cannabisnews.com: Doctor Testifies Thousands with MS Use Marijuana Doctor Testifies Thousands with MS Use Marijuana Posted by FoM on January 22, 2001 at 08:48:10 PT By Catherine Strong, Associated Press Writer Source: Detroit News Thousands of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis in the United States are using marijuana as relief from muscle spasms, a doctor testified on Friday at the trial of a Michigan woman. Renee Emry Wolfe, of Ann Arbor, was charged with possession of marijuana after lighting a joint in a congressman's Capitol Hill office in 1998. Her lawyer, Jeffrey Orchard, contends that Mrs. Wolfe smoked the marijuana out of medical necessity to get relief from muscle spasms or shaking caused by her multiple sclerosis. Prosecutors say Mrs. Wolfe went to the office of Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., on Sept. 15, 1998, to protest his resolution on the House floor that day that said marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medical use. During the second day of the trial, Dr. Denis Petro, a neurologist, testified in court that the number of people with multiple sclerosis who use marijuana "is certainly in the thousands." Petro also said that some other drugs used to treat muscle spasms or shaking are not always effective or have severe side effects. Mrs. Wolfe, 39, has said that smoking marijuana helps alleviate her symptoms in a matter of seconds. When she gets attacks, her hands shake and she loses control of her legs. Orchard contends that Mrs. Wolfe started to feel tense "in an extremely stressful environment" when McCollum's aides did not want to talk with her and she lighted the marijuana cigarette because she felt her symptoms returning. Prosecutors say Mrs. Wolfe was illegally smoking marijuana on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and she went there carrying a sign to protest the House resolution against the use of the drug. Multiple sclerosis is a disabling disease of the central nervous system that afflicts more than 300,000 Americans, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates. People with MS have such symptoms as unusual tiredness, loss of balance and muscle coordination, slurred speech, tremors and difficulty walking. In severe cases, they are partly or completely paralyzed. Mrs. Wolfe has difficulty walking and usually sits in a wheelchair. If convicted, Mrs. Wolfe could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The nonjury trial before Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters is to resume on Monday afternoon at the District of Columbia Superior Court. The case has drawn attention to whether people with multiple sclerosis and other medical conditions should be able to use marijuana for medicinal reasons. Nearly 70 percent of voters in the nation's capital voted to allow the medical use of marijuana last year, but Congress has blocked the measure from becoming law. A half-dozen states have offered ballot measures to legalize marijuana as medication, but the drug is banned by federal law and doctors hesitate to prescribe it. The Justice Department is challenging voter-approved laws in Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. Complete Title: Doctor Testifies Thousands with Multiple Sclerosis Likely Use Marijuana Source: Detroit News (MI) Author: Catherine Strong, Associated Press Writer Published: January 22, 2001Copyright: 2001, The Detroit News Contact: letters detnews.com Website: http://www.detnews.com/ Feedback: http://data.detnews.com:8081/feedback/ Related Articles:Wolfe Declines To Testify In Pot Trial http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4473.shtmlMMJ Possession Defendant Leaves Court Angry http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4427.shtmlDoctor Testifies Thousands with Multiple Sclerosishttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4423.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by m segesta on January 23, 2001 at 04:50:18 PT: Thanks Again Doc! Doc --Thanks again for your help here; I doubt any of us could make this kind of contribution to the polemic here. Do I understand correctly that the first study you posted was done nineteen (19) years before the second one you posted? If so, why such a gap? Did this researcher have the kind of problems you have had in simply getting access to cannabis? Or is that why he used what I assume are cannabis or THC analogues and antagonists?Thanks again, and we should take note that 200,000 sufferers can't be wrong! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on January 22, 2001 at 10:35:44 PT: Even More Recent The truth hurts. Flip the antis a few of these every time they say cannabis has no medical utility.Nature 2000 Mar 2;404(6773):84-7 Cannabinoids control spasticity and tremor in a multiple sclerosis model.Baker D, Pryce G, Croxford JL, Brown P, Pertwee RG, Huffman JW, Layward LDepartment of Neurochemistry, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK. D.Baker ion.ucl.ac.ukChronic relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (CREAE) is an autoimmune model of multiple sclerosis. Although both these diseases are typified by relapsing-remitting paralytic episodes, after CREAE induction by sensitization to myelin antigens Biozzi ABH mice also develop spasticity and tremor. These symptoms also occur during multiple sclerosis and are difficult to control. This has prompted some patients to find alternative medicines, and to perceive benefit from cannabis use. Although this benefit has been backed up by small clinical studies, mainly with non-quantifiable outcomes, the value of cannabis use in multiple sclerosis remains anecdotal. Here we show that cannabinoid (CB) receptor agonism using R(+)-WIN 55,212, delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, methanandamide and JWH-133 (ref. 8) quantitatively ameliorated both tremor and spasticity in diseased mice. The exacerbation of these signs after antagonism of the CB1 and CB2 receptors, notably the CB1 receptor, using SR141716A and SR144528 (ref. 8) indicate that the endogenous cannabinoid system may be tonically active in the control of tremor and spasticity. This provides a rationale for patients' indications of the therapeutic potential of cannabis in the control of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and provides a means of evaluating more selective cannabinoids in the future.PMID: 10716447, UI: 20179191 [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on January 22, 2001 at 10:33:02 PT: background Denis Petro is one of the few physicians in the USA that has actually been able to study and publish the effects of cannabis on MS, sometimes with striking results. I alone, as one neurologist, have about 20 patients that have used cannabis at one time or another to alleviate MS symptoms. Since there are about 10,000 neurologists in the USA, that means that there could be 200,000 or more patients with MS that could benefit.See:Petro DJ, Ellenberger C Jr. Related Articles Treatment of human spasticity with delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol.J Clin Pharmacol 1981 Aug-Sep;21(8-9 Suppl):413S-416S Related Articles, Books, LinkOut Treatment of human spasticity with delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol.Petro DJ, Ellenberger C JrSpasticity is a common neurologic condition in patients with multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy or an injured spinal cord. Animal studies suggest that THC has an inhibitory effect on polysynaptic reflexes. Some spastic patients claim improvement after inhaling cannabis. We tested muscle tone, reflexes, strength and performed EMGs before and after double-blinded oral administration of either 10 or 5 mg THC or placebo. The blinded examiner correctly identified the trials in which the patients received THC in seven of nine cases. For the group, 10 mg THC significantly reduced spasticity by clinical measurement (P less than 0.01). Quadriceps EMG interference pattern was reduced in those four patients with primarily extensor spasticity. THC was administered to eight other patients with spasticity and other CNS lesions. Responses varied, but benefit was seen in three of three patients with "tonic spasms." No benefit was noted in patients with cerebellar disease.PMID: 6271839, UI: 82053565 Petro DJ. Related Articles Marihuana as a therapeutic agent for muscle spasm or spasticity.Psychosomatics. 1980 Jan;21(1):81, 85. No abstract available.PMID: 7360860; UI: 80146329 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: