Medical use from cannabis , so why is our government still saying its harmfull

weedfreedomtinp

Ailments for which the medical use of cannabis may be beneficial include:

Addiction, Arthritis, Appetite Loss, Nausea, Cancer Chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting Syndrome, Nausea From Cancer, Chemotherapy, Glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, Parkinson’s Disease, Movement Disorders, Dystonia, Asthma, Brain Injury/Stroke, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Depression, Mental Illness, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, High Blood Pressure/Hypertension, Migraine, Nail Patella Syndrome, Schizophrenia, Tourette's Syndrome.

Below are notes on some of the most common medical uses of cannabis.
Arthritis: In 1994 the ‘Times’ reported; ‘The demand for Cannabis among British pensioners has stunned doctors, police and suppliers. The old people use the drug to ease the pain of such ailments as arthritis and rheumatism. Many are running afoul of the law for the first time in their lives as they try to obtain suppliers.’
Arthritis affects the joints and surrounding areas, including muscles, membrane linings and cartilage. It causes painful inflammation, heat, swelling, pain, redness of skin and tenderness in the affected areas. Cortisone-type drugs provide dramatic pain relief for short periods but decrease in effectiveness if used over time. The side effects of these drugs include nausea, restlessness, insomnia, dizziness, headache, depression and mood swings, irregular heartbeat and menstruation problems. Several cannabinoids have both analgesic (pain-relieving) and anti-inflammatory effects, a combination particularly helpful for arthritic people. Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the main active ingredients in cannabis is a very effective anti-inflammatory agent. Cannabis can be smoked or eaten to relieve the general pain, inflammation and discomfort of arthritis. Cannabis poultices can be applied topically to troubled areas. Cannabis in alcohol or as a cream can also be rubbed on the skin.
Appetite Loss, Nausea, Cancer Chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting Syndrome: One of the most outstanding medical values of cannabis is the role it can play in restoring a person’s relationship to food. Cannabis is remarkably powerful in combating nausea and vomiting, making it possible to consume food and hold it down. It is also an extraordinary stimulant of appetite itself; a condition known by cannabis users as ‘the munchies’. Conditions characterised by nausea, vomiting, appetite problems and severe weight loss include AIDS Wasting Syndrome, kidney failure, tuberculosis, hyperemesis gravidarum (magnified form of morning sickness) and anorexia and the side effects of chemotherapy.
Nausea From Cancer Chemotherapy: Nausea and vomiting, which can last for days after a single treatment and be so violent as to threaten to break bones and rupture the aesophagus, are common side effects of the chemotherapies used in treating cancer. Many patients develop such an aversion to the site or odor of food that they stop eating altogether and lose the will to live. Up to 40% of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy do not respond to the standard treatment for preventing vomiting. These use expensive ‘antiemetics’ drugs such as ‘Zofran’ (which must be administered by intravenous drip and cost £250+ a treatment). ‘Marinol’ which uses THC was approved after much resistance in the USA in 1986. It is effective in many cases where other drugs have failed. Smoking or eating cannabis also seems to provide relief where standard treatments fail. The effectiveness of cannabis in treating nausea and vomiting from cancer chemotherapy is dose-related. The higher the blood levels of THC, the more complete the relief of vomiting. Lester Grinspoon, M.D. has calculated that using cannabis to treat chemotherapy nausea would cost about one percent as much as treatment with Zofran.
Glaucoma: The usual treatment is eye drops containing drugs called ‘beta-blockers’. While effective they can cause depression, exacerbate asthma, decrease heart rate and increase danger of heart failure. The most common form of glaucoma, ‘open angle glaucoma’ happens when the channels that carry fluid out of the eyeball gradually become narrower causing the intra ocular pressure to increase slowly over time, damaging the optic nerve that relays signals from the eye to the brain and resulting in blindness. Fortunately, it can be treated with cannabis. Cannabis relieves symptoms by reducing intra ocular pressure, thereby slowing down the progress of the condition, sometimes bringing it to a complete halt. The pressure relieving effects achieved by using cannabis last for four to five hours.
Multiple Sclerosis: Multiple Sclerosis destroys the sheathing that protects nerve fibres, interfering with the function of the nervous system. The victim suffers painful muscle spasms, loss of coordination, tremors, paralysis, insomnia, mood swings and depression, blurred vision, impotence, loss of bladder control and more. There are three types; fairly mild and does not get worse over time; one which gets worse slowly; and one which gets rapidly worse once it appears. Many suffers end up using wheelchairs. Modern medicine has failed to find an effective treatment for the overall condition although various drugs give short-term relief of different symptoms. Valium or similar tranquilizers are used to treat muscle spasms but have there associated side effect of addiction, and doses often have to be increased sharply over time (good for profits if nothing else). MS patients who use cannabis report a soothing of the painful muscle spasms and improved muscle coordination. Some are able to walk unaided when they were previously unable to do so. It also helps blurred vision, tremors, loss of bladder control, insomnia and depression.
Depression: Depression can be a very depressing state of mind to be in, and can include pessimism, hopelessness, despair, loss of interest in life, boredom and sadness. Symptoms include insomnia or excessive sleeping, loss of appetite or over eating, decreased sex drive, constipation, listlessness, chronic tiredness, difficulty with concentration and decision making, and irritability. About 30% of patients with depression respond badly to antidepressants or find the side effects intolerable. A significant difference between the two is that the mood lifting effects of cannabis occur within a few minutes of smoking or about an hour after ingesting while pharmaceutical antidepressants usually take several days or weeks to kick in - and the same or longer to safely get off them.
Movement Disorders: Diseases characterised by impaired motor function and difficulties with muscle control. Conventional drug treatments are not very effective and can have very bad side effects. Cannabis has proved to be surprisingly helpful. Research indicates that the reason may have something to do with the presence of receptors for cannabinoids in the ‘basal ganglia’, a part of the nervous system involved in the coordination of movement.
Parkinson’s Disease: A movement disorder closely associated with the aging process, thought to be caused by abnormalities in the ‘basal ganglia’ and deterioration of the brain systems associated with the brain chemical ‘dopamine’ which is involved in movement and motor control. Levels of dopamine decline with ageing. Conventional treatments include ‘Deprenyl’, ‘Bromocriptine’ and ‘L-dopa’, all drugs which increase levels of dopamine in the nervous system. ‘L-dopa’, the most frequently used of these treatments, may actually increase damage to parts of the brain involved in dopamine production. It does not slow down the progression of the disease or increase life expectancy. Its side effects include most of the symptoms of the disease it is intended to treat! These include nausea, loss of libido, vomiting, irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite, headache, dystonias, and muscle spasms. Cannabis has demonstrated a beneficial impact on all of them. However ‘Cannabidiol’ one of the active agents of cannabis may aggravate the ‘hypokinesia’, or overall lack of movement associated with Parkinson’s.
Dystonia: Dystonias are a group of movement disorders characterised by abnormal body movements and postures. Their causes can be a side effect of medicines used to treat psychotic conditions and Parkinson’s disease. Cannabis has been shown to be helpful for dystonia in studies with both humans and animals when conventional drugs are rarely effective and have dangerous side effects. Cannabis used in conjunction with standard medications can help achieve a more effective overall treatment.
Chronic Pain: One of the most difficult problems for health practitioners to treat. Conventional medicine uses opiate-type drugs such as codeine. Opiates are highly addictive and dosages have to be increased to remain effective, increasing the addiction. Much addiction has its roots in pain being self medication conscious or not. Non-addictive painkillers are also available, but they are often not strong enough to provide adequate pain relief! The painkilling properties of Cannabis (THC) are comparable to those of codeine and other commonly used painkillers without the side effects or risk of addiction. Studies have found that the dose of THC required to kill pain was far smaller than the amount of codeine required to give the same level of relief. Amazingly the same dosage of cannabis has a consistently stronger painkilling effect for experienced users of cannabis than for inexperienced users. This is the opposite of a development of tolerance! A single dose can relieve pain for several hours. Eating is often more effective than smoking and the effects last longer. However, the use of cannabis and opiates is not necessarily an either-or issue. If cannabis is used in an ongoing regime of medication, opiates could be added or substituted during periods when pain levels rise. Conversely, if opiates are used as the basis of the ongoing regime, cannabis could be added when pain levels rise , avoiding the need to increase the dosages of opiates being used and the associated dangers.
Diabetes: Insulin is excreted from the beta islet cells of the pancreas. Insulin, a natural body chemical, floods the body after a sugar-rich meal and causes various cell types to dramatically increase their uptake of glucose, a common sugar. The effect of insulin is to reduce the levels of glucose in the bloodstream. Diabetes can result from the body’s inability to produce sufficient quantities of insulin or from an inability to respond properly to the insulin that is produced. In either case, many of the clinical effects of diabetes stem from the deleterious effects of high blood sugar.
There is some anecdotal evidence that cannabis lowers blood sugar. AIDS and cancer patients, among other cannabis users, often report an increase in appetite after consuming cannabis, and a few reports indicate that smoking cannabis can lower blood sugar in diabetics.
A study (Tracy Blevins phd) was undertaken to determine whether this effect can be detected using an easily available over the counter blood glucose testing kit.

A morbidly obese man had a non-healing wound on his lower leg and was experiencing confusion and sleepiness after large meals. He suspected diabetes as the culprit, and, since smoking a large cannabis cigarette after large meals seemed to alleviate some of his symptoms, his blood sugar was tested before, immediately after and multiple times during the hour following a large meal rich in protein, fats and both complex and simple carbohydrates.
The results were dramatic and raised some interesting research questions. Before and immediately after the meal, the patient’s blood sugar was in the normal range, but within a few minutes increased by 80 mg/dl and remained at this high level for almost an hour. Then he smoked a 1 gram cannabis cigarette, and his blood sugar levels fell by 40 points almost instantly. This represents a full 50% of the abnormal increase in blood sugar.
The drop of blood which was taken at the exact moment when he was self reporting a ‘high’ were the lowest in blood sugar, a good indication that the blood sugar lowering was caused by the ingestion of cannabis. Curiously, after a few minutes, his blood sugar started to increase again. It might be that smoking cannabis helped to reduce his blood sugar, but only transiently. Would a longer acting cannabinoid suppress blood sugar levels more efficiently?
Further studies are necessary to confirm this effect and to determine the parameters of the effect: the amount of cannabis needed, the time course of the effect, and also whether different types of cannabis show more or less blood sugar lowering. Also, in another non-diabetic patient, blood sugar was decreased by 11%, pointing to the possibility that cannabis can lower blood sugar in a non-disease state. Could it be that we have finally discovered the biological mechanism of “the munchies”?

