3663 questionnaires were distributed and 2969 were returned.
60.9 per cent of the participants were women, the mean age
was 52.7 years. Cannabis was used by a considerable
percentage of patients. 25 per cent of patients with chronic pain
used it. The numbers for other diseases are: multiple sclerosis
(22 per cent), depression (22 per cent), arthritis (21 per cent)
and neuropathy (19 per cent). Medicinal cannabis use was
associated with younger age, male gender and previous
recreational use of cannabis.

More than a third (35 per cent) of the medicinal cannabis users
said they used it six or seven days a week. The majority (68 per
cent) said cannabis considerably eased their symptoms. "The
results of our UK survey, including the extent of use and
reported effects, lend support to the further development of safe
and effective medicines based on cannabis," said lead author Dr.
Mark Ware of McGill University of Montreal (Canada).

(Sources: United Press International of 17 March 2005, Ware
MA, et al. The medicinal use of cannabis in the UK: results of a
nationwide survey. IJCP 2005;59(3):291)

IACM-Bulletin of 20 March 2005