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such as the Netherlands, the company appears to be proceedingmore slowly.

Last year, Professor Sir Malcolm Macnaughton called RU 486,"An advance in reproductive medicine of the same magnitude as thedevelopment of the hormonal contraceptive pill". In the USA, theBritish approval of the drug happened to be reported in the press onJuly 4 and pro-choice groups said it represented "IndependenceDay for British women." But there are also those who have fought toexclude RU 486 from Britain and no doubt they will continue tooppose its use in additional countries.

Seeing in the dark

Many Jamacian fishermen have an unusual ability to see in thedark and can navigate their boats in treacherous waters without theaid of lamps. Their explanation for their acutely developed nightvision-a mixture of cannabis and white rum taken half an hour orso before going to sea-has been tested by a pharmacologist fromthe University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, and found to beat least half true.’ West joined a late-night fishing trip to verify thefishermen’s alleged skills and returned duly impressed.Pharmacological investigations later indicated that the

improvement in night vision was attributable to the cannabis, notthe rum. He and an ophthalmologist colleague produced a

non-psychoactive substance from cannabis that was found to have astrong ocular antihypertensive effect and is now used to treat

glaucoma. The striking improvement in night vision reported bymany patients suggests a likely explanation for the fishermen’shighly developed nocturnal visual sense. A low incidence of

glaucoma among Jamaican rastafarians gives a further clue. Westsuggests that the observed effect of cannabis is mediated throughadrenoceptors in the ciliary epithelium, since the ocular responsesare antagonised by alpha-adrenoceptor blocking agents, ligation ofthe sympathetic ascending cervical nerve, and retrobulbaranaesthesia.The fishermen claimed that the effect of the cannabis-rum

mixture was the same whether the cannabis was smoked or drunk asan alcoholic extract of the leaves and stems.

1. West ME. Cannabis and night vision. Nature 1991; 531: 703-04.

Doctors unite against tobaccoThe UK Government’s stated aim is to reduce by a third the

number of smokers by the year 2000, and it recognises in itsconsultation document The Health of the Nation that smoking is amajor cause of death and disease. This week it has published itsadvice for healthy eating, another key issue identified in its greenpaper, but it has been notably reticent about smoking. It is, withother countries, opposed to a European Community directive toban cigarette advertising-ignoring evidence that such bans haveworked in other countries (June 15, p 1466). 29 British medicalsocieties and associations and Royal Colleges, representing about85 000 of Britain’s doctors, have now combined in the fight againstsmoking (Dec 8, p 1436) and have formed a pressure group, Doctorsfor Tobacco Law, led by the British Thoracic Society (BTS). Mostsmokers start when they are young (1 % of children aged 12, 12%aged 14, and 23% aged 15 are believed to smoke cigarettes), and thegroup’s main aim is to stop children from starting to smoke since itbelieves that deaths from tobacco disease can be reduced only iffewer children take up the habit. To achieve this aim it plans to putpressure on the government to ban tobacco advertising andsponsorship. More girls than boys are now smoking, and this hasimplications for future generations: the effects of maternal smokingon the fetus and child are well known, and parental smoking is adetermining factor in whether a child will become a smoker or not.Doctors for Tobacco Law will be asking their MPs why an addictivesubstance like tobacco is allowed to be widely advertised and linkedvia sponsorship to sports and leisure. How effective this campaignwill be against the might of the tobacco industry remains to be seen.So far the only financial support for Doctors for Tobacco Lawcomes from the BTS.

In Italy Now

I live in Italy in what could be either a small city or a large town.The distinction is blurred here, since the country developed as acollection of independent city states, constantly forming allianceswith and against each other. It certainly has the feel of a town, and inmany ways it represents the "real" Italy better than Rome or Milanin the way that Worcester, say, is closer to the "real" England thanLondon or Birmingham. You would probably recognise its namebut find it hard to say just where it was without referring to a map.An old lady used to live in and around our railway station, which

like most stations here does not close during the night. She slept in acomer near the entrance surrounded by her bags, and any time Icaught an early train or returned late she was there. During the dayshe could be seen wandering back and forth in the vicinity of thestation carrying her belongings.

Well, she died at the end of March. I know because a little whiteplacard with black lettering appeared on the wall in her corner. Hername was Antonia Ruffin, and she was 70; below the card is a vase offlowers. In the months that have passed since her death no graffitihave appeared on the card, the vase has not been stolen, and theflowers are replaced regularly.

Things like that say more about a country than any number ofvolumes of history or economic or social analysis. I am sure shenever dreamed that her death would be recorded in a leadingmedical journal.

International Diary

1991

A symposium entitled Epididymis is to be held in Sonderborg on Aug22-24: Organizing Secretariat, NAFA ’91 Epididymis, Dr Lars Linnet,Department of Surgery K, Sonderborg Hospital, KD-6400 Sonderborg,Denmark (45 7443 0311).

7th international conference on Pharmacoepidemiology is to be held inBasel, Switzerland on Aug 26-29: Dr S. A. Edlavitch, International Societyfor Pharmacoepidemiology, University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy,308 Harvard Street SE, HSUF 7-158, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA(612-624 4426).

A symposium on Arthrodesis and Instrumentation of the Cervicaland Lumbar Spine will be held in London on Sept 3-5: Alison Toal,Project Manager (081-549 5831).

1st symposium entitled Typhoid Fever will be held in Malaysia on Oct1-3: Prof Tikki Pang, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Malaya,59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A symposium on Human Reproduction will be held in London onFriday, Oct 4: Symposium Secretary, Royal Postgraduate Medical School,Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen Charlotte’s and ChelseaHospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 OXG, UK (081-740 3904).

Annual meeting of the British Trauma Society is to take place inLytham St Annes, Lancashire, UK on Oct 4-5: Mr M. S. Comah,Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatic Surgery, Victoria Hospital,Blackpool FY3 8NR, UK.

A congress entitled Biotec’91 will take place in Dusseldorf on Nov 20-23:Dusseldorfer Messegesellschaft mbH, NOWEA, Biotec 91, Postfach 32 0203, Stockumer Kirchstrasse 61, D-4000 Diisseldorf 30, Germany (0211-456001).

7th international symposium on Cardiopulmonary Urgencies andEmergencies is to take place in Rotterdam on Nov 19-22: Dr 0. Prakash,Chief, Thorax Anaesthesia, Thorax Centre, Dijkzigt Hospital, DrMolewaterplein 50, 3015 GD Rotterdam, Netherlands (31-10-463 5230).

A meeting entitled Selection Methods will take place in London onFriday, Dec 13: Maureen Gyle, Administrative Secretary, Association for theStudy of Medical Education, Level 10, Ninewells Hospital and MedicalSchool, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK (0382-65235).