16/04/2007 01:00:00
UK: Junior doctors call for cannabis on NHS
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Doctors in Scotland yesterday voted in favour of cannabis drugs being
prescribed on the NHS to ease the suffering of patients.
Members of the British Medical Association, meeting in Dundee, backed a
call for change in the law to allow the use of cannabinoid medication to
treat disease.
Dr Andrew Thomson, a Scottish GP and leading figure in the BMA, told the
association's Junior Members Forum he had watched one of his patients
suffer intolerable pain from multiple sclerosis and was powerless to
suggest she took cannabis for her relief because of the law.
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"A lot of our patients turn to using cannabis to try to relieve their
pain - let's not make them criminals," he said. "Let's not turn pain
into punishment."
His patient, who has now died, was a professional woman who knew the
anecdotal evidence about cannabis relieving pain. However, Dr Thomson
explained that she had been a law-abiding citizen all her life and could
not contemplate committing a criminal act.
He told The Herald: "She knew it would be good for her, but her morals
would not allow her to break the law so she suffered and suffered and
suffered.
"It was frustrating to see it but I could not encourage her to use it. I
know what is best for my patient potentially but I am not allowed by the
system to use what would relieve the suffering."
There is scientific evidence to suggest that cannabis may be useful for
alleviating a range of conditions, including the side effects of
chemotherapy, and trials of treatments that use cannabis derivatives
have taken place. However, cannabis continues to cause concern as a
street drug and this week a report is expected to warn that use has
increased rapidly among young people despite high profile anti-drugs
campaigns.
The BMA Junior Members Forum called for the BMA to lobby the government
to make the necessary legal changes to allow the cannabinoid part of the
cannabis plant, the active ingredients, to be researched and developed
as a treatment.
The forum, which brought together junior doctors from across the UK over
two days, also demanded a halt to any further private finance
initiatives in the health service.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12443
Author:
The Herald via UKCIA
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