Biggins

Because maybe importation of it comes from so many sources that they can't tax it?
Maybe if they can't tax it, they ban it!

Officially of course its bad for the health (and it is when abused, no question) but don't mention that about drink, cigs, etc!
More hypocrisy from our supposed leaders! :rolleyes:

weedfreedomtinp

see you can not put copyrights on natural plants but you can on pharmaceutical drugs from company's ,, they think of a price and double it , and they have it patterned for 20 years to make as much as they can from each drug..

its absolutely disgraceful

you can watch the full video in the link below

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9077214414651731007#

cavedave

Government policy is rarely about evidence. If it was laws would be removed if after being imposed for a time they were shown to be ineffective. How often do you hear "we seek to reduce bad event Y by X%. To do this we are bringing in a new rule. If Y does not reduce we will remove this rule", you don't because politics is about looking like your doing good not actually about doing it.

Badscience has an interesting post about this in relations to drugs

Drugs show the classic problem for evidence-based social policy. It may well be that prohibition, and distribution of drugs by criminals, gives worse results for the outcomes we think are important, such as harm to the user and to communities through crime. But equally, we may tolerate these outcomes, because we decide it is more important that we declare ourselves to disapprove of drug use. It's okay to do that. You can have policies that go against your stated outcomes, for moral or political reasons: but that doesn't mean you can hide the evidence.

OldJay

weedfreedomtinp wrote: »

Ailments for which the medical use of cannabis may be beneficial include:


Addiction, Arthritis, Appetite Loss . . .

Hey, you've already posted this.
Memory loss?

weedfreedomtinp

Justind wrote: »

Hey, you've already posted this.
Memory loss? [/left]

if you look 1 is about medical uses and 1 is about legalizing to bring our country out of recession

weedfreedomtinp

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9077214414651731007&hl=en#

weedfreedomtinp

Amalgam

Would the Government not have fears of a big increase in vehicle related offences.. considering the Gardai barely have a grasp on issues relating to alcohol. Then you will, inevitably, have someone mowing down a couple of pedestrians, or killing another motorist, under the influence of cannabis, then there's the work of trying to get a conviction in court, with a rather fragile and lemon fresh legal framework around the matter.

Any change in policy will take years, to make sure there's the proper framework to assist or prosecute the various users.

OldJay

weedfreedomtinp wrote: »

if you look 1 is about medical uses and 1 is about legalizing to bring our country out of recession

. . . with the exact same content.

The_Minister

weedfreedomtinp wrote: »

Ailments for which the medical use of cannabis may be beneficial include:

Addiction, Arthritis, Appetite Loss, Nausea, Cancer Chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting Syndrome, Nausea From Cancer, Chemotherapy, Glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, Parkinson’s Disease, Movement Disorders, Dystonia, Asthma, Brain Injury/Stroke, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Depression, Mental Illness, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, High Blood Pressure/Hypertension, Migraine, Nail Patella Syndrome, Schizophrenia, Tourette's Syndrome.

???

Kama

Chemotherapy ???

Chemo is pretty nauseating, and its quite common to use cannabis to ameliorate the symptoms, and to provide some appetite. I know my mum did during her passing. Anything which gives relief to someone in chronic pain, or assist in improving quality of life during palliative care is more than alright by me, and criminalizing it pretty sadistic imho.

Kevo

I fully support the use of medicinal marijuana.

However, I don't want it legalized. We have enough problems with alcohol alone and although alcohol is far worse than weed I think we are better off without it. If it were legalized we would have a higher rate of schizophrenia and more people would suffer from cannabis associated memory problems.

I do accept that is not nearly as damaging as alcohol but there are long term affects for extremely heavy users (still alcohol is worse). I would therefore like to minimise its use.

As for the argument that legalisation leads to lower rates of use, I don't think that would work in Ireland. I certainly would have used it a lot more had it been legal and sold in shops.

I do however support decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use. I just don't want it sold in shops.

our government doesn't really understand what's going on.. they think it's safer to have everyone land out on the streets at 2.30am than have it staggered. and they think weed is dangerous so must be illegal.

i don't like weed, it's grand now and then but i'd like to have the choice of walking into town and getting a bag of weed that is safe and hasn't had a history of gangland associated with it.

