cannabisnews.com: UC Research To Study Use of Marijuana





UC Research To Study Use of Marijuana
Posted by FoM on December 06, 1999 at 22:25:46 PT
By Carly Patterson, Daily Bruin U.California-LA
Source: U-WIRE
As part of an ongoing debate between California and the federal government, the state legislature allocated funding for a UC research program to study the medicinal benefits of marijuana. 
The three-year research program to investigate the benefits of marijuana was recently signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis.The purpose of the legislation is to convince the federal government of marijuana's usefulness and to provide concrete data to physicians about the drug's use, said Rand Martin, chief of staff for State Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose). Vasconcellos was the sponsor of the research bill. But one researcher said past studies have shown marijuana's medical benefits. Medical benefits of the drug for multiple sclerosis, cancer and glaucoma patients have been studied at UCLA in the past with positive results. "Research has been done. We studied the active ingredient in marijuana for relief of nausea," said Thomas Ungerleider, a physician and psychiatrist at the UCLA Medical Center. Ungerleider has been involved in many studies at the university focusing on the medical benefits of marijuana. The studies focused on relief of pressure for glaucoma patients and relief of nausea for cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Ungerleider said the UC research would "probably look at different ways of delivering the drug and the number of people that would benefit from (marijuana as a medicine)." Which universities will participate in the research program have not yet been determined. One anticipated problem for the researchers is obtaining marijuana for the study. The federal government has placed several legal barriers in the way of getting marijuana for research, said Mark A.R. Kleiman, professor of public policy and director of the drug policy analysis program. "The California attorney general has the ability to make seized cannabis available, though," he said. Continuing the debate around the legalization of marijuana, many students said the drug should be legalized for medicinal purposes only, not for recreational use, if research proves its usefulness. "If enough studies show that it helps people in pain, and there are regulations, (marijuana) should be legalized for medicinal purposes," said Yvette Serrato, a second-year psychology student. The research program is the latest development in the ongoing battle between the federal and state governments over the legalization of medicinal marijuana. In California, Proposition 215, a referendum legalizing the dispensing of marijuana by doctors in certain cases, was passed in 1996. The proposition - along with six similar ones from other states and the District of Columbia - is essentially null without the support of the federal government, said David Sklansky, professor of law. "Federal law trumps state law. Until the federal government allows marijuana for medicinal purposes, any state law will be limited," he said. Last month, two marijuana advocates arrested on drug charges were banned from using medical necessity or Proposition 215 in their defense. A federal judge told them they could not mention either item in the trial. Some politicians said that the Clinton administration is fearful of drug legislation. "This is a political administration that is afraid of its own history on drug issues. It will not accept the advancement of medical marijuana while in office," Martin, of Vasconcellos' office, said. He added that the federal government is not close to legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. Medicinal marijuana's legalization would give the wrong message to children, said White House Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey. "The proposition sends our children - our future - a message that marijuana use is safe and healthy and that marijuana is medicine," he said in a statement when Proposition 215 passed. McCaffrey has also said that there are other alternatives to marijuana. Merinol, the closest drug to marijuana, is a pill derived from the THC, marijuana's active ingredient. But Ungerleider said it is not as effective as marijuana. A law is not necessary to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana, only approval from the Food and Drug Administration is needed, according to Kleiman. If the FDA were to approve it, marijuana would automatically move to being legal with a prescription. "What's needed is not a new law, but clinical research showing that marijuana is 'safe and effective' as a medicine for some condition, which would support a new drug approval from the FDA," Kleiman said. "Once the FDA approves a drug - which it might, given adequate evidence, despite the political pressures - it's automatically rescheduled," he continued. Currently marijuana is a Schedule I drug along with LSD, cocaine and heroin. Schedule II drugs are controlled substances such as anti-depressants and heavy painkillers that are available with a prescription. Kleiman said that the problem of useful drugs awaiting approval at the FDA wasn't limited to marijuana. If legalized, some students said it would change people's perception of marijuana. "People would have a looser mentality about it," said Hieu Nguyen a fifth-year design student. Others said making it legal would have no effect on how people see recreational use of marijuana. "People use it now as it is. It wouldn't increase or decrease recreational use," Serrato said. (C) 1999 Daily Bruin via U-WIRE Pubdate: December 6, 1999Copyright © 1995-1999 Excite Inc. Related Articles:Marijuana Plugs Into Eye Cells, U.S. Study Finds - 12/06/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3898.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Joey Russell on December 08, 1999 at 10:27:49 PT:
research money
I was curious to know whether any consideration for researchhas been given to the agricultural aspects of the production of hemp fiber for use as an alternative to wood.Can hemp fiber be planted as a rotation crop with other commercial crops with organic benefit to the soil? (Assuming it's legal to do so of course) Thank-you!
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