cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Compounds May Act Without Causing a High





Marijuana Compounds May Act Without Causing a High
Posted by CN Staff on April 14, 2003 at 12:03:47 PT
By Jacqueline Stenson
Source: Reuters Health
San Diego - Certain compounds in marijuana may help stifle an overactive immune-system response that can worsen multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative conditions without causing the drug's high, preliminary study findings suggest."These are the compounds of the plant that are very exciting," said study author Dr. Cecilia Hillard, an associate professor of pharmacology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Hillard and colleagues studied rat microglia cells, which are immune cells in the brain. When the brain or spinal cord experiences an infection or sustains an injury, these cells flock to the affected area to mop up debris from dead tissue. However, they also can cause the death of nerve cells by prompting excessive inflammation."Microglia are like a two-edged sword," Hillard said. "When they're overactive, they make a whole bunch of nasty things that wind up killing cells like neurons."Doctors are seeking ways to curb this immune-system response, which can also worsen stroke, Alzheimer's disease and AIDS-related dementia.Marijuana is believed to help and some patients smoke it for this purpose. But the problem is that the drug has mind-altering effects and can weaken immunity, which could pose a risk to AIDS patients and others who already have impaired immune systems.Marijuana's actions are widely credited to its most well-known ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).In the new study, the researchers found that THC and two other compounds, CBD and CBN, markedly inhibited the proliferation of rat microglia cells in the lab.But unlike THC, CBD and CBN do not bind to certain cellular receptors that are known to cause the unwanted side effects, Hillard reported Sunday at the annual Experimental Biology meeting.The findings raise the possibility that doctors may one day give patients these isolated compounds to help ease neurodegenerative conditions involving overactive microglia, but much more research is needed first, she said."These chemicals would presumably slow down this overactive process, so if you could treat a person with this overactive system, you might be able to reduce the neurotoxicity," Hillard said."Doctors need to know that cannabinoids that come from marijuana are going to have effects on immune cells," Hillard said. And they should warn patients with compromised immune systems that smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes may impair immune function, she said.Source: Reuters HealthAuthor:  Jacqueline Stenson Published: Monday, April 14, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Reuters News ServiceWebsite: http://www.reuters.comContact: http://about.reuters.com/custhelp/Related Articles:High Hopes for Cannabis Medicine in Britainhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14345.shtmlCannabis Drug 'Fights Pain Without High'http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13830.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by mayan on April 14, 2003 at 18:22:16 PT
Too Much To Lose
I am convinced that the government wouldn't reschedule cannabis even if it was proven to cure cancer. If they acknowledge the medicinal efficacy of cannabis then the prohibition of recreational cannabis would soon collapse. If recreational cannabis becomes legal, there would be no excuse for them to maintain the ban on industrial hemp. That's what it all boils down to, imho.The way out is the way in...9/11: The Evangelical Christian Connection
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Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on April 14, 2003 at 15:18:29 PT
very interesting
Thanks Dr. Russo, actually I hadn't read the article very carefully, I re-read and understand it now.I believe cannabis should be freely availalbe, but I'm sure having CBN and CBD available as pure extracts would be helpful for many people. I'll bet pure CBD would stack up pretty well against muscle relaxers like Flexoril for benefit/side effect ratio. Or Neurontin for that matter.Of course the reason they're not available now is because of the stigma on cannabis research for the last 40 years.I know someone w/ Huntington's and she said cannabis seems to help the symptoms. I wonder how cannabis works as a preventative to nerve damage in spinal or brain trauma if it inhibits these microglia? Or do excessive microglia cause inflammation in those situations as well?I say bring back the apothecary! I think cannabis is not the only herb to be unjustly abandoned by modern medicine. Belladonna comes to mind as another one, and I'm sure there are more.
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Comment #7 posted by Virgil on April 14, 2003 at 14:02:48 PT
FoM's question
If they are saying that a part of the marijuana plant has medical value how can it stay in Schedule I ? The same way as cannabis itself. It is a classification based on political policy with total disregard to science or reality as the common man knows it. It is part of the fictional world under the realm of political reality.What the federal government is doing is criminal in my world. I have no respect for our government that now represent The Few, The Proud, The Plutocracy. I am of the belief that life imprisonment for every member of Congress would be fitting and I in fact regard them of criminals even though there is no court free enough of corruption to give them the trial they deserve.I will remember the Schedule One Lie the rest of my life as the top of the pyramid of lies and corruption in the WOD. History will remember too when cannabis and its research brings us products that all medicines from headache to cancer and redefine what is meant by safe medicine.Hang them all.
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Comment #6 posted by Ethan Russo MD on April 14, 2003 at 13:57:16 PT:
Cannabinoids
In this instance, her statement would apply to any disorder with an inflammatory component. MS would be at the top, but there would neuroprotective responses possible on Alzheimer, Huntington and Parkinson diseases, as well as stroke, closed head injury, ALS and many more.I would disagree on one point. There is no reason to isolate CBD or CBN when a mixture (i.e, cannabis or cannabis extract) is apt to work better. That is what should be done first.For more details on these various cannabis components, see:www.montananorml.org/docs/McPartland-Russo-JCANT-1-3-4-2001.pdf
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on April 14, 2003 at 13:53:56 PT
Dr. Russo
If medicine without a high can help people then we need it. I know that some people can't tolerate being high at all. Those who are very sick want often to keep their senses about them or so I was told by my son when he was very sick. If we don't understand how a terminal patient looks at life we won't understand how this could very well be a good thing.
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Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on April 14, 2003 at 13:50:34 PT
Dr. Russo
"the findings raise the possibility that doctors may one day give patients these isolated compounds to help ease neurodegenerative conditions involving overactive microglia,"Any idea which degenerative conditions he's talking about? Huntington's? Parkinson's? Alzheimer's? MS?
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Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo MD on April 14, 2003 at 13:47:04 PT:
More Good News
Dr. Hillard is one of the top neuroscientists studying cannabinoids, so this is a nice validation of the value of multiple cannabinoids in neuroprotection. This supports the synergy that we have been claiming. The high really should not be a big issue. The question should be, does it help, and how can we give it to patients for their benefit?Cannabis never should have been Schedule I, but the presence of CBD in that category is totally inexplicable. 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 14, 2003 at 12:56:03 PT
Question
If they are saying that a part of the marijuana plant has medical value how can it stay in Schedule I ?
Medical Marijuana Information Links
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on April 14, 2003 at 12:51:23 PT
Great!
Good work. Now maybe they can get to work on removing the "high" from Percocet, Oxycontin, and Flexoril. It's much stronger and more limiting than the high from cannabis.Oh yeah, I forgot, Big Pharm is already making millions from these drugs, guess they're not really interested in any more R&D.......
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