10:43 AM ET 06/11/98

Britain sanctions cannabis-growing farm for research
	 
	    LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's first government-backed
cannabis farm was granted a license Thursday to research and
develop the drug as a medicine.
	    ``Our aim is to establish the medical facts,'' said Dr
Geoffrey Guy, founder of GW Pharmaceuticals, which is to grow
the drug in a giant greenhouse at a secret site.
	    He said in a statement that there was much evidence to
suggest that cannabis may have medicinal uses.
	    It could help to relieve pain in multiple sclerosis
sufferers, act as an appetite stimulant for AIDS patients with
wasting disease, prevent nausea in cancer chemotherapy and help
treat the eye disease glaucoma.
	    The plan is to isolate its active ingredients and test them
for pain relief. Guy expects to be able to market a drug within
five years.
	    This follows similar research being pursued in the United
States, where the government announced last year that it is to
spend $1 million on scientific probes into the efficacy of
cannabis as a medical treatment.
 ^REUTERS@