Cannabis goes legal

Justin Gover. Photo / Supplied

BRITAIN: Justin Gover does not look like a drug dealer. But he is, albeit a legal one. Neither does he look much like a hero. But he could well become one to the 100,000 people who suffer from multiple sclerosis in Britain after producing a medicine that has been shown to relieve the pain associated with the disease.

The discovery may also put an end to MS sufferers' widespread dependence on cannabis which many have used for decades to alleviate symptoms of the disorder.

In June, GW Pharmaceuticals, at which Gover is managing director, launched Sativex in the UK.

It was a world first - the only cannabis-based treatment to get a green light from medical authorities for use as a prescription drug.

For more than a decade, the company has tried to persuade authorities in the UK, Europe and the United States that not only did cannabis help relieve the pain caused by MS, but it could also produce a licensed treatment that could fit the requirements.

"We started from the perspective that thousands of patients can't be wrong," Gover said. "Initially, we had a Home Office licence allowing us to grow cannabis plants.

"From that moment, we had letters coming through from patients, saying, 'thank goodness and let me tell you about my experience,' so for me the conviction was really quite simple."

Gover was offered the job by Geoffrey Guy, the group's chairman. He had just completed an MBA at the Insead business school and his fellow graduates had moved into lucrative jobs with investment banks.

"A start-up like GW was an unlikely road for me to follow," he said.

His early confidence that GW had a product that would eventually work has not meant that the path to commercial reality has always been an easy one.

"In the early days we needed an armed guard for a nurse to move the material around a hospital - I don't think that happens anymore. I suppose that shows how far we've come."

- INDEPENDENT