Erba Medica

"My last book was written collectively by the association of which I am a part: Erba Medica , by the Associazione Cannabis Terapeutica. The book is aimed at explaining the situation regarding medicinal cannabis in Italy in particular. The book contains medical information but also fully explains to patients what the legislative situation is in Italy and helps the patient through the complex bureaucratic process of importing the medicine from abroad, which is currently the only way for Italian patients to obtain therapeutic cannabis. There is currently no legal and registered medicinal cannabis available in Italy. Our association has managed over time to explain to patients their right to import medicinal cannabis from countries where it is freely available. This is usually Sativex from Canada or Bedrocan from Holland, or the old synthetic drugs like Marinol. The classic pathologies that I have already mentioned are the treatment of vomiting and nausea in chemotherapy; it can also be used as an appetite stimulant for AIDS patients, and in two important areas that have been identified in recent years. In the treatment of neuropathic pain, resulting from nerve damage, where traditional medication has proved to be inadequate, cannibanoids have been found to be more effective than morphine. The second is in the relief offered to those suffering from multiple sclerosis. There has been significant anecdotal evidence from MS sufferers that they have seen real benefits from taking cannabis medicines. We have entered a new phase of clinical trials for the medicine Sativex, and registration has been approved in Canada and soon in the UK, after further trials were requested. This means that Sativex should be available in Europe in the second half of this year. Sometimes medicinal cannabis is used as a medicine of last resort, where all else has failed, but also as a primary cure – this depends on the pathology. Where an alternative traditional (allopathic) medicine exists that is either equally or more effective than medicinal cannabis, the doctor would probably prefer to recommend the traditional drug. There are other pathologies like the neuropathic pain which I mentioned earlier, where the cannabinoids are more effective than traditional standard medicines. In these cases the doctor might consider medicinal cannabis as a primary cure."