cannabisnews.com: Clinical Trial for MMJ to Start in the Fall





Clinical Trial for MMJ to Start in the Fall
Posted by FoM on August 02, 2000 at 16:06:39 PT
Cannabis from the U. of Mississippi to be Used
Source: CBC.CA
The first outpatient research project in North America to test the use of medicinal marijuana is expected to get under way this fall. A court in Ontario ruled this week that Canada must have a marijuana law that allows sick people to smoke the drug or have no law at all. Health Canada now wants to determine how effective marijuana is as a medical treatment. As the project gets under way, a small number of HIV and AIDS patients in Montreal will be given different strengths of cannabis. 
Some patients suffering from chronic pain, epilepsy, cancer and AIDS have claimed for years that smoking marijuana helps ease their symptoms. But just what cannabis does, and how it does it, has never been scientifically studied in Canada. Sergio Rueda, a clinical researcher with the Community Research Initiative of Toronto, is leading the team putting together the medicinal marijuana project. "We'll give them joints to take home and monitor their appetite and other efficacy parameters as well," Rueda said. "Basically the reason for this pilot is to test whether or not it's going to work, because nobody's done this before." This pilot project will expand in a second phase to involve clinical trials in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Initiated by Health Minister Allan Rock, the medicinal marijuana project also involves looking at different ways to administer the effects of cannabis. "There are some 60 different active ingredients," said Brad Buxton, a policy analyst at Health Canada. "The speculation is different ratios of these substances are effective for different things. That's what the research questions focus on." If clinical trials prove marijuana is an effective treatment policy, changes to the law could follow. Health Canada will get its supply from the National Institute of Drug Abuse in the U.S. "Since the '70s they've been contracting with the University of Mississippi to obtain cannabis for research purposes in the U.S.," said Buxton. "They have made that drug material available to others in other parts of the world and they allow us to use it as well." Buxton says the federal government is hiring a domestic cannabis grower. Inside CBC - Contact Us:http://cbc.ca/insidecbc/contact/Web Posted: August 2, 2000Copyright © 2000 CBCRelated Articles:Ottawa Still Undecided on Pot Appeal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6599.shtmlReefer Madness Reduxhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6594.shtmlMarijuana as Medicinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6593.shtmlOntario Court Says Law Against MJ Unconstitutionalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6576.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Vicky Israel on March 13, 2001 at 15:21:21 PT:
my opinion
If only our lovely Liberals would realize that marijuanais so useful as medicine for so many diseases, as well askeeping people on an even keel!! Also, everyone in Canadawho is exempt from prosecution should'nt be forced toparticipate in the 5-year pilot program in order to receivewhat is essentially low-grade pot!!! (just around 5.5%)You'd need a garbage bag full for it to have any effect!!!Any pothead will tell you that you need at least 20% THCin your bud to get high!! Get with the program, and get GOOD pot to the people who need it NOW!!!!!
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