Pubdate: Tue, 23 Mar 1999
Translator: Pat Dolan (pdolan@intergate.bc.ca)

News In Brief

GERMAN HEALTH MINISTER SUPPORTS MEDICAL MARIHUANA

The 'Stuttgarter Zeitung' (http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de) was one of a number of German, Austrian and Swiss papers which carried reports of Germany's health minister speaking in Bonn last Monday, (March 22, 1999) on the subject of 'Marihuana as Medicine'. 

BONN Germany’s drug czar, Christa Nickels (Greens), considers it sensible to use Cannabis products such as marihuana and hashish for therapeutic purposes in medicine. 

Speaking exclusively of marihuana as a natural herb, she said it had shown itself to be "a potentially successful therapy in the treatment of AIDS, MS and cancer sufferers" and is "more cost effective than synthetic substitutes". 

"Marihuana as a freely accessible drug is a different question," she said. 

A professional association of doctors also announced the call for "Cannabis as medicine," and protested the denial of marihuana prescription rights to doctors. 

MAP posted-by: Richard Lake