It was an Irish doctor, one William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, who first pioneered using cannabis for medical relief. In 1839, the Limerick-born physician published one of the world’s first research paper on the drug’s medicinal qualities, having used Indian hemp – then known as gunjah – to treat tetanus and other diseases.
Now, 176 years later, and another Irish doctor is hoping to explore the medical qualities of marijuana, and saying it’s high time that the Irish authorities changed the law to offer relief to thousands of people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.
Dr James Linden is the managing director of GreenLight Health, a Dublin-based research firm that’s taking stock of the health benefits of the drug – recognised the world over, but the use of which in Ireland threatens those suffering from myriad medical conditions with a criminal record, a fine of €2,700 and a prison sentence of 12 months.
Dr Linden spoke to Sean Moncrieff today, where outlined the many ways in which a special cannabis spray, Savitex, can be used to combat the symptoms of MS. The drug has been cleared for use in Ireland, but cannot be used by MS sufferers until the HSE agrees on a price (it is currently estimated that using Savitex would cost patients €500 per month).
As Dr Linden explained, while research is ongoing into what exactly cannabis does for MS patients, spraying Savitex offers relief to a number of the disease:Ireland is currently lagging behind our EU neighbours when it comes to legalising the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes; Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom have all introduced cannabinoid-based treatments across their respective health systems.
In 2012, the Department of Health said that legislation would be drafted by 2013 to make room for the sale of medical cannabis, but has yet to come to pass. And as Dr Linden says, it leaves research into the treatment of disease with cannabis in a legal grey area:You can hear the rest of Sean Moncrieff's interview with Dr James Linden, and the role that cannabis might play in medical research, below.