Kalashnikov_Kid

Deleted User wrote: »

our government doesn't really understand what's going on.. they think it's safer to have everyone land out on the streets at 2.30am than have it staggered. and they think weed is dangerous so must be illegal.

i don't like weed, it's grand now and then but i'd like to have the choice of walking into town and getting a bag of weed that is safe and hasn't had a history of gangland associated with it.

Newsflash for you - if you or your family have any history of mental health problems - weed, like most other drugs, is definately dangerous.

mike65

Is boards now a platform for single issue members?

Whats the story?

Diabetes: Insulin is excreted from the beta islet cells of the pancreas. Insulin, a natural body chemical, floods the body after a sugar-rich meal and causes various cell types to dramatically increase their uptake of glucose, a common sugar. The effect of insulin is to reduce the levels of glucose in the bloodstream. Diabetes can result from the body’s inability to produce sufficient quantities of insulin or from an inability to respond properly to the insulin that is produced. In either case, many of the clinical effects of diabetes stem from the deleterious effects of high blood sugar.
There is some anecdotal evidence that cannabis lowers blood sugar.

Exellent I'll quit my insulin and get happy!

Kalashnikov_Kid

Kalashnikov_Kid wrote: »

Newsflash for you - if you or your family have any history of mental health problems - weed, like most other drugs, is definately dangerous.

well if it was legalised, the government could pass this message a bit clearer then couldn't they?


and by the way, i don't believe that for a second.. 1 in 1000 cases maybe?

Kama

Causality is a bit muddy on this one; emerging schizophrenics are far more likely to use cannabis, but they are also far more likely to smoke tobacco.

If cannabis is casual to the development of schizophrenia, rather than its use associated, we would expect a huge rise in schizophrenia rates in the last 50 years reflecting the increased use of cannabis. The milder form is that it can be an aggravating factor given individuals who already have a schizotypal predisposition.

I do however support decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use. I just don't want it sold in shops.

I'm a legalization proponent, so while I'd consider decrininalization a worthwhile approach, conceptually I find it somewhat contradictory to allow it for personal use but illegal to supply.

Interestingly, I remember a time when we had de facto decriminalization in this country; if you were caught with 'green' they let you off, if it was resin they did you. The quite logical approach was that the latter supported crime, the former was people growing it themself and comparatively harmless, or a waste of garda resources.

ChocolateSauce

OP: There are no good reasons for its continuing illegality. I'm sure most people know this.

Kama

Is tradition a good reason? It is if you are a conservative.

I'd hesitate to say there are no reasons for it to be illegal, I just regard the reasons for it to be legal to be more convincing. Most 'no to weed' stories I hear are mainly fear-based moral-panic stuff, about how society will collapse and there'll be some kind of hippy anarchy. Whereas the pro argument has harm reduction, depriving gangs of revenue, personal freedom, revenue, tourism and job creation.

Mind you, this is probably OT, given that this thread is ostensibly for the medical effects...the most curious of which is the somewhat counter-intuitive suggestion that smoking marijuana 'cures cancer'

indough

Biggins wrote: »

Because maybe importation of it comes from so many sources that they can't tax it?
Maybe if they can't tax it, they ban it!

they could easily just grow it here

Kalashnikov_Kid

Deleted User wrote: »

well if it was legalised, the government could pass this message a bit clearer then couldn't they?


and by the way, i don't believe that for a second.. 1 in 1000 cases maybe?

I know one of my classmates liked it at school alot. And now spends most of his time travelling from his bedroom to the local mental health hospital. Dont have any stats but you cant just simply say it is not dangerous.

And then there's also the issue of drug driving - current testing would have to be severely improved. And how would you accurately measure the effects of cannabis?

Fighting Irish

Kevo wrote: »

I fully support the use of medicinal marijuana.

However, I don't want it legalized. We have enough problems with alcohol alone and although alcohol is far worse than weed I think we are better off without it. If it were legalized we would have a higher rate of schizophrenia and more people would suffer from cannabis associated memory problems.

I do accept that is not nearly as damaging as alcohol but there are long term affects for extremely heavy users (still alcohol is worse). I would therefore like to minimise its use.

As for the argument that legalisation leads to lower rates of use, I don't think that would work in Ireland. I certainly would have used it a lot more had it been legal and sold in shops.

I do however support decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use. I just don't want it sold in shops.

So the gov gets no tax off it and dealers can make all the money they want and not get in trouble

Fighting Irish

Kalashnikov_Kid wrote: »

I know one of my classmates liked it at school alot. And now spends most of his time travelling from his bedroom to the local mental health hospital. Dont have any stats but you cant just simply say it is not dangerous.

And then there's also the issue of drug driving - current testing would have to be severely improved. And how would you accurately measure the effects of cannabis?

So you think without weed your mate would be running microsoft by now?

I drink sometimes but it'll never be enough to fuck up my liver, stupid people can't be helped

Kama

I know one of my classmates liked it at school alot. And now spends most of his time travelling from his bedroom to the local mental health hospital.

I know lots of people who have spent time in mental institutions, homes for the bemused, or other sections of the mental health system. Some of the smoked pot. Many had also masturbated, or eaten crisps while watching TV.

Not saying there is no connection, just that correlation isn't causation. I mean, Obama, Schwarzenegger, Steve Jobs, just about everyone who has ever made good music didn't all end up in St Pats.

So the gov gets no tax off it and dealers can make all the money they want and not get in trouble

Yeah, that's kinda why decriminalization seems inconsistent to me; politically though its a realistic halfway house towards legalization.

studiorat

Kalashnikov_Kid wrote: »

I know one of my classmates liked it at school alot. And now spends most of his time travelling from his bedroom to the local mental health hospital. Dont have any stats but you cant just simply say it is not dangerous.

And then there's also the issue of drug driving - current testing would have to be severely improved. And how would you accurately measure the effects of cannabis?

In fairness your classmate would most likely have found something else to become addicted to. (i mean addicted in the psychological sense)
I'd be nearly positive he was using weed to replace something that he was missing in his life in the first place. 20 years ago it would have been glue or cough mixture or something similar.

However, it would seem the younger you become a regular cannabis smoker the more likely you are to develop serious mental health problems. Many researchers believe that using the drug while the brain is still developing boosts levels of dopamine, which can directly lead to schizophrenia. Also it would seem that people with a certain genetic make-up are more suceptable to this, ie. neither this gene (COMT) nor cannabis on it's own will cause the problem but the two together can increase the risk by up to 1000%. I sh1t you not, I enjoy the occasional smoke less so as I get older, but don't be fooled, it does have it's dangers.

Mind you the dangers of tobacco smoke are well known at this stage and that is obviously widely available so it is still a bit of a paradox that cannabis is illegal and tobacco is not.

Another worry about the whole street drugs thing with cannabis is how stupidly strong the stuff is these days again increasing the risk of serious mental health problems, not to mention being cut with broken glass as we saw last year.

I too think if it was legalised it might be a little safer to use, may have less of an interest for people to want to try and would certainly take the gun out of it's supply.

A swab on the steering-wheel will show up any cannabis use BTW and the fact that you are driving at 5mph!!!

ScumLord

Kalashnikov_Kid wrote: »

I know one of my classmates liked it at school alot. And now spends most of his time travelling from his bedroom to the local mental health hospital. Dont have any stats but you cant just simply say it is not dangerous.

And then there's also the issue of drug driving - current testing would have to be severely improved. And how would you accurately measure the effects of cannabis?

Like studiorat said it's been shown that if you use the drug at a young age (under 15) you more than likely will develop some sort of mental health issue. If it's use was restricted to over 21s there's little to no danger of developing any mental health problems.

Bottom line is children shouldn't do any drugs while their brain is developing.

It's also very hard test for cannabis, current test don't test for the active ingredient as far as I'm aware. All they can tell you is that you used cannabis at some stage over the previous few days.

EDIT: Cannabis also has inbuilt anti psychotics which are being breed out in the race for stronger and stronger high. Legalisation would help bring back more natural weed that has those in built safety.

Kalashnikov_Kid

So we have agreed that there are dangers involved, unlike what was previously suggested. That was the crux of my argument.

It is widely regarded that many successful Victorian writers such as Lewis Carroll were largely off their tits on opium at the time of the writing of some classic English novels.

Should we legalise that too? Where to we draw the line?

Kama

So we have agreed that there are dangers involved, unlike what was previously suggested. That was the crux of my argument.

Few would deny there are any dangers; consuming any substance has side-effects and dangers The question is, how do these dangers compare with other 'legitimate' drugs, paracetamol for instance, whcih are widely available, and are these dangers greater or lesser in a regulated market than in the black economy of crime. If dangers are what you are focused on, which is the greater harm, the dangers in a liberal or a prohibitionary regime?

The reality on the ground is that we have a developed industry, selling a product without quality control, with the proceeds funding organized crime. This is a policy decision we have made, and supporting prohibition is support for this policy. As Friedman pointed out, prohibition constitutes a government-enforced cartel for organized crime.

