Saturday, March 3, 2001

by Xavier Bosch Barcelona
British Medical Journal

All five political parties in the Catalan parliament in Spain have signed a proposal to legalise the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. The agreement asks the Catalan government to negotiate with the Spanish authorities so that cannabis--either as a drug or as a standardised extract of the plant--may be used to treat medical disorders.

Once the bill is approved in the Catalan parliament, it may be submitted to the Spanish parliament for discussion and eventual voting.

The initiative came from a collective of 300 women with breast cancer called the "Agata group" (after Saint Agata, who had her breasts removed under torture) and from a journalist, Nuria Nogueras, who recently died of the disease and who found the drug helpful during chemotherapy. Since last September, the Agata collective has held meetings with representatives of the five Catalan parties, as well as with the Catalan health department and oncologists and pharmacologists.

After these meetings, all political parties agreed to draft and release a consensus report to the Catalan parliament to decriminalise the therapeutic use of cannabis. But the measure, even if approved in the Catalan parliament--as is forecast--can take effect only if the Spanish ministry of health gives the go-ahead. The ministry is the only body with the power to authorise new drugs in Spain.

Mr Eduard Rius, head of the Catalan health department, has recently sent a letter to Spain's health minister, Ms Celia Villalobos, asking her to "back totally the importation of foreign drugs containing cannabis derivatives."

Mr Rius, who is from the "Convergencia i Unio" conservative party that is running the Catalan government, mainly supports the consumption of cannabis in the form of pills as it makes it possible "to control the dose more accurately."

The Catalan socialist and green parties, however, advocate smoking the drug because, according to them, "the efficacy is higher."

The report said that cannabis contains over 60 chemical compounds, which can be classified into two main groups: (a) tetrahydrocannabinoids and (b) cannabidiols and cannabigerols. Whereas the first causes "psychoactive effects and mitigates vomiting and anxiety in disorders that require aggressive treatment, such as cancer or AIDS," the second group has "no psychoactive effects but has anti-inflammatory efficacy, especially in arthritis."

The consensus report also pointed out that despite scientific and clinical evidence for the medical potential of cannabis, its illegality means that it is not an option for many people. "Only a privileged and well informed minority can take advantage of this therapeutic resource," it said.

The report highlighted the properties of cannabis to alleviate pain in cancer and AIDS and said that it is especially useful in the fight against "hunger loss, anxiety, and chemotherapy related vomiting." A list of recent reports on the topic is also included.

Mr Ramon Colom, general director of the Drug Addictions and AIDS Department of the Catalan government, said that if the health ministry approves cannabis as a new drug, people might be able to start using it by the end of the year.

A spokesman for the health ministry said that regardless of the Catalan measure the Spanish National Plan on Drugs--a Home Office based body--is currently studying the potential medical use of cannabis, and a decision will be taken on the basis of the recommendations of the commissioned studies under way.

On behalf of the Agata group, Mr Xavier Capdevila, Mrs Nogueras's husband, said: "Since the beginning, we had wished that the initiative was agreed by all political parties and not capitalised by only one."

Mr Capdevila added that a year ago when his wife started a second cycle of chemotherapy "cannabis helped her to feel better, to make vomiting disappear and to start to be hungry."