§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the licensed clinical trials of cannabis are expected to be concluded; and if he will make a statement. [127861]
§ Ms HewittThe Medical Research Council is supporting a clinical trial to look at the efficacy of cannabis extracts in the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients. The trial was announced in December 1999 and is being run by Dr. John Zajicek (Derriford Hospital, Plymouth) and the MRC Clinical Trials Unit.
The trial is making good progress; local ethical committee approval has been obtained in principle and an application has been made to the Medicines Control Agency for the appropriate licence. The cannabinoids will be given exclusively in capsule form. Recruitment of patients is planned to start later in the summer. The results will be available in about 2.5 years, after formal scientific assessment of the results has taken place.