cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Research Budding





Marijuana Research Budding
Posted by FoM on February 23, 2001 at 07:24:16 PT
By Barbara Feder, San Jose Mercury News
Source: Contra Costa Times 
Hoping to inject some science into the acrimonious debate over using marijuana in medicine, researchers will examine how the illegal drug might help AIDS and multiple sclerosis patients in the first series of studies sponsored by a new University of California research center.The Center for Medical Cannabis Research in La Jolla -- a collaboration between UC'S San Diego and San Francisco campuses -- announced Thursday it will spend about $841,000 on four new experiments this year.
In two independent studies, researchers in both San Francisco and San Diego will investigate whether smoking marijuana can alleviate a condition known as neuropathy, in which AIDS, diabetes and other patients experience severe tingling and pain in their hands and feet. One of these studies will focus on hospitalized patients, the other on outpatients.In San Diego, another researcher will examine how repeated treatment with medical marijuana affects driving ability of patients with HIV-related neuropathy or multiple sclerosis. The patients will be tested using a driving simulator.Another San Diego scientist will study how smoked marijuana might ease the uncontrollable muscle spasms and pain that are a feature of multiple sclerosis.Dr. Igor Grant, a UCSD psychiatrist who directs the research center, said scientists have encountered daunting barriers to doing research on the therapeutic benefits of marijuana, rather than its deleterious effects."This is really the first state initiative where a state has said, 'We are going to look seriously at whether there's any message here, any truth to the benefits of marijuana,'" Grant said. "The money is not a huge amount, but it is enough, we believe, to do high quality, state-of-the-art research."The research proposals must still be vetted by the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Drug Enforcement Agency to make sure they comply with federal law.The marijuana used in the research will be provided by a NIDA-approved farm at the University of Mississippi. Typically, that marijuana, which is rolled by machine into identically sized joints, has lower levels of active ingredient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) than marijuana available on the street, said Dr. Donald Abrams, a UCSF professor of medicine.The Center for Medical Cannabis Research opened last August with money from legislation sponsored by State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara. Vasconcellos has stressed that his bill should not be taken as encouragement for the recreational use of marijuana, and the center uses the botanical term "cannabis" to avoid stigmatizing its research.The controversy over medical marijuana has grown since 1996, when state voters passed Prop. 215, which allowed people to possess and grow marijuana for treatment approved by a physician. Studies are under way around the country testing the effectiveness of marijuana in quelling nausea, easing pain, alleviating glaucoma and stimulating appetite to prevent the "wasting" that occurs in many AIDS patients.Another marijuana study is under way in San Mateo County. Conducted by the county health department's top researcher and approved by the federal government, that study will assess the practicality of doling out marijuana to outpatient AIDS sufferers. Rather than scientifically documenting marijuana's effectiveness as a treatment, that study is aimed at developing a framework for future regulation of medicinal marijuana.Note: Studies will focus on potential effects of cannabis on AIDS and MS symptoms.Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)Author: Barbara Feder, San Jose Mercury NewsPublished: Friday, February 23, 2001 Copyright: 2001 Contra Costa Newspapers Inc.Address: 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598Website: http://www.contracostatimes.com/Feedback: http://www.contracostatimes.com/contact_us/letters.htmRelated Articles:Scientist Announce Study on Medicinal Value of Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8769.shtmlCalifornia Center Will Explore MMJ Potentialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6870.shtmlCenter for Medicinal Cannabis Research Establishedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6869.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on February 23, 2001 at 09:03:51 PT:
Kid gloves and live wires
The media is playing it pretty cagey, these days. Or perhaps a better word is...timid?There are several stories within this story, that could net an eager-beaver reporter a possible Pulitzer nomination. For example, it can be argued that, with 'malice aforethought', the Federal government's research organs like NIDA and FDA obstructed true, objective research by qualified scientists into the beneficial aspects of cannabis therapies. And that they have done so for decades. Even to the point of ignoring the findings of it's own studies, such as the IoM Report, when the findings of those studies have contradicted their political agendas. How the Federal government only financed Dr. Abrams's study after he said he would focus on supposed 'deleterious effects' of cannabis upon AIDS patients...and how his findings that they didn't were met with stony silence.How many have died, some of them truly agonizing deaths like my mother's, who didn't have to? How many are suffering right now for want of a truly safe medicine? A medicine that a dark cabal of forces, loudly proclaiming their actions are for the public weal, have striven over the years to keep from the public's hands? It literally beggars the mind, when you think of it.There's a major scandal waiting in the wings. Like a volcano, it awaits just the right combination of forces to erupt explosively, hurling career-destroying debris and the molten lava of public outrage onto anti heads.If only the press had some cojones.
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