The Medicines Control Agency is currently considering whether to grant a clinical trials licence for the use of cannabis extracts to treat spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients.
In a written Parliamentary reply on June 27, Ms Patricia Hewitt (Minister for Small Business and e-Commerce) told Mr Gordon Prentice (Lab, Pendle) that the Medical Research Council was supporting the trial, which was being run by Dr John Zajicek (Derriford hospital, Plymouth) and the MRC clinical trials unit. Patient recruitment was due to start late in the summer. The results would be available in about two-and-a-half years.
Mr Prentice had asked when licensed trials of cannabis were expected to be concluded.