United Kingdom Approves Marijuana Spray As Medicine

[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this today's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's media advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up for NORML's free e-zine here.]

British health regulators have approved the sale and marketing of Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts (primarily the plant cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol aka CBD) as a treatment for symptoms of multiple sclerosis. (MS)

The spray, which has been legally available to patients in Canada since 2005, went on sale in Britain on Monday. The drug will be marketed in the United Kingdom by the Bayer Corporation which estimates that Sativex will cost the country’s state-run National Health Service roughly £11, or about $16, a day for each patient.

Commenting on the drug’s regulatory approval, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “The approval of Sativex in the UK is newsworthy though hardly surprising, as the scientific evidence in support of marijuana’s medical safety and utility has been available for decades. However, the bigger question still remains. That is: ‘How can the US government continue to promote a policy that calls for the arrest and prosecution of patients who use a substance that fourteen states and much of the rest of the western world now acknowledges as a safe and legitimate medicine?’”

In clinical trials, Sativex has been demonstrated to reduce MS-associated spasticity, pain, and incontinence. Long-term investigational trials indicate that consistent use of the cannabis-based medicine may also slow the progression of the disease.

Surveys from the UK and elsewhere indicate that MS patients often report using cannabis therapeutically, with one study reporting that some four out of ten patients with the disease find relief from marijuana.

GW Pharmaceuticals, makers of the Sativex, is expected later this year to seek separate regulatory approval for the spray in Spain, France, Germany, and Italy.

In 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized recruitment for the first-ever North American clinical trial of Sativex for cancer pain treatment. A Phase III trial is anticipated to begin the US later this year.

Upcoming Marijuana March Reaches Goal Of 300 Cities Worldwide

NORML hails the passage of another milestone for the Global Marijuana March with Georgetown, Guyana and Ryebrook, NY, as the 299th and 300th cities convening a march, rally, forum or benefit for the reform of cannabis laws on the weekends of Saturday May 1st and May 8th. NORML and numerous other reform groups called for more cities this year to participate so that organizers could meet and surpass their stated goal of more than 200 cities.

Worldwide action is necessary for any outright legalization, since cannabis is largely prohibited globally by a United Nations treaty known as the Single Convention, enacted in 1962 through the efforts of top anti-cannabis zealot Harry Anslinger, the original instigator of U.S. cannabis prohibition in 1937. The U.S. Justice Dept. has cited the UN treaty as one of its principle arguments against medical cannabis rhetorically and Supreme Court cases.

Local NORML chapters are responsible for almost 40 of the protests in the U.S., New Zealand NORML is doing several cities; Norway “NORMAL” is not only marching in Oslo– they’re doing an international website at www.globalmarijuanamarch.com.

NORML welcomes the participation of pro-reform advocates of all stripes. Of course, we’d like you to join NORML, but this is an ecumenical effort to legalize cannabis once and for all. The important thing is to get more cities to participate before next weekend.

There’s still a few more days to call 212-677-7180 or email cnw@cures-not-wars.org to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

The Global Marijuana March has events planned in almost every time zone on six continents, including most of the capitols of Europe and South America. Many cities are already signing up for May 7, 2011.

NORML congratulates Cures-not-Wars and worldwide participants for organizing no less than a global march in favor of ending the expensive and failed prohibition of cannabis for responsible adult use. Contact your local and regional media outlets to make sure they cover this global day of protest as a major media event because this many citizens, in over 300 cities worldwide protesting their own governments is by definition a major media event.

Call 212-677-7180 or check the city-by-city listing to get specific information about your region’s march and/or to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

Is your city on this huge list?

Abbotsford
Aberdeen
Albany
Albuquerque
Alicante
Alva
Amherst
Amsterdam
Anchorage
Ann Arbor

Arcadia
Athens
Atlanta
Auckland
Aurillac
Austin
Bakersfield
Bangor University
Barcelona
Basel
Belfast
Bellingham
Belmar
Belo Horizonte
Benton Harbor
Berlin
Bermuda
Berne
Bilbao
Binghamton

Birmingham
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Boulder
Bozeman
Braga
Brasilia
Bridgeton
Brighton

Bristol
Brussels
Budapest
Buenos Aires
Buffalo
Bullhead City
Burlington
Cadiz
Calgary
Cali

Canfield
Cardiff
Cebu City
Champaign-Urbana
Charleston
Charlotte
Charlottesville
Chelyabinsk
Chicago
Chico

Chisinau
Christchurch
Cincinnati
Clemson
Cleveland
Coimbra
Colorado Springs
Columbia
Columbia Falls
Columbus

Comodoro Rivadavia
Concord
Constanta
Copenhagen
Cordoba
Cork
Corpus Christi
Corvallis
Dallas
Denver

Des Moines
Detroit
Dinuba
Dnepropetrovsk
Dover
Duluth
Dunedin
Durban
Edmonton
Elkins

Enid
Eugene
Fayetteville
Flagstaff
Flint
Florianopolis
Fontana
Frankfurt
Fresno
Ft. Bragg

Ft. Collins
Ft. Erie
Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Meyers
Gainesville
Garberville
Georgetown
Glasgow
Grand Junction
Grand Rapids

Great Falls
Green Bay
Greenville
Hachita
Halifax
Hamilton
Hammond
Hartford
Helena
Helsinki

Hilo
Holland
Homer
Independence
Indianapolis
Istanbul
Jacksonville
Jakarta
Jerusalem
João Pessoa

Johannesburg
Kalamazoo
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kansas City
Katmandu
Kiev
Kokomo
Lake Isabella
La Laguna
Lansing

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Vegas
Lawton
Leek
Lefkosia-Nicosia
Leicester
Lethbridge
Lexington
Lima
Lincoln

