Sativex : Legal in Canada

The Canadian government has just delivered a body blow to the U.S. government’s irrational prohibition against the medical use of marijuana. April 19, 2005, Canada approved the prescription sale of a natural marijuana extract — for all practical purposes, liquid marijuana — to treat pain and other symptoms caused by multiple sclerosis. In short, the Canadian government has just certified that virtually everything our own government has been telling us about marijuana is wrong.

Sativex, produced by GW Pharmaceuticals in Britain, is literally liquid marijuana. It is nothing like Marinol, the synthetic THC pill sold in the U.S. and sometimes falsely touted as an adequate substitute for marijuana. Rather, Sativex is a whole-plant extract, containing the wide variety of naturally occurring compounds called cannabinoids that are unique to marijuana. It also contains trace elements of other compounds in the plant, which scientists believe contribute to its therapeutic value.

Sativex is to marijuana as a cup of coffee is to coffee beans. If Sativex is safe and effective, marijuana is safe and effective. And Sativex is safe and effective. Studies have shown significant effect against pain and other symptoms caused by multiple sclerosis and other debilitating conditions, and over 600 patient-years of research have established a remarkable record of safety.

Sativex should certainly be approved in the U.S., but the process may take years — if it is allowed to happen at all, given our federal government’s reflexive hostility to the medical use of marijuana.

And more importantly, now that we know beyond doubt that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine, how long will our government continue to arrest patients who use it?

Even if Sativex is approved in the U.S. someday, it won’t be the answer for every patient now benefiting from medical marijuana. Different strains of marijuana work better for some conditions and less well for others. Sativex just comes in one formula, and it won’t be right for everyone.

And Sativex will be expensive. Will we force patients to buy a pricey pharmaceutical version of a plant they could grow themselves for pennies? We could end up with a policy every bit as silly as telling coffee drinkers that they can buy a cappuccino, but they’ll be arrested on sight if caught in possession of coffee beans.

Visit the Marijuana Policy Project to learn more about the issues associated with Sativex.

With Canada taking such a significant step toward recognizing marijuana’s safety and effectiveness as a medicine, it’s becoming harder and harder for U.S. officials to defend arresting and imprisoning medical marijuana patients in our own country.

*Recent comments on this entry have prompted me to move it to the front page. It was originally published 2005-04-24 21:11:03. Here it is again, for those who may have missed it.