New version of cannabis plant developed by scientists looks and smells like the real thing...but won't leave users high

New version of cannabis plant developed by scientists looks and smells like the real thing...but won't leave users high

By Tom Goodenough

PUBLISHED: 15:36 EST, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 01:28 EST, 1 June 2012

To the untrained eye, the cannabis plant developed by Israeli scientists looks exactly like the real thing.

It looks, tastes and smells like a normal cannabis plant.

But there is just one crucial difference: this one doesn't get people stoned.

Israeli scientists have produced an almost identical version of the cannabis plant, which won't leave users high

And nor will takers of the plant be left with another common side-effect from the Class B drug, as the plant doesn't cause those taking it to be left with a sudden appetite.

According to the Maariv daily, the new cannabis shares many characteristics of the old version, but does not induce any of the feelings normally caused by it that are brought on by the substance THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.

Tikkun Olam, the company that developed the plant, set out to eliminate the effects of the substance.

And instead, they increased the effect of another substance called cannabidiol, which has been associated in medical trials with an easing of the effects of some mental illnesses.

Tzahi Klein, head of development at Tikkun Olam, told the Israeli newspaper Maariv, that the version of the plant they had produced was virtually identical to the original.

He said: 'It has the same scent, shape and taste as the original plant - it's all the same - but the numbing sensation that users are accustomed to has disappeared.

Sufferers of conditions such as MS often attest to the use of cannabis as a form of pain relief

'Many of our patients who tried the new plant come back to us and say: 'You tricked me' because they assumed they had been given a placebo.'

The reformed version of the plant is unlikely to lead to a change in British law, however.

Cannabis is classified as a Class B drug in this country, meaning that it remains illegal to be caught in possession with it.

But despite the law, cannabis remains the most widely-used banned drug in Britain.

Despite remaining the most widely-taken illegal drug, cannabis use is falling amongst younger people

Drug charity Frank has said that its popularity appears to be waning, though, and that just one in six young people had tried cannabis in 2010/11.

Many patients suffering from illnesses have spoken of the positive side-effects of smoking cannabis as a result of its ability to stave off pain.

A recent study has showed, however, that the benefits of doing so are likely to be entirely short-term.

Despite promising signs in earlier, shorter studies, researchers found patients who took capsules containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a key active ingredient in cannabis, fared no better than those given a placebo.

The study at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry at Plymouth University served a blow to hopes that the drug could provide long-term benefits for patients with multiple sclerosis, a debilitating nerve disease.

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