 | Sativex: MS Society welcomes new cannabis extract |
 NORML News Winter 2003
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of New Zealand has welcomed news that a pioneering British cannabis-based treatment may be permitted in New Zealand.
Melissa Martin, spokeswoman for the MS Society, said the society "would support a change in the legislation that would make cannabis available for clinical trials to establish the position of cannabis as a medicinal agent for the relief of specific symptoms, such as spasticity and pain."
Salisbury-based GW Pharmaceuticals is close to getting regulatory approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and has sold the marketing rights including for New Zealand, to German healthcare giant Bayer.
The Ministry of Health is watching their progress, but Health Minister Annette King says "Should Sativex be approved for use in New Zealand at some future date, doctors would still have to apply for the Minister of Health's consent under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 to prescribe the drug for specific patients or groups of patients."
If cannabis were to be reclassified from C1 to C2 or lower (ie, like many prescription drugs such as benzodiazipines, barbituates etc), then no special ministerial approval would be needed.
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