cannabisnews.com: A New Leaf A New Leaf Posted by CN Staff on May 30, 2002 at 10:27:47 PT By Sara Kelly Source: Philadelphia Weekly Though it would be nice to think that chronic pain sufferers could at least enjoy a legal pot buzz once in a while, medicinal marijuana, with the exception of a few lucky folks grandfathered into a state-sponsored plan from the '70s, isn't really about getting wrecked. But that--no doubt due to our nation's queer puritanical hang-ups--doesn't seem to matter much to anti-pot activists. To them, the thought of doling out weed in any form just ain't gonna cut it. This, in a society where, like, half the population's on prescribed mood lifters. The mind reels. But that's not to say cannabis-based drugs--chock full of friendly substances derived from the marijuana plant--don't have a bright future in medicine. In fact, quite the opposite is true. And right here in the good old regressive U.S. Aside from those who tap the government's stash--300 joints a month, professionally rolled in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, says Paul Armentano, director of research for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, a Washington-based pot lobby (don't be jealous, he adds; the stuff's not quality)--a great number of people suffering from the nausea brought on by chemotherapy treatment for cancer or the debilitating effects of AIDS take Marinol, which was brought to market in 1985 and today remains the only cannabis-based drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A synthetic version of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), pot's most famous ingredient, Marinol was recently reclassified from a Schedule II drug (the second-most controlled category) to a less intimidating Schedule III. It's exceedingly rare, says a spokeswoman for Unimed, the Illinois company that manufactures Marinol, for a drug to be reclassified downward in this fashion. And it bodes well for the future acceptance of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals. Marinol is so safe and established, in fact, that whatever controversy still surrounds it remains pretty limited to the problem of delivery. Since it comes in pill form, Marinol might not take effect for two to four hours. That's a long time to wait if you're trying not to vomit. And when it hits the liver, the drug is converted into a stronger compound than what you'd get from bogarting a fatty. So users, says NORML's Armentano, get more messed up than casual tokers. (A tragedy, that.) For this reason, Unimed plans to team up with another company to make an inhaler that would introduce the drug in a fashion much closer to smoking it. Attempting to improve upon Marinol, New York City-based Atlantic Technology Ventures is in the early testing phase of CT-3, a synthetic THC derivative whose technical specs are quick to assure a drug-fearing society that it prevents inflammation and eases pain to sufferers of neurological diseases, cancer, glaucoma gastrointestinal and other disorders without that annoying high. (Told you medicinal marijuana isn't as fun as it seems.) The cannabis-based dexanabinol is another promising drug engineered specifically for traumatic brain injury. Gale Smith, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey-based Pharmos, describes her company's product as a synthetic cannabanoid that's the exact mirror image of THC. (Twisting cannabis in yet another new direction, the French company Sanofi-Synthélabo is now working to reverse one of the substance's most well-known side effects--the munchies--for the treatment of obesity.) Smith says fiddling with the compound's structure robs the drug of its psychotropic effects, giving users "all the medicinal effects without the high." "People ask us why we've taken that out," she laughs, "because we could've made a lot more money otherwise." (Don't expect to see that on Pharmos' application to the FDA.) Dexanabinol is designed to prevent brain damage and inflammation after trauma. To explain the drug's effect, Smith describes a car accident in which the driver suffers a head injury. Though rescue workers find him lucid at the scene, the driver slips into a coma before reaching the hospital. This is because the neurons that died from the initial impact send biochemical signals that kill off previously unaffected brain cells. The hope is that a dexanabinol injection at the accident scene can prevent the added damage that occurs after what Smith describes as "this cascade of toxic compounds" invade the brain. The drug's anti-inflammatory properties should also prevent the brain from swelling dangerously after injury. Dexanabinol, which had its origins at Hebrew University in Israel, is in the final phase of its clinical trials, which could have its application for approval before the FDA by year's end. Down the line, Smith says Pharma hopes to win approval in treating the side effects of stroke, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer and "anything in the central or peripheral nervous system," as well as cardiovascular problems. The drug's one major downside, she adds, is that "the administration could get tricky," as it's now available only for injection. But the company's investigating an oral alternative. Taking medicinal marijuana to a whole new breadth is the British GW Pharmaceuticals' "portfolio" of cannabis-based drugs used to treat sufferers of everything from AIDS to spinal cord injury, phantom limb pain and arthritis, to brain diseases such as depression, schizophrenia and even Tourette's Syndrome. These drugs, like most of the medicinal marijuana alternatives to come about since Marinol was approved almost two decades ago, utilize more than just THC. They remain in the testing phase, each drug being put through its paces separately for use in treating each symptom or disease. GW's drugs offer varied ratios of THC and another pot-derived compound, Cannabidiol (CBD), to treat common symptoms of neurological diseases. The portfolio boasts pain relief, anti-convulsant, anti-psychotic, anti-inflammatory, appetite-stimulant and similar properties. Derived from actual pot plants (guess you can do that sort of "research" in England) and administered as an under-the-tongue spray, GW's products, say its spec sheets, draw from "hundreds of years of cannabis use" that offer "compelling evidence of safety." The specs go on to explain that the ratio between a normal and a lethal dose of cannabis is 40,000 to 1--which is especially impressive considering morphine's ratio is 50 to 1, and aspirin's a shocking 23 to 1. And like most companies that manufacture cannabis-based drugs, GW wants you to know that you can reap the drugs' medical benefits without actually getting high. So much for baking on your sick bed. Note: Getting patients high is the least of what pot-derived drugs can do. Newshawk: Paul Armentano -- http://www.norml.org/ Source: Philadelphia Weekly (PA)Author: Sara Kelly Published: May 29, 2002 Volume XXXI, No. 22Copyright: 2002 Philadelphia WeeklyWebsite: http://www.phillyweekly.com/Contact: editmail philadelphiaweekly.comDL: http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/article.asp?ArtID=2409Related Articles in Series:Straight Dope http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13002.shtmlSmokey and The Bandit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12992.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 30, 2002 at 21:38:36 PT Letters from JAMA Does Marijuana Use Cause Long-Term Cognitive Deficits? http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/current/ffull/jlt0522-1.html http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/current/fpdf/jlt0522.pdf [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 30, 2002 at 11:43:31 PT: Why the Controversy? There you have it: a brief synopsis of the current state of cannabinoid therapeutics. In Europe, this topic is about as controversial as whether Germans like to head south for vacations. Why is it so different here? Could it be that certain parties (hint, politicians) with no medical expertise are making decisions based on moral misinterpretation rather than doctors and patients employing science? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment