22
Gott dang, Steve I hope you're right. It all does have the feeling of inevitability that you described well there; I tend to have the same belief you do that every power-grabbing tyrant will fall, but this guy (Bush) seems to have a way of weaseling out of things that other men surely would get trapped by. Hopefully that impunity is not permanent and will expire within the next couple of years.Problem for post-presidency is, I expect that just like Ford pardoned Nixon, whoever follows Bush as president will give him a pass on all war crimes etc.
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Comment #25 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 15:32:49 PT
BGreen
Thank you so much!
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Comment #24 posted by BGreen on January 20, 2005 at 15:30:21 PT
Goodness, Everybody take a deep breath
Stop fearing the unknown and stop worrying about GW Pharmaceuticals. They need to make money for their endeavor which essentially PROVES WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR 30 YEARS! CANNABIS IS MEDICINE!GW Pharmaceuticals has to deal with some of the most idiotic regulators and fumb ducks the medical establishment has ever seen. GW Pharm's arguments are not towards cannabis or it's whole plant users, the arguments are for the idiotic fumb ducks that believe all of the lies about cannabis hook, line and (hopefully lead-free) sinker.GW Pharmaceuticals has PROVEN OUR POINT and for that we should REJOICE!Whole cannabis is not only MEDICINE, it's sometimes the ONLY MEDICINE THAT WORKS for people who are suffering!The un-united states of amerika has spent billions trying to eliminate cannabis by calling it worthless and FAILED MISERABLY!What makes everybody think GW Pharmaceuticals can destroy Gods' miraculous plant by proving it truly IS a miracle?The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 15:14:41 PT
herbdoc215
All I know is that I am glad I live where problems don't really happen. We aren't big enough to be bothered with. As I read and learn more about what this war is about it makes me wonder if we will ever see peace again. To me it is that bad. I have a friend from a music board I e-mail and she doesn't have a tv hooked up anymore. She can't take it. If I didn't do CNews I wouldn't pay attention either.
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Comment #22 posted by herbdoc215 on January 20, 2005 at 15:08:26 PT
FoM, if it's any help; even this shall pass
Even Hitler with all his power and control eventually oversteped his abilities and so will the little shrub. Look at Germany now, I doubt if the Nazi's could pull that crap there again as they know the face of eveil and it's hard for it to sneak in. I just pray that there are enough left who can rebuild. Bush will show his true face soon. I just try to help and save all I can, waiting for sanity to return to the world. I just wonder how much blood it will take to sate these madmen. The draft is coming as sure as death and taxes and all hell is going to break loose which is one reason I've been getting ready in my mind to try and help as many Americans who flee here from the war have an easier time making a life for themselves here than we all did. The beauty of mining is we can always use more people of all sorts of abilities, plus I can't see gold and silver becoming worthless no matter what the future brings. I just keep thinking how senseless all these wasted lives are, it seems as if the entire world is in shock. When the sun does rise again it will be time then for planning to ensure USA doesn't ever have to endure these dark days since 2000 again. Peace, Steve
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 14:46:09 PT
Just a Note
I was making dinner and it dawned on me when I mentioned Marcs news I forgot there was more then one Marc. Marc from Medpot posts very orderly articles in the ccc list that I get and it is easy for me to click on and read. Recently though I just have been keeping my mind on american news since things have gotten so tough down here. Maybe things will get better. I can only hope. There I feel better.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 13:34:36 PT
herbdoc215
I don't need to delete your post. I know you are concerned. It's only natural. Life down here is not what it was. I won't leave where I live because I'm happy here and my life is here. I am concerned too. Marc does most of the news from Canada and I could read it but for now I am just trying to keep CNews from being destroyed by the republicans that have control of our country. It's really bad down here. The draft worries me so. This is a religious war like one we've never seen before I think.
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Comment #19 posted by herbdoc215 on January 20, 2005 at 13:26:29 PT
FoM, I concur. just delete my previous posting...
and max, no I'm not an MD and it's a very old e-mail addy from when I was working at HMCC(humboldt medical cannabis center) in Humboldt many years ago..the addy started when I was doing post-grad work as a joke and kind of stuck. I am not involved in the cannabis biz though so it's not sour grapes that drive my concern, I'm a patient myself who has to have this medicine and since I just finally broke down and filed my section 56 exemption here in Canada the prospect of it being recinded along with my right to legally grow my own medicine concerns the heck out of me. but...I leave that for another day. Peace, steve
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 12:10:28 PT
potpal
Yes the countdown begins. How many days is it! LOL! I hope and pray that Jeb won't run. I don't think I could handle more that what has come our way.
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Comment #17 posted by Max Flowers on January 20, 2005 at 12:03:03 PT
Question for "herbdoc215"
Hi Steve, I just wanted to ask something I've wondered about for a while now... why did you make your CNews name herb"doc", implying that you're a doctor? I always thought "doc" was an honorific reserved for doctors who put in countless hours in pre-med and medical school etc...thanks,
MF
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Comment #16 posted by potpal on January 20, 2005 at 12:02:22 PT
fom
A couple puffs of cannabis might help...;-)Bush is sworn in, that's good news, now we can begin to count down the 4 years till he's gone, gone, gone. Is Jeb next in line?
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 11:19:20 PT
herbdoc215
Today Bush got sworn in for 4 more years. We have a strong possibility of a draft returning. We have the antis writing nasty articles about marijuana down here. We have a Supreme Court case that will effect the movement in a big way one way or the other. We have been stressed to the hilt this past year. We can't solve all the problems but we can work on some of them. That's why I have kept news on our issues and let other sites keep up with the other news. We need a place to find a little peace in this day and age. We see political fighting that is almost beyond belief. We need peace in the midst of the storm.
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Comment #14 posted by herbdoc215 on January 20, 2005 at 11:13:12 PT
This isn't about Canada or fighting
It's about justice and access to medicine. This will effect everybody eventually and it's not about 'fighting' it's about the patients. It also shows the behind-the-scenes politics to prohibition. Peace, Steve
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 10:59:22 PT
herbdoc215
I know fights are popular in the canadian movement. That's why I don't go to canadian sites. They need to work thru it themselves not here on CNews. We have our own problems to solve down here in the USA.
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Comment #12 posted by herbdoc215 on January 20, 2005 at 10:52:44 PT
Yes, a major fight is brewing
Someday with our loot from mining I will force disclosure of GW's friends and family list if it breaks the bank! This is the very thing I warned so many about here in the flesh. Monopolies are bad. Peace, Steve TuckSource: The Walrus (Canada)
Contact: letters walrusmagazine.com
Website: http://www.walrusmagazine.com
Address: 119 Duncan Street, Suite 101, Toronto, ON M5H 3H1
Fax: (416) 971-8768
Copyright: 2005 The Walrus Magazine, Inc.
Author: Brian Preston
Pubdate: February 2005Note from Newshawk: New SourceCorporate CannabisWill a new marijuana mist become the Aspirin of the twenty-first century?Philippe Lucas is apologizing for the quality of his cannabis. He is director of
the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, which dispenses medicinal marijuana
from behind an old storefront in Victoria. "This used to be a school of Chinese
medicine," he says. "Can you feel the healing vibe?" Not at first. Apart from a
comfy, well-worn couch in the waiting area, and a batik with yin-yang dolphins
that you brush aside to enter the dispensing office, the place feels like a
regular medical clinic. It reflects Lucas's personality: lean, clean-cut, and
intense - there's nothing of the spacey stoner about him. If there's a "healing
vibe," it emanates from the staff: the receptionist dressed in a fuzzy old
sweater welcomes clients with "Hello, beautiful!" and "Can you use a hug?" Then
she hugs.In the dispensing office the cannabis is kept under lock and key. Today's
strains for sale -- among them Sweet Tooth, Jack's Mix, and Other God --
according to a list handwritten in felt pen on a whiteboard-are grown primarily
for recreational use, not medical. As he shows off a sample, Lucas apologizes
again, because normally the Society grows and tests for purity the organic pot
it supplies to its 400 members. But a recent rcmp bust destroyed their growing
facility, forcing them onto the black market. There's no shortage for patients
in need-in B.C. alone, the rcmp estimates 15,000 grow-ops contribute to a
harvest that nationally is worth about $7 billion. The problem is that illegal
growers don't hand out guarantees. While Lucas struggles in the grey zone of legality to get better pot back on the
menu, his patients could soon have an alternative: one that does not involve
police raids and substandard cannabis. German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG, and
Cannasat Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Toronto, a firm backed by a number of prominent
Canadian businessmen, including Citytv co-founder Moses Znaimer and Joseph
Mimran, the former head of Club Monaco, want to start selling cannabis-based
medicine. Their goal: produce medically approved devices, such as inhalers and
sprays, that will deliver the healing powers of marijuana without the poisonous
smoke and tar - or the threat of arrest that comes along with distributing it
illegally.In Canada alone there are nearly 50,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS),
many of whom could use such a device, and some estimates suggest another 400,000
Canadians could benefit from medical marijuana. At the moment, only 753 use
cannabis legally. And Alan Young, Cannasat's legal adviser, a loquacious Osgoode Hall law
professor who has fought a decades-long battle to liberalize marijuana laws,
says because cannabis-based drugs have the potential to help people in a number
of critical areas yet to be discovered, it could become one of the biggest
pharmaceutical sectors ever developed. "There is going to be a revolution in the
next decade in treatment options," says Young, his voice rising to emphasize the
point. "People are sick and tired of synthetic products that are constantly
being pulled off the market for undisclosed side effects. The time is right for
herbal products."Bayer AG has already paid $60 million for the European rights and $14 million
for the Canadian rights to market Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine developed
in Britain by GW Pharmaceuticals. Health Canada has been ask-ed to approve
Sativex, a whole-plant cannabis extract, delivered in a sublingual spray, and a
decision could come this year. It cost GW $100 million to develop Sativex, and
while Cannasat vice-president Andrew Williams acknowledges the lead Bayer and GW
have in the emerging sector, he believes the market will be large enough to
support a number of companies. Cannasat is now putting together investors and a
scientific team, which Williams says could lead to the creation of a suite of
cannabis-based drugs over the next six to ten years. Inhalers and sprays that provide the benefits of medical marijuana, but don't
necessarily get you stoned, offer another advantage. Between 1999 and 2001,
Ottawa gradually established the Medical Marihuana Access Regulations, and
awarded Prairie Plant Systems of Saskatoon the right to produce and distribute
cannabis to patients with authorization from their doctors. But many doctors are
still reluctant to tell their patients to smoke medical marijuana because they
believe inhaling it is harmful. Now many people advocating on behalf of patients
fear that once the new cannabis-based medicines are on the market, Ottawa will
favour them over medical marijuana. "There is legitimate fear that if GW gets
approval," says Lucas, "Health Canada is going to say that's all we need to meet
our obligations, we're shutting down the medical-marijuana program." The Holy Grail for corporations trying to turn pot into a legitimate medicine is
the vast U.S. market, which is ruled over by politicians who still see marijuana
as an unspeakable menace. Euphoria masquerading as a medicine simply won't fly
in the U.S. But GW may have found a solution. It has developed a tamper-proof
dispensing system for the delivery of methadone that critics say could also be
used for cannabis-based medicine. It looks like a cross between an asthma
inhaler and a cellphone. The doctor keys in your allowable dose, and any attempt
to spray a little more cuts you off cold turkey. Corporations see it as a way to
profits; smokers call it a Big Brotherish apparatus designed to appease
America's anti-pot paranoia - what they call "euphoriphobia." One such critic is
Hilary Black, founder of the B.C. Compassion Club Society in Vancouver, who
recently joined Cannasat. "The fact is, any pharmaceutical company using
prohibition as a tool to market a product - that's wrong," says Black. "I have
major ethical concerns with that." In the mid-1990s, faced with mounting anecdotal evidence of marijuana's
therapeutic value, the British government began funding scientific research into
cannabinoids, the sixty constituent chemicals unique to the plant. Dr. Geoffrey
Guy, chairman of the biotechnology company Ethical Holdings, made a case that
doing pure research for its own sake was not enough. Guy wanted to grow cannabis
and study it with a clear-cut goal: to produce a patentable, marketable,
profitable prescription medicine.To his surprise, Guy found the U.K. government highly receptive. In 1997, he
formed GW Pharmaceuticals, where he now serves as executive director, and was
granted permission to experiment with massive amounts of cannabis, eventually
growing sixty tons a year in greenhouses in a secret location in the British
countryside. In 2003, GW submitted the Sativex spray for regulatory approval in
the U.K., to be used specifically for the relief of pain and muscle spasticity
associated with MS.The Vancouver Island Compassion Society also produces a cannabis spray, albeit a
much simpler version. Unlike Sativex, which is a patented medicine, the
Society's spray is a tincture of cannabis administered via a vapourizer called
Cannamist. Last May, Lucas received a foretaste of possible legal battles to
come with GW, Bayer AG, and its subsidiary Bayer Canada, when he described
Cannamist at a medical marijuana conference held by a group called Patients Out
of Time, at the University of Virginia. Geoffrey Guy happened to be in the
audience, and afterward approached Lucas and asked him if he'd had a chance to
look at the any of the many patent applications GW has for Sativex. "He said it with a twinkle in his eye," recalls Lucas, "but with firmness in his voice."There is no question that GW plans to enforce its patents on Sativex, which is a
precisely dosed medicine. Warns Guy: "To protect our extensive investment, we
have sought to identify and patent certain inventions throughout the growing,
extraction and manufacturing process. My comments to Mr. Lucas were made as a friendly and, hopefully, helpful gesture as I did not wish him to invest a great amount of effort into obtaining approval for a product as a prescription medicine only to find that he did not have the freedom to operate in the first place." Guy's warning was reiterated shortly after I arrived in England to interview
him, when Mark Rogerson, GW's grey-templed, elegantly dressed, public-relations
man, met me at the Oxford train station. "Once it's approved and Sativex becomes
a medicine under the law, there needs to be a minor change in legislation so it
can be prescribed," he said, as he steered his Hyundai (his Audi was in the
shop) into near-gridlock. "The Home Office has already said they will do that,
and then patients will be taking a legal medicine. But if you are an MS
sufferer, it would still be illegal for you to grow cannabis at the bottom of
the garden to treat your symptoms. Our medicine will be legal, but anything else will not be." ..............shortened due to length but you see my point.
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Comment #11 posted by schmeff on January 20, 2005 at 10:07:12 PT
And the Award For Corporate Propaganda goes to...
"Realistically, GW's head start is probably more like seven years, and they began with the most genetically pure cannabis in the world..."Damn! All I'm left with is this fragrant, sticky, genetically impure BC Bud. :(Thank's for the link Kap'n.
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Comment #10 posted by afterburner on January 20, 2005 at 09:50:50 PT
Maybe, FoM, Maybe
They could just add Sativex to schedule 3 along with Marinol. It would be harder to justify, but you've heard and read their propaganda for years. One more pack of lies is not hard to predict."Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." That's as optimistic as I can muster right now. We'll have to wait and see for now "with a smile on our faces and a song in our hearts."Trade equals peace. "War...what is it good for? Absolutely nothing."
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 09:41:06 PT
potpal
I don't know the answer but one thing I really believe is if Sativex would become available in the states Cannabis would have to be removed from Schedule I and that would change many laws in different states I think.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 09:37:58 PT
afterburner
You are a sweet and wise person. I know one way to defeat a group of people fighting to change laws is to keep them fighting against each other. Even though people have legitimate arguments how does it bring change? If I were on the other side of this issue I would say good they are busy fighting with each other so we won't have to worry about them.
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Comment #7 posted by potpal on January 20, 2005 at 09:26:34 PT
How much?
I wonder how much GW will be asking for Sativex from those in need? Will it be less than the real mc coy? Will it be a controlled drug or over the counter?
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on January 20, 2005 at 09:25:22 PT
I Agree with You, FoM, It's a Dog's Breakfast
I personally abhor the in-fighting I see in the Canadian cannabis movement. However, if the Canadian government would be co-operative with medical cannabis patients instead of listening to DEA operatives and an American ambassador (bent on spreading the US-style Drug War with its violence, SWAT teams, home invasions, and forfeitures to Canada), Canadians would be less inclined to fight back before we get muzzled.Peace, love and understanding,
afterburner
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 08:57:11 PT
afterburner
You know I have the deepest respect for you but as I've watched and read news from Canada I am a person who doesn't get the fighting. Maybe I just don't understand but with the stress down here I find it very hard to handle and decided not to do news from Canada unless it is laws trying to be changed.
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on January 20, 2005 at 08:52:21 PT
That Everybody Includes Health Canada, FoM
They have delayed and acted only on court order. They have restricted access to medical cannabis to a mere handful of patients. They have insulted patients. They have refused to consult with compassion societies as stakeholders. If people fight in Canada, it's only out of self-defense. Health Canada is the CEO, and you can judge an organization by the stamp of its leadership. Health Canada is belligerent and obstructionist, refusing even to follow court orders, based on Constitutional challenges. Do you blame the medical cannabis patients for being impatient and suspicious? With respect,
afterburnerp.s. I titled my post Believe It or Not because the quotes are yet to be verified. I appreciate the effort of Geoffrey Guy in providing a medical alternative to the many patients suffering from illnesses helped by cannabis, but if GW Pharmaceuticals really wants to monopolize the market, they are fair weather friends.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 20, 2005 at 07:51:30 PT
About This Article
I read it and decided it was an article that wasn't worth posting. I even e-mailed Dr. Russo and told him how I felt. I told him I have almost given up on what is happening in Canada because everyone seems to fight all the time.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #2 posted by afterburner on January 20, 2005 at 07:46:48 PT
Believe It or Not: Corporate Cannabis, Excerpt
{Guy's warning was reiterated shortly after I arrived in England to interview him, when Mark Rogerson, GW's grey-templed, elegantly dressed, public-relations man, met me at the Oxford train station. "Once it's approved and Sativex becomes a medicine under the law, there needs to be a minor change in legislation so it can be prescribed," he said, as he steered his Hyundai ( his Audi was in the shop ) into near-gridlock. "The Home Office has already said they will do that, and then patients will be taking a legal medicine. But if you are an MS sufferer, it would still be illegal for you to grow cannabis at the bottom of the garden to treat your symptoms. Our medicine will be legal, but anything else will not be."} "...it would still be illegal for you to grow cannabis at the bottom of the garden to treat your symptoms. Our medicine will be legal, but anything else will not be."!!!
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on January 20, 2005 at 07:03:14 PT:
Related: A major fight is brewing
Corporate Cannabis: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n107/a05.htmlI leave the readers to draw their own conclusions. What I'm thinking about after reading this is not for public consumption...
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