Britain’s House of Lords has told government officials to stop dragging their
feet over legalising cannabis for medical use. Clinical trials of a cannabis
extract for treating multiple sclerosis are now at an advanced stage in Britain.
But the government’s Medicines Control Agency has warned that scientists must
carry out lengthy tests of the possible harmful effects of cannabis,
particularly on sperm. This could delay any approval by up to three years, says
a report from the Lords’ Science and Technology Select Committee, and is a waste
of time because cannabis has been used in traditional medicine for hundreds of
years.
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