Lisboa
Little Rock
London
Longview
Los Angeles
Lyon
Madison
Madrid
Manchester
Manila

Mar del Plata
McAllen
Medford
Medicine Hat
Memphis
Mérida
Mexico City
Miami
Miamitown
Milwaukee

Minneapolis
Missoula
Montevideo
Monterey
Montreal
Montrose
Moscow
Nashville
Nelson
Netanya

Newark
New Brunswick
New Orleans
New York
Nimbin
Nottingham
Odessa
Ogden
Oklahoma City
Olympia

Omaha
Orange
Orlando
Osaka
Oslo
Ottawa
Paducah
Paia
Palm Springs
Paris

Parker
Penticton
Peoria
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pineville
Pittsburg
Pittsburgh
Portland
Portland

Porto
Porto Alegre
Port of Spain
Potsdam
Prague
Pretoria
Prince George
Pueblo
Quincy
Raleigh

Red Deer
Redding
Regina
Rice Lake
Richmond
Riverside
Rome
Rosario
Rostock
Ryebrook

Sacramento
Salem
Salt Lake City
Salvador
San Diego
San Francisco
San Juan
Santa Barbara
Sao Paulo
Sapporo

Sarasota
Sarnia
Saskatoon
Savannah
Seattle
Sevilla
Simferopol
Sofia
South Bend
Southhampton

Spokane
Spokane Valley
Springfield
Stavanger
Steamboat Springs
St. Louis
St. Petersburg
Stuttgart
Susanville
Tacoma

Tampa
Tampere
Taos
Ternopil
Thessaloniki
Thunder Bay
Tokyo
Toledo
Topeka
Toronto

Traverse City
Tucson
Tulsa
Turku
Ukiah
Uniontown
Ushuaia
Valencia
Vancouver
Vero Beach

Vienna
Vigo
Vilnius
Virginia Beach
Visalia
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Waco
Warsaw
Warwick
Washington, D.C.

Wellington
West Kelowna
Whitehall
Wichita
Wilmington
Wilmington
Woodstock
Worland
Yakima
Zaragoza

NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves addresses over 100,000 at Seattle Hempfest

Call 212-677-7180 or email cnw@cures-not-wars.org to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

Prohibitionists Don’t Read The Papers

Say what you will about prohibitionists — and I say plenty — but, if nothing else, they are consistent. Regardless of the circumstances, they stick to their talking points — no matter how instantly refutable their claims may be.

Case in point. CBS News online today ran part one of an ongoing debate between recently retired Orange County, California Judge Jim Gray (who many of you recently watched testify before the California Assembly Committee on Public Safety here) and prohibitionist profiteer David Evans (who was last heard lying about medical marijuana law reform in New Jersey in a debate with NORML’s Chris Goldstein, which may be heard here).

Predictably, early in the CBS News debate Evans cites the Netherlands’ pot policies — which allow for the regulated sale of small amounts of cannabis to citizens age 18 an older — as an argument in favor of maintaining U.S.-style marijuana prohibition. According to Evans, Dutch marijuana use “more than doubled” after liberalization, leading the government to “formally announce its mistake” in 2004.

Hmmm, I guess Mr. Evans must have purposely avoided reading the newspaper last week or else he would have seen this widely disseminated report from Reuters Wire Service, published on Friday.

Dutch among lowest cannabis users in Europe — report
via Reuters

The Dutch are among the lowest users of marijuana or cannabis in Europe despite the Netherlands’ well-known tolerance of the drug, according to a regional study published on Thursday. Among adults in the Netherlands, 5.4 percent used cannabis, compared with the European average of 6.8 percent, according to an annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, using latest available figures.

… The policy on soft drugs in the Netherlands, one of the most liberal in Europe, allows for the sale of marijuana at “coffee shops”, which the Dutch have allowed to operate for decades, and possession of less than 5 grams (0.18 oz).

Not surprisingly, Evans also failed to cite a World Health Organization report, published last year, which reported:

US leads the world in illegal drug use
via CBS News

Despite tough anti-drug laws, a new survey shows the U.S. has the highest level of illegal drug use in the world.

The World Health Organization’s survey of legal and illegal drug use in 17 countries, including the Netherlands and other countries with less stringent drug laws, shows Americans report the highest level of cocaine and marijuana use.

For example, Americans were four times more likely to report using cocaine in their lifetime than the next closest country, New Zealand (16% vs. 4%). Marijuana use was more widely reported worldwide, and the U.S. also had the highest rate of use at 42.4% compared with 41.9% of New Zealanders.

In contrast, in the Netherlands, which has more liberal drug policies than the U.S., only 1.9% of people reported cocaine use and 19.8% reported marijuana use.

The WHO report went on to conclude: “The Netherlands, with a less criminally punitive approach to cannabis use than the U.S., has experienced lower levels of use, particularly among younger adults. Clearly, by itself, a punitive policy towards possession and use accounts for limited variation in national rates of illegal drug use.”

But Mr. Evans isn’t content to just simply lie about the Dutch. Elsewhere in the debate he falsely implies that the U.K. also experienced a spike in marijuana use after the British government temporarily downgraded its cannabis classification in 2004. (Parliament ended its experiment with decriminalization in 2008, a move that Evans argues was because of “the more lethal quality of the cannabis now available.”) The truth, however, was just the opposite.

Fewer young people using cannabis after reclassification
via The Guardian

Cannabis use among young people has fallen significantly since its controversial reclassification in 2004, according to the latest British Crime Survey figures published today.

The Home Office figures showed the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds who had used cannabis in the past year fell from 25% when the change in the law was introduced to 21% in 2006/07.

As for anyone who thinks they can stomach reading Mr. Evans lies in part two of the debate, be sure to log on here tomorrow.