London, UK, 7 May 2013: GW Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: GWPH, AIM: GWP, "GW" or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform, announces that it has received commercialization approval for its prescription medicine Sativex® in Italy. A full marketing authorization has been granted by the authorities in Italy for the treatment of moderate to severe spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients who have not responded adequately to other anti-spasticity medications. This license to market Sativex® in Italy comes by way of the publication of Sativex® in the Italian Official Journal (Gazzetta Ufficiale) and reflects that regulatory, pricing and reimbursement approvals are now in place for an expected commercial launch in September by GW’s partner, Almirall S.A. The reimbursed price of the medicine granted by the authorities in Italy is consistent with the reimbursed Sativex® price in Spain.

Companies hoping to sell marijuana for medical use in Massachusetts will be required to hire an independent lab to test their products for contaminants, such as heavy metals and pesticides, under final rules that regulators approved by unanimous vote Wednesday morning.

The provision is among dozens of changes made by the Department of Public Health to draft rules the agency released in March, after staffers reviewed hundreds of suggestions from advocates on all sides of the contentious issue. The rules previously would have allowed marijuana dispensaries to conduct their own testing.

A new study reported on this week at the annual meeting for the American Association of Cancer Research has found that habitual marijuana consumers have no more increased risk of lung cancer than casual consumers, or those who don’t consume at all. This was found to be true regardless of how many times a day a person consumes cannabis, and regardless of how long they’ve been a consumer.

The study included data from six case-control studies conducted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. It included a subject pool of 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls – the studies were part of the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), an international group of lung cancer researchers.

Is it ever a good idea to get your dog or cat stoned? California veterinarian Doug Kramer says the answer depends on whether your pet could be classified as a medical marijuana patient.

"I do think there are therapeutic benefits to it," says Kramer, who some years ago found that his homemade pot tinctures helped his own dog, a husky named Nikita, fight pain and regain her appetite after she came down with cancer.

Endocannabinoids are naturally occurring compounds found within the human body. They've been there for 600,000 years or more, but we've only just noticed it! One of the remarkable things about endocannabinoids is their striking similarity to the active ingredients of cannabis called phyto-cannabinoids. In fact, it was the effort by scientists to understand the exact mechanism by which cannabis works in the body that led to the discovery of the Endocannabinoid System little more than a decade ago.

The science of endocannabinoid medicine has progressed to a dizzying degree in the past few years. There is wider awareness that the 'endocannabinoid system' is the largest neurotransmitter system in the human body, regulating relaxation, eating, sleeping, memory, and, as noted by the Italian scientist Vincenzo Di Marzo, even our immune system.