The Netherlands' Sole Distributor of Cannabis

[matcom]

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Omega Pharma said on Tuesday it would become the sole distributor of cannabis in the Netherlands after the country became the world's first to allow doctors to prescribe the drug for medicinal purposes.

Belgium's largest drug and health products distributor said one of its Dutch subsidiaries had won an exclusive three-year contract with the Dutch health ministry to distribute the drug to pharmacies.

"Omega will exclusively distribute Medicinal Cannabis in all pharmacies in the Netherlands as from September 1, 2003," it said in a statement. "The first day already a few hundred orders have been delivered."

The Netherlands is making cannabis available as a prescription drug to treat cancer, HIV (news - web sites) and multiple sclerosis.

Ger van Jeveren, who oversees Omega's global drug sales, could not make a precise forecast on how the deal would boost the company's sales.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=1&u=/nm/20030905/od_nm/omegapharma_dc