Pharma high

Or high profit would be more accurate
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It is the world's oldest euphoric drug – and quite recently the first medicine made from cannabis was licensed in the UK.
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Sativex, a tincture of extracts from the cannabis plant, is sprayed under the tongue up to 12 times a day, as a treatment for the stiffness and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.
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But it is not going to be popping up on the black market as Britain's latest dance drug.
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The Home Office has rated it as having zero abuse potential.
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Britain is the first country to give the drug full regulatory approval, although it has had a limited licence to treat neuropathic pain in Canada since 2005.
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It is made from plants grown at a secret location in southern England by GW Pharmaceuticals, a small biotech company whose shares have risen 60 per cent in the last six months in anticipation of yesterday's announcement.
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The medicinal benefits of cannabis have been known for at least 2,000 years.
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Its analgesic properties were described by the British herbalist Nicholas Culpeper in 1653.
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Two drugs containing a synthetic form of the active constituent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were used in the UK for more than 30 years to treat nausea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
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There are at least 60 active constituents of cannabis and scientists believe they can harness them to alleviate a range of symptoms.
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Millions of pounds are being invested by drug companies to test medicines derived from the plant as treatments for pain, epilepsy and inflammatory conditions such as bowel and skin diseases.
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As cannabis is a natural plant, neither it nor the oil produced from it can be patented.
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Drug companies are therefore developing unique combinations of the constituents or finding a unique means of delivering them to the body, which would be patentable.
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The plants grown by GW Pharmaceuticals are of two strains bred to deliver high levels of cannabidiol (CBD) and THC, which are then mixed together.
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THC is the constituent which produces feelings of euphoria, but the levels are too low to make patients high and the effect is counteracted by the cannabidiol.
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Professor Richard Langford, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine at Barts and The London NHS Trust, who was involved in the trials of Sativex, said: The blood levels of THC when people smoke cannabis rise to a huge peak.
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By contrast, with the spray the rise is tiny.
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GW Pharmaceuticals appeared to be on the brink of winning a licence for Sativex by 2005.
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But UK regulatory authorities wanted more evidence of its efficacy as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
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That meant a further trial and more delay.
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The drug is being marketed in Britain by the German company Bayer and is priced at £125 for a 10ml vial, which works out at £11 a day for a "typical" patient, according to the company.
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But it does not work for everyone.
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About one in 10 of the 100,000 patients with multiple sclerosis will be eligible for the drug, of whom only half are expected to benefit.
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The Multiple Sclerosis Society said it was worried a postcode lottery could develop if primary care trusts differed on whether to pay for it.
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We welcome the benefits it can bring but we want to see it made available to anyone who needs it, a spokeswoman for the society said.
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By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
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Eleven pounds per day for a typical patient they say

Anybody could get the real thing for much less and probably find it more effective and a lot more enjoyable than some spray under the tongue

No contest

Unfortunately one is legal the other is still not in most places

Who wins?

Why pharma high!