Takeshi_Kovacs

weedfreedomtinp wrote: »

see you can not put copyrights on natural plants but you can on pharmaceutical drugs from company's ,, they think of a price and double it , and they have it patterned for 20 years to make as much as they can from each drug..

its absolutely disgraceful

you can watch the full video in the link below

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9077214414651731007#

Good video, i enjoyed that, thanks for linking it.

weedfreedomtinp

Here some medical facts about cannabis that have been researched by CMCR RESEARCH


INVESTIGATOR: Donald Abrams, M.D. PROJECT TITLE: Cannabis for Treatment of HIV-Related Peripheral Neuropathy PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study[/URL] STATUS: COMPLETE RESULTS: The full results of this study appear in the February 13, 2007 issue of the journal Neurology. Below is a brief summary of these results.
Dr. Abrams and the Community Consortium conducted a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of smoked marijuana to treat pain caused by HIV-related peripheral neuropathy (injury to the nerves that supply feelings to your arms and feet). The study evaluated whether marijuana had an effect on pain relief. Marijuana was compared to a placebo; a cigarette that smells and tastes like marijuana but has no active ingredients (THC).
The study evaluated both ongoing neuropathic pain (clinical pain) and temporary pain induced by applying heat and capsaicin (ingredient that makes red peppers hot) cream to a small area of the skin (experimental pain).
Fifty-five patients were randomized and 50 completed the entire trial. Smoked marijuana reduced daily pain by 34% compared to 17% with placebo. The study concluded that 52% of patients who smoked marijuana had a greater than 30% reduction in pain compared to 24% in the placebo group. In this study, smoked marijuana was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic neuropathic pain from HIV-related peripheral neuropathy. The findings are comparable to clinically proven oral drugs for chronic neuropathic pain.
ABSTRACT: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of smoked marijuana when used as an analgesic in persons with neuropathic pain due to HIV-related peripheral neuropathy. To do this, we first conducted a non-randomized pilot study that assessed the anticipated analgesic effects of the drug and provide estimates of response rate, variance and time to treatment effect. Based on evidence of a treatment effect in the pilot study, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical efficacy study. In addition to assessing the analgesic effects of smoked marijuana on neuropathic pain, individual differences in subjective relief of pain were be anchored by an assessment of the analgesic effects of smoked marijuana on experimentally-induced pain using a heat/capsaicin experimental pain model and cutaneous secondary hyperalgesia. Plasma THC levels and changes in mood were measured in both studies as covariates. Sixteen subjects were enrolled in the pilot study.
Both studies were conducted in the General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital. The inpatient setting permitted us to measure plasma THC levels as a means to assess the total dose delivered, and to rigorously assess the primary outcome measures - changes in intensity of pain as measured by a visual analog scale - at multiple time points during the intervention phases. Both studies were comprised of two phases: a 2-day lead-in period in which baseline measurements are obtained, followed immediately by an intervention phase that will last either 7 days (the pilot study) or 5 days (the randomized, controlled trial). In the pilot study, all subjects received smoked marijuana cigarettes. In the randomized study, subjects received either smoked marijuana or placebo marijuana THC cigarettes. The heat/capsaicin experimental pain model was used in both studies to assess drug response to quantifiable and reproducible experimentally-induced pain. Subjects in both studies continued any concurrent analgesic medications (e.g., gabapentin, amytriptyline, narcotics, NSAIDs) they were taking by prescription. They were asked to maintain the same dose and frequency while in the study, which was recorded daily.









INVESTIGATOR: Jody Corey-Bloom, M.D., Ph.D. PROJECT TITLE: Short-Term Effects of Cannabis Therapy on Spasticity in MS PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study[/URL] STATUS: COMPLETE RESULTS: The full results of this study are in preparation. No preliminary results are available at this time.
ABSTRACT: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common debilitating neurologic disease of young people, affecting at least 250,000 persons in the US, often between the ages of 20 and 40. Symptom manifestation varies considerably from person to person; however, one frequently noted concomitant is spasticity, which causes pain, spasms, loss of function and difficulties in nursing care. The present application is designed to explore the short-term effectiveness and safety of medicinal cannabis on spasticity in patients with MS. There has been significant public discussion on the potential therapeutic uses of cannabis for various neurologic conditions, including MS; however, evidence that cannabis relieves spasticity produced by MS is largely anecdotal. Large-scale trials or controlled studies to compare cannabis or THC with currently available therapies for spasticity have not been performed. There is no published evidence that cannabinoids are superior or equivalent to available anti-spasticity therapies and potential side effects of cannabis need to be clarified. This proposed two-year project aims to examine spasticity and global functioning in 30 MS patients before and after treatment with smoked cannabis in a placebo-controlled, randomized, cross-over design. It is expected that MS subjects will demonstrate improvement in spasticity but impairment on cognitive measures of attention, concentration, and memory assessed before and after medicinal cannabis treatment. Patients will be measured at baseline and for three days after each treatment initiation using sensitive measures of spasticity, cognition, neuropsychiatric features, treatment-emergent effects, and global measures of functioning. Thus, the application's primary goal is to obtain objective assays of short-term efficacy and safety in MS patients treated for spasticity with medicinal cannabis.



INVESTIGATOR: Sean Drummond, Ph.D. PROJECT TITLE: Sleep and Medicinal Cannabis PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study, Sub-Study[/URL] STATUS: COMPLETE RESULTS: The full results of this study are in preparation. No preliminary results are available at this time. ABSTRACT: Recently, there has been renewed scientific interest in examining the medical efficacy of cannabis in specific patient populations. For, example, both the Institute of Medicine and the NIH recently reported medicinal cannabis might be useful in the treatment of pain in HIV+ patients. HIV+ patients experience a number of clinical sequelae to the infection, even when they are otherwise considered clinically "asymptomatic." Perhaps one of the earliest sequelae is sleep abnormality. It is estimated that 73% to 90% of HIV+ patients experience significantly disrupted sleep and sleep quality has been shown to predict long-term outcome in HIV+ patients. This study examines the effects of daytime medicinal cannabis administration on subsequent nocturnal subjective and objective measures of sleep in patients with HIV-associated DSPN. We will recruit 15 patients who are enrolled in a study currently funded by the CMCR (PI: Dr. Ellis; Award # C00-SD-104). Dr. Ellis' study examines the efficacy of medicinal cannabis vs. placebo in treating pain in patients with HIV-associated DSPN. Here, subjective sleep will be measured for three 1-week periods: a wash-in week, a week of cannabis administration, and a week of placebo administration. Objective sleep will be studied for two consecutive nights under both cannabis administration and placebo conditions. We hypothesize that, compared to placebo, cannabis will increase slow wave sleep and sleep efficiency and decrease REM sleep. Subjectively, patients will report increased global sleep quality, decreased sleep latency, and increased total sleep time with cannabis administration. If these hypotheses are borne out, it will provide evidence that cannabis has positive medicinal qualities beyond those formally suggested. Improved sleep may directly affect prognosis in these patients and may have several indirect benefits as well. Regardless, this study should provide pilot data for subsequent grant applications focusing on the direct effects of medicinal cannabis on sleep in patient populations.












INVESTIGATOR: Ronald Ellis, M.D., Ph.D. PROJECT TITLE: Placebo-controlled, Double Blind Trial of Medicinal Cannabis in Painful HIV Neuropathy PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study[/URL] STATUS: COMPLETE RESULTS: Of 127 volunteers screened, 34 eligible subjects enrolled and 28 completed both cannabis and placebo treatments. Among completers, pain relief was greater with cannabis than placebo (median difference in DDS pain intensity change, 3.3 points, effect size = 0.60; p = 0.016). The proportions of subjects achieving at least 30% pain relief with cannabis versus placebo were 0.46 [95% CI 0.28, 0.65] and 0.18 [0.03, 0.32]. Mood and daily functioning improved to a similar extent during both treatment periods. Although most side effects were mild and self-limited, two subjects experienced treatment-limiting toxicities.
Smoked cannabis was generally well-tolerated and effective when added to concomitant analgesic therapy in patients with medically refractory pain due to HIV DSPN.
The full results of this study were published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
ABSTRACT: Neuropathic pain continues to be a major clinical problem in HIV infection. The predominant cause is an axonal polyneuropathy, termed HIV-associated distal, sensory-predominant polyneuropathy (DSPN) that is variably associated with HIV itself or with the use of certain nucleoside analogue HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors used in antiretroviral treatment regimens. Available treatments, including opioids and adjunctive pain-modulating agents, often are ineffective for pain control, resulting in disability and diminished quality of life for individuals with HIV infection. The proposed study will be a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of medicinal cannabis for the short-term adjunctive treatment of neuropathic pain in HIV-associated DSPN. Case ascertainment will be by history, physical examination, nerve conduction studies and quantitative sensory testing. Thirty subjects will be enrolled in a double-blind, cross-over trial design. Because a safe and effective dosing range for cannabis for neuropathic pain has not been previously established, and because we anticipate that the frequency and magnitude of both beneficial antinociceptive and adverse drug effects with cannabis will differ substantially across individuals, a structured dose escalation-titration protocol will be used to find an individualized, effective, safe and well-tolerated and dose for each subject. The total study duration will be 3 years. The principal outcome measures will be changes in self-reported pain, disability in activities of daily living and indices of quality of life.






INVESTIGATOR: Barth Wilsey, M.D. PROJECT TITLE: The Analgesic Effect of Vaporized Cannabis on Neuropathic Pain in Spinal Cord Injury PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study[/URL] STATUS: APPROVAL PENDING RESULTS: This study has not yet initiated. No preliminary results are available at this time.
ABSTRACT: The present study will be designed to evaluate the analgesic effects of vaporized cannabis in patients with neuropathic pain due to spinal cord injury. A within-subject crossover study of the effects of cannabis (3.5% and 1.7%) versus placebo on spontaneous and evoked pain will be performed. Both pain intensity and pain unpleasantness will be assessed to see if marijuana affects sensory-discriminative pain more or less than the motivational-affective component. If present, areas of mechanical allodynia will be assessed with repeated testing to determine the degree of the allodynia regression (if any) after inhaling cannabis via a vaporizer. Heat evoked pain will be studied using mild to moderately painful heat stimuli delivered to the painful area of the subject's body using an electronically controlled Peltier contact thermode via the Medoc TSA 2001 quantitative sensory tester. Neuropsychological functioning (attention, learning and memory, and psychomotor performance) will be evaluated with the Digit Symbol Modalities Test, the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test and the Grooved Pegboard Test before and after the administration of vaporized cannabis. The degree of antinociception will then be compared with neuropsychological effects of cannabis for a synopsis of the relative effectiveness (efficacy versus side-effects) of the doses employed.
The hypothesis will be that vaporized cannabis can induce dose dependent antinociceptive changes in spontaneous and evoked pain in subjects with neuropathic pain. The second hypothesis will be that the higher dose employed induce a greater degree of antinociception that is not independent of differences in mood, cognition and psychomotor performance. Finally, it is hypothesized that an interaction with time will occur such that antinociception will outlast changes in cognitive impairment and psychomotor performance.



