cannabisnews.com: Study Will Test Pain Management Benefits of MMJ Study Will Test Pain Management Benefits of MMJ Posted by CN Staff on December 05, 2003 at 17:19:23 PT By Dr. Kim Mulvihill - Reporting Source: KSL - TV It's a controversial topic, using marijuana for medicinal purposes. The debate has all too often become a shouting match between advocates and opponents. But now scientists are getting a say. Researchers are starting a clinical trial to see if marijuana can help reduce pain in cancer patients. There's a lot of evidence to suggest it could help. The problem up till now has been getting government approval to find out. For years supporters of marijuana have been praising it as a medical marvel -- helping ease pain and nausea. Now UCSF researchers are going to put that theory to the test. They're recruiting 16 cancer patients for a pilot study to see if smoking marijuana eases their pain. Dr. Don Abrams, UCSF Community Consortium: "There is good evidence in animal models and other pre-clinical data that cannabis or marijuana and the substances in it actually augment or boost the pain relieving effect of opiods such as morphine, oxycontin and fentanyl." The patients will be asked to smoke three government supplied marijuana cigarettes a day. It will all be done under controlled, scientific conditions. Dr. Abrams: "We observe them smoking the cigarette and instruct them in the so-called Fulton Puff procedure, which is to inhale for five seconds, hold it for ten, and then exhale and repeat the cycle every 45 seconds, to standardize the exposure to the marijuana smoke." The patients will be tested to detect how much of the marijuana got into their blood stream. They'll also fill in questionnaires on pain relief, nausea, and loss of appetite. There's good reason to think it may help. The researchers recently completed a similar study on people with HIV suffering from pain in their hands and feet. Dr. Abrams: "In that study we have actually completed, the 16 patient pilot study, which showed us there was actually effectiveness in relieving pain in this syndrome for which most other things are not helpful." Doctor Abrams is now about to begin a much larger study on using marijuana to treat pain in people with HIV. If the cancer study shows equally good results, he'll study it in a much larger group. HealthBeat with Dr. Kim Note: As KSL 5's resident Medical Specialist, Dr. Kim provides health tips and medical advice on "Eyewitness News at Today" and "Eyewitness News at Noon." Source: KSL Television (UT)Author: Dr. Kim MulvihillPublished: December 05, 2003Copyright: KSL Television & Radio, Salt Lake City UT The Truth About Medical Marijuana http://freedomtoexhale.com/independent.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on December 06, 2003 at 18:32:12 PT: Donald, Please do a study in Hawaii! Dr. Abrams is so professional in his approach to designing and doing clinical studies on cannabis, that I took it as a complement last year when he spoke to me by phone and admitted he would consider doing a project (Phase #3) in collaboration with our facility in Hawaii! Espesially now that he has proven the efficacy and safety issue in his first two phases it is imperative that he is allowed access to the highest quality phyto-sanitary medical grade cannbis in the USA domestic supply. We have it, he knows it and has seen it in Honolulu when we met. There is a need in pain management therapy for dosage profiling and sufficient strength to mitigate many types of nerve, tissue, bone, cerebral and other pain conditions besides AIDS pain. We suggested years ago the better the medicine the better the results. It's still true. Allow Dr. Abrams DEA approval to get his next phase's supply from Hawaii.We have the permit application pending and with their help and the good Doctor's; we can set a new standard. Sincerely. Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on December 06, 2003 at 18:20:39 PT: Kubby has our aloha and kokua! Aloha means love and kokua means help. Good Luck and God Bless you in your decision on Monday! We all need a win on this one. Peace! The tide is turning........... Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by charmed quark on December 06, 2003 at 09:23:19 PT Ridiculous protocol I have read that the cannabnids are absorbed very rapidy from the lungs and there is no need to hold the smoke at all - it just increase your exposure to the tars and CO.Regarding cannabis for pain treatment - I was reading an article about the devastation AIDS is causing in sub-Saharian Africa. They are starting to get the AIDS drugs via aid from the rest of the world. But there is still the problem of nausea and other side efects of the drugs. In a lot of that part of the world, even aspirin can be unaffordable. If they were encouraged for grow cannabis for nausea, pain, and appetite stimulation it could make a huge difference. The cannabis would cost next to nothing. By making it easier to stay on the AIDS drugs, and by preventing weight loss, it could make a big difference in life expectency and mayb ther would be fewer orphans. Instead, we have forced most of these countries into anti-cannabis prohibition.Other studies have shown that cannabis is "only" as good as codeine for pain control. Image the suffering it could be preventing in these countries where there are almost no medicines available except what they can grow themselves.It is absoulutely criminal.-Pete [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on December 06, 2003 at 08:04:25 PT Poor Eardrums What if a person needs to cough while holding it for 10 seconds? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on December 06, 2003 at 06:13:22 PT Fulton's folly puff procedure What is this inhale for five seconds, hold it for ten seconds, and then repeat every 45 seconds?I inhale, hold it for as long as I can, usually for about a minute, then I exhale. Been doing so for many years, and I can still hold my breath until my heart starts beating faster than a locomotive. I follow my own procedure. It works well. I have the freedom to inhale, and the freedom to exhale. If my lungs are filled with cannabis smoke, that's even better. Nobody tells me how I should breathe.Let freedom smoke. Feel free to smoke cannabis whenever you want, however you want. It's great. You're free to do so. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on December 06, 2003 at 01:02:35 PT LA Times finds scientists corrupted by Big Pharm http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nih7dec07,1,7108097.story?coll=la-home-headlines [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on December 05, 2003 at 22:40:16 PT Stop prohibition once and for all! Let the cannabis plants, opium poppies, coca bushes, khat shrubs, mushrooms, ephedra plants, and all other useful plants for human consciousness grow free around the planet for all of humanity to enjoy WHEN they please, HOW they please, and WHERE they please.Free the plants! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by jose melendez on December 05, 2003 at 18:17:26 PT translation here's how the Kubby decision translation delay looks to me:In French: MerdeIn English: The expected result after consumption, digestion and expulsion of food, often associated with foul stench and filth. Fortunately for those writing this translation of the above legal determination, it has been obscured in such a way that the result is sufficiently ambiguous so as to permit the manipulation of said determination into a translation that would lead the uncautious, ignorant or time pressed reader into believing whatever the translators' financial benefactors decide should be published, and sufficiently different from what was actually determined that aforemention reader(s) will likely be frustrated in any attempts to comprehend or act upon what was actually said. crime, unpunished and condoned [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on December 05, 2003 at 17:46:31 PT America and refugees in Canada America learned from the Vietnam War about letting people go to Canada without means to fetch them. The new treaty will allow the refugees running from a draft to be sent back to the US. It is a matter of liberty or death for Steve Kubby and we know the US does not care about either or bullying countries to adopt what are the most obsene expressions of freedom and democracy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 05, 2003 at 17:30:38 PT Important Kubby Press Release KUBBY REFUGEE DECISION TO BE ANNOUNCED TUESDAY, DEC. 9THVANCOUVER: Canadašs Immigration and Refugee Board has advised American medical marijuana advocates Steve and Michele Kubby that they will find out on Monday if they are entitled to permanent refugee protection in Canada.The official decision on whether the Kubby family can stay in Canada or must return to the US, will be sent by special courier to the Kubbys and to the Immigration Minister this coming Monday.The Kubbys will require some time to digest the 60 page decison and will announce the results at a press conference on Tuesday at 12 noon, at the Pot TV Studios, 757 West Hastings, Vancouver, BC. Phone number: (604) 682-0039"We're cautiously optimistic that this will be a historic win, but we have no indication at this time of the actual decision," said Steve Kubby, from his home in Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.Only one American has ever won refugee protection and that was reversed on appeal. In contrast, 16 Canadians have received protection in the United States from Canada.FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, December 5, 2003CONTACT: Steve and Michele Kubby (604) 885-7651Richard Cowan (604) 633-9122Canadian Refugee Board (604) 666-5946Pot TV Studios - (604) 682-0039LINKS:http://www.kubby.com/poll.pdfhttp://www.cic.gc.ca/english/irpa/index.htmlhttp://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/index.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment