GW-PHARMA DEFENDS CANNABIS TERRITORY

- GW Pharmaceuticals GWP.L, which has spent four years developing medicines based
on cannabis, has moved to dispel investors" fears that Britain"s downgrading of pot to almost legal status will remove the need for its products.

Executive chairman Geoffrey Guy said the more liberal a government"s policies, "the easier it is for us to address some of the larger but less severe conditions".

GW is developing pain-relief products for people suffering from severe conditions such as multiple sclerosis and certain cancers.

Home secretary David Blunkett said if trials on cannabis-based medicines worked, the law would be changed to allow doctors to prescribe them.