Prince Drawn Into Marijuana Debate LONDON (AP) -- Prince Charles was drawn into the debate on the medicinal properties of marijuana after asking a multiple sclerosis sufferer if she had ever tried it, newspapers reported Thursday. The Guardian newspaper quoted 36-year-old Karen Drake, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, as saying that the prince had heard marijuana was good for easing the pain of the disease. ``He (the prince) asked me if I have tried taking cannabis, saying that he understood that, under strict medical supervision, it was one of the best things for it,'' Drake was quoted as saying. The Sun tabloid, Britain's largest-selling newspaper, reported the conversation as ``advice.'' But a spokeswoman for the heir to the throne said the prince was speaking during a private, informal visit on Tuesday to a west England charity home, and that the conversation was private. ``The Prince of Wales is aware of the current debate on the issue as to whether cannabis should be available to people suffering from severe pain brought on by MS,'' the spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity. ``But he has never spoken publicly on the issue and his is a private view.'' The Multiple Sclerosis Society has called for clinical trials to investigate claims that the drug can relieve symptoms.
