Medicinal product derived from cannabis, Sativex will arrive in France in 2015 to relieve certain patients. The Academy of Medicine points out the risks associated with THC.
On January 8, the Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) authorized the marketing of Sativex in France. This cannabis-based medicine is intended for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, “to relieve severe contractures (spasticity), resistant to other treatments”.
Scheduled in French pharmacies for 2015, only neurologists and hospital rehabilitators will be able to prescribe it, said the ministry. The renewal can be done with liberal doctors.
But this arrival of therapeutic cannabis in pharmacies is not without controversy. In a press release published on Tuesday, the Academy of Medicine recalls that in the state of knowledge relating to cannabis and its constituents, “no significant progress in the field of their alleged therapeutic interests has emerged recently, so that knowledge of their adverse effects has become more precise and multiplied. ”
The Academy’s position is clear and unambiguous: “the evolution of legislation in favor of their registration as therapeutic agents does not seem justified for pharmaco-therapeutic reasons. “
THC: generator of psychic and physical dependence
The institution insists on the fact that the decree adopted on June 5, opening the possibility of marketing in France of medicinal products derived from cannabis, does not make any distinction between the very many cannabinoids contained, in very different proportions, the various varieties of cannabis.
As such, she recalls that modern drugs precisely avoid plant extracts, which often prefer tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Contained in the Sativex, “it is however a drug addictive agent, generator of a psychic and physical dependence”, recalls the Academy.
Numerous and troublesome drug interactions
In addition, these doctors indicate that THC potentiates the effects of alcohol, benzodiazepines and other sedatives and / or hypnotics. For all these reasons, “it is incompatible with driving, whether administered in isolation or even more in combination with previous agents. “
Serious side effects
In addition, another argument developed by the Academy of Medicine against the commercialization of Sativex, “that of the relationship of THC with the development of anxiety and depressive disorders, during semi-chronic and even more chronic use. For the institution, these serious adverse effects that can lead to risky situations are now established and better understood.
Thus, according to these doctors, “its chronic use results in a marked decrease in intellectual capacities. ”
In addition, other undesirable effects, the responsibility of which may be attributed to THC, are still reported by the institution. Among them, the development of an aggressive type of testicular cancer, the decrease in testosteronemia which disrupts libido, its immunosuppressive and cardiovascular effects, and its involvement in gestation, with the risk of abnormalities for the child. to be born.
Significant risks of diversion
Finally, the Academy warns against the risks of misuse of Sativex. “If cannabis in spray should not be of interest to stoners, we can fear the proliferation of prescriptions outside Marketing Authorization for various uses such as weaning drug addicts, reducing the nausea of patients treated with chemotherapy, restoring the appetite of patients with AIDS. . ”
These fears are based on the fact that all these indications, widely acclaimed in public opinion, “are not supported by indisputable clinical studies”, she concludes.
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