MONTREAL (July 26, 2001) - Health Minister Allan Rock, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) President Dr. Alan Bernstein, today announced a Government of Canada contribution of $235,000 to fund a marijuana research study that will examine the prospective therapeutic uses of cannabis.

"Today's announcement is an historic step forward in the Government of Canada's plan to conduct research on the potential health benefits of marijuana," said Rock. "The grant we are announcing today is the first ever clinical trial related to medical marijuana to be funded by Health Canada under the Health Canada/CIHR Medical Marijuana Research Program and furthers our compassionate effort to ascertain the potential of marijuana to provide therapeutic benefit to Canadians."

Researchers at the McGill Pain Centre will conduct a one-year pilot study of smoked cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain at the Montreal General Hospital site of the McGill University Health Centre. Trial results will eventually help contribute to the development of health policy to address the medical use of marijuana and cannabinoids.

"Health Canada and CIHR together have recognized the need for research into marijuana and associated cannabinoids, to determine their safety and efficacy in the management of symptoms in patients unresponsive to usual treatment methods," noted Dr. Bernstein. "This initiative will address the clinical treatment of such patients with smoked and non-smoked marijuana and cannabinoids to improve our understanding of the safety and efficacy of using cannabinoids to control their symptoms."

The study will also be the world's first peer-reviewed clinical trial examining the effects of smoked cannabis in a non-HIV or Multiple Sclerosis population. While other studies have tested the effects of cannabis constituents on pain, this will be the first trial in which participants will smoke the substance as outpatients.

The trial will conducted by five McGill scientists from several fields, including lead researcher Dr. Mark Ware, an assistant professor of anesthesia at McGill. Study collaborators will include Gary Bennett, director of the McGill Pain Centre, psychologist Ann Gamsa, biostatistician Stan Shapiro and epidemiologist Jean-Paul Collet.

"The McGill Pain Centre has designed this study to mirror, as much as possible, the real-life conditions under which patients can currently use cannabis," said Ware, noting trial conditions and outcomes will be based on patients' reported experiences.

For additional details, please consult the McGill website at www.mcgill.ca/public/releases/

CIHR is Canada's premier agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened health care system.