cannabisnews.com: Canadian HIV Study Uses U.S. Marijuana 





Canadian HIV Study Uses U.S. Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on October 19, 2002 at 07:57:29 PT
By Michael Smith, UPI Science News
Source: United Press International
Canadian researchers are beginning a study using American-grown marijuana to see if the drug helps HIV patients maintain their appetite and avoid the sometimes-drastic weight losses associated with the virus that causes AIDS.The U.S. marijuana, supplied by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md., has been delivered to researchers in Toronto, according to infectious diseases specialist Kevin Gough of St. Michael's Hospital, the study's lead investigator.
Gough said researchers are testing the drug -- and the methods they will use to study its effects -- before enrolling the first of 32 patients. He said results of the study should be available within a year.The study is the first in Canada to examine the effects of marijuana on patients with the human immunodeficiency virus. "There is so little good-quality research in this area," Gough told United Press International. "What we're trying to do is to start to answer some of the questions."The study is using marijuana grown at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, even though Canada has its own government plantation in the western city of Flin Flon, Manitoba, where the drug is grown hydroponically inside an abandoned mine.The Canadian health ministry says its marijuana is not ready for research, however, because it is being grown from seeds seized by police, rather than from standardized seeds such as those that have been used by the NIDA for several years."We're now characterizing, testing, and grading the product," ministry spokesman Andrew Swift told UPI. In any case, he added, the fledgling Canadian pot crop was not ready when Gough and colleagues began designing their study.The NIDA marijuana, on the other hand, has long been available to researchers and comes in pre-determined strengths, depending on how much it contains of the active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. For the Canadian study, the drug has 8, 4, 2, or 0 percent THC.NIDA spokesman Steven Gust, special assistant to the director, said there are between 10 and 15 medical marijuana trials proceeding "at some stage" in the United States, all using drugs supplied by the agency's Mississippi farm.Gust said the evidence concerning the medical use of marijuana is still scanty, but the current studies should produce more data. "In a year or two, there should be some pretty interesting studies coming out that should help improve the database," Gust told UPI.The Canadian study is a pilot program intended to see if there is enough evidence to support a large-scale clinical trial in several cities, Gough said.The 32 patients will be given 25-milligram pellets of marijuana -- "just enough to fit in the end of a pipe," Gough said -- in one of the four strengths. During their eight weeks in the trial, patients will use all four types, although they will not be told which they are smoking.In many drug trials, an inactive substance is used as a control, or placebo, but patients are not told whether they are taking the test drug or the placebo. In this study, the 0-percent-THC marijuana is being tested to see if it can be used as a placebo in future studies, Gough said."The question is, can people tell whether they're actually receiving THC or not?" he said. From the Science & Technology DeskSource: United Press InternationalAuthor: Michael Smith, UPI Science NewsPublished: October 19, 2002Copyright 2002 United Press InternationalWebsite: http://www.upi.com/ Contact: http://www.upi.com/about/contact.cfmRelated Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmStudy to Probe Role of Medicinal Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14416.shtmlFirst Clinical Pot Trial To Use U.S. Stashhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14411.shtmlSt. Mike's Study Probes Role of Medical Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14404.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 19, 2002 at 13:50:58 PT
Naaps
We just love you being here. You add so much. C News is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so no time is ever not the right time. The right time is when a person has something they want to say. Have you talked to kapt recently? We wonder where he has been. If you talk to him please ask him to drop in and say hi!
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Comment #4 posted by Naaps on October 19, 2002 at 13:46:26 PT
Glad to be here, FoM
The fact is that presently I'm finding it tough to have the proper time available for posting during the week. In contrast, previously all my posting were made during the week, and never on weekends. But I like to contribute when I can. Love CannabisNews.
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on October 19, 2002 at 09:47:27 PT:
Cruel and Unusual Punishment!
It is cruel and unusual punishment to expect medical marijuana patients with federal exemptions from Health Canada to wait a year or two until these studies conclude. Why not use the Flin-Flon grown Canadian marijuana with the NIDA marijuana as a control and involve the 817 medical marijuana exemptees? Is it safer for these sick and dying people to buy their medicine, of unknown quality, from criminals on the black market at highly inflated prices? Is it reasonable and humane to expect these pain-ridden and suffering people to undergo the arduous task of growing marijuana in Canada's cold and short growing season, outside B.C.? Where will these patients get their medicine while they wait for their plants to grow to maturity? What if the police seize the plants, then where do the patients get their medicine? What if thieves break-in and steal the medicine because of the artificially-inflated black market price, caused by prohibition? Where would the victims of such a theft get their medicine? If the federal government had integrity, they would not waste the Flin-Flon marijuana: they would test it!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 19, 2002 at 09:17:22 PT
Hi Naaps!
It sure is good to see you. You posted then disappeared and I was worried something on your computer wasn't working right. Glad you're back!
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Comment #1 posted by Naaps on October 19, 2002 at 09:07:27 PT
NIDA Cannabis
Canada originally sought standardized seeds from NIDA, but was denied. Now we see the real wisdom - if NIDA had sold the seeds, they wouldn’t have Canadian doctors buying their bunk weed! If this study proceeds well, and is expanded, they surely won’t give up on their trusted dealer – Uncle Sam.While the article is on the subject of supplying cannabis, I sure would be curious to hear what the study is paying for the pot. Do they charge more for the 8% THC, compared to the 0% THC Hemp?Dr. Gough questions whether people can distinguish if they are receiving THC. I think this study will reveal that it is easy enough to determine if you are smoking decent bud versus hemp.
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