At the moment, cannabis is seen by most authorities around the world as part of narcotics and not as a medicine. In America, at least, the government seems to be taking fairly effective measures to make sure than nobody does the research that might prove otherwise, while threatening the terrors of the earth on doctors in those states that have voted to permit medical use, if they dare to avail themselves of their new legal rights. But the British government has just proved itself more open-minded. It has issued a licence to a small drug company called GW Pharmaceuticals, allowing it to investigate the medical uses of the dreaded weed.