INVESTIGATOR: Thomas Marcotte, Ph.D. PROJECT TITLE: Impact of Repeated Cannabis Treatments on Driving Abilities PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study, Sub-Study[/URL] STATUS: COMPLETE RESULTS: The full results of this study are in preparation. No preliminary results are available at this time.
ABSTRACT: A significant concern in utilizing cannabis, a known psychoactive drug, in the treatment of medical conditions is the potential for negative cognitive side effects. Driving is a complex activity requiring numerous cognitive abilities, including continuous tracking, sequential movements, judgment, planning, perception, attention and speeded information processing. Previous studies have demonstrated that a single dose of marijuana results in mild driving impairments, the equivalent of a blood alcohol concentration of .03 or greater. The principal aim of the present study is to examine whether routine administration of cannabis in the medical treatment of HIV-related neuropathy and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis results in significant impairment in driving abilities. In order to achieve this aim, driving simulator assessments will be linked to two studies proposed by UCSD investigators. In Study I (R.J. Ellis, PI), the utility of cannabis as a treatment for neuropathic pain in AIDS patients will be assessed using a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design. In Study II (J. Corey-Bloom, PI), the effectiveness of cannabis in reducing spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis will also be evaluated using cannabis. Subjects in the present study will follow the protocols outlined in the Study I and II submissions. The protocol and budget for each Study are clearly presented in order to facilitate adjustments should one of the proposed studies not be funded. Subjects will be tested on driving simulations that assess standard deviation of lane position and coherence - measures which have been shown to be sensitive to medication effects. Subjects will be tested at (1) baseline, following one month of abstinence from marijuana use, (2) one hour after the final dose in the initial treatment/placebo phase, (3) three hours following the final dose, (4) 18 hours after the final dose; and then a similar testing schedule following the subsequent treatment/placebo arm (assessments 5, 6, and 7). As a result of these studies, we will improve our knowledge regarding the impact of repeated cannabis administration on driving abilities, both acute and following overnight abstinence. These data will thus provide greater insights regarding the real life impact of using "marijuana as medicine."










INVESTIGATOR: Thomas Marcotte, Ph.D. PROJECT TITLE: Impact of Repeated Cannabis Treatments on Driving Abilities PROJECT TYPE: [URL="javascript:void(window.open('studytypes.htm','_blank','resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=200'));"]Clinical Study, Sub-Study[/URL] STATUS: COMPLETE RESULTS: The full results of this study are in preparation. No preliminary results are available at this time.
ABSTRACT: A significant concern in utilizing cannabis, a known psychoactive drug, in the treatment of medical conditions is the potential for negative cognitive side effects. Driving is a complex activity requiring numerous cognitive abilities, including continuous tracking, sequential movements, judgment, planning, perception, attention and speeded information processing. Previous studies have demonstrated that a single dose of marijuana results in mild driving impairments, the equivalent of a blood alcohol concentration of .03 or greater. The principal aim of the present study is to examine whether routine administration of cannabis in the medical treatment of HIV-related neuropathy and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis results in significant impairment in driving abilities. In order to achieve this aim, driving simulator assessments will be linked to two studies proposed by UCSD investigators. In Study I (R.J. Ellis, PI), the utility of cannabis as a treatment for neuropathic pain in AIDS patients will be assessed using a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design. In Study II (J. Corey-Bloom, PI), the effectiveness of cannabis in reducing spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis will also be evaluated using cannabis. Subjects in the present study will follow the protocols outlined in the Study I and II submissions. The protocol and budget for each Study are clearly presented in order to facilitate adjustments should one of the proposed studies not be funded. Subjects will be tested on driving simulations that assess standard deviation of lane position and coherence - measures which have been shown to be sensitive to medication effects. Subjects will be tested at (1) baseline, following one month of abstinence from marijuana use, (2) one hour after the final dose in the initial treatment/placebo phase, (3) three hours following the final dose, (4) 18 hours after the final dose; and then a similar testing schedule following the subsequent treatment/placebo arm (assessments 5, 6, and 7). As a result of these studies, we will improve our knowledge regarding the impact of repeated cannabis administration on driving abilities, both acute and following overnight abstinence. These data will thus provide greater insights regarding the real life impact of using "marijuana as medicine."







there is just some ,, and there are loads more ,,


so people who think it should not be legal for medical uses is crazy in my opinion