His illness gnawed at him. But anger gnaws even more at Laurent Puisais. He is so angry with the health authorities who refuse to authorize Sativex, a pain reliever drug derived from cannabis, that he is ready to put his life in danger by going on a hunger strike.
The Frenchman is determined to lead this fight head-on for the authorization of a treatment that could make his daily life easier to bear. “Sativex has positive results in all patients with sclerosis. But we are there in our chair and we say to ourselves that in France it is not authorized, we are not allowed”, he blurted out bitterly. , in an interview given to France 3.
At 52 years old, ten of whom spent in a wheelchair because of his “rotten” disease, the man does not fear the damage of hunger on his body. “It’s my eighth day, but this fight started a long time ago and it will be a long time yet,” he explained to Le Figaro.
“An antidepressant”
Laurent is not at his first attempt. Already in 2012, he had stopped eating to ask the public prosecutor for the legalization of Sativex, the cannabis-based oral spray.
If it were authorized in France, Sativex, composed of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychotropic molecule in cannabis, and cannabidiol, would fight against muscle pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.
The fifty-year-old assures him, Sativex acts as “an antidepressant”. It would allow him to regain some of his motor skills. He was indeed able to test the effects of Sativex in 2012. A Briton moved by his first hunger strike had decided to support him by offering him two sprays.
Although it has obtained marketing authorization, Sativex is still not available in pharmacies French Health authorities and the British manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals have still not reached an agreement on the selling price of the treatment.
Laurent Puisais hopes that his hunger strike will make things happen.
France has warned that if Sativex were sold, it would not result in legalization of the therapeutic cannabis. Cannabis-based treatments are already sold in several European countries (Netherlands, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, etc.).
>> To read also:Sativex: a dangerous drug according to the Academy of Medicine
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