cannabisnews.com: An Update on Medical Marijuana





An Update on Medical Marijuana
Posted by FoM on February 23, 2001 at 08:49:07 PT
By Richard A. Zmuda
Source: HealthChannel
A study just published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology reports on the finding of an “anti-vomiting” receptor that may offer a better understanding of marijuana’s potential medicinal benefit for offsetting nausea and vomiting due to cancer treatments.Nissar Darmani, Ph.D. of the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri contends he has located a specific CB1 receptor for marijuana in laboratory experiments using the shrew, the smallest animal that exhibits vomiting tendencies.
The discovery, Darmani suggests, may lead to marijuana-like drugs that can reduce the nausea and vomiting caused by radiation and chemotherapy while avoiding the “high” associated with drug itself.Last year, the American Cancer Society announced that it was funding a three-year study to see whether a marijuana patch could help ease the pain, nausea and vomiting that often accompany chemotherapy. The patch would deliver controlled doses of cannabinoids through the skin, similar to the mechanism used in nicotine patches for smokers.“It is well known that the active components of marijuana have powerful inhibitory effects on nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite—all of which are common problems for cancer patients,” said Dr. Audra Stinchcomb of the Albany College of Pharmacy, who was awarded the $361,000 grant.Earlier research by the National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Sciences also suggested that the active ingredients in marijuana might effectively treat pain, nausea and other symptoms of HIV, cancer chemotherapy, muscle spasms and multiple sclerosis.On the heels of such findings, a number of states have enacted medical marijuana laws that enable certain cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other patients to have access to the drug to ease symptoms from their diseases or treatments.A Marijuana Primer:Historically, marijuana (cannabis) has been used in many different cultures to reduce pain and increase appetite. The most active ingredient in marijuana is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).Marijuana was actually legal for medicinal use in the United States until the late 1930s, when political sentiment swayed and associated its use to the country’s growing crime and violence rates. In 1970, marijuana was officially determined under U.S. drug laws as having a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit.Since that time, however, a slowly evolving body of research has begun documenting a number of specific health benefits, including lowering blood pressure within the eye (for glaucoma patients), preventing nausea and vomiting in cancer patients taking chemotherapy, and reducing muscle spasms in people with nerve diseases such as multiple sclerosis.Synthetic versions of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, are also now available. The most commonly prescribed derivative is dronabinol (Marinol). Plenty of Risks:While marijuana may reduce certain treatment side effects from radiation or chemotherapy, so will many traditional medicines—without the legal hurdles involved in marijuana use.Furthermore, smoking marijuana causes most of the same health problems as smoking tobacco, not to mention the obvious hallucinogenic effects that accompany its use.In addition, a number of recent studies have linked marijuana to the growth of cancerous tumors. For example, a recent study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention found what the researchers called a definitive link between marijuana use and cancers of the head and neck.A similar report in the Journal of Immunology suggested that such marijuana-induced tumor growth might result because the active ingredients in the drug act to suppress certain “cancer brakes” in the immune system.It is likely that current studies being undertaken by the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and other organizations will facilitate the development of new drugs that will provide the medicinal benefits associated with marijuana without the significant downside effects.But until that time, the old adage applies: “User Beware.”Sources:Neuropsychopharmacology, February 2001; 24(2):198-203The American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.orgCancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, December 17, 1999; 8:1071-1078The Journal of Immunology, July 2000; 165:373-380Source: Health Channel (CA)Author: Richard A. Zmuda, thehealthchannel.com Editorial TeamPublished: February 23, 2001Address: 260 Newport Center Drive Suite 250 Newport Beach, CA 92660Copyright: 1999-2001 thehealthchannel.com, Inc.(949) 631-8317 or (949) 719-6051 voice(949) 631-2544 or (949) 719-6055 faxContact: http://thehealthchannel.com/healthcenter/contact_us.aspCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #5 posted by Dan B on February 23, 2001 at 23:09:59 PT:
Thanks, Zman!
I don't recall seeing you here before, so I wanted to extend a hearty Welcome! If you've been here a while . . . well, I guess I just noticed you, and I still say you're welcome here.I appreciate your expertise with regard to the legal matters you have addressed. Seems like we have so many experts in this forum, and it is always good to hear from yet another.Peace.Dan B
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by Zman on February 23, 2001 at 14:08:17 PT:
Remedy
Keeping in mind, that the above articles are all very interesting and may be true, I would like to try and answer the last question posed. "How can we truly get anywhere when we have people doing articles about a drug in which they obviously have never tried and know nothing about?"The marijuana laws, as well as all "mala prohibita" laws, (laws issued by the legislative branch of gov. prohibiting something) are designed to RAISE REVENUE, not invoke justice as many believe. California Penal Code Section 4 clearly points this out. Regardless of the item that is being prohihibited, Marijuana, Traveling, Gambling, Prostitution, etc.(all victumless crimes), the morality or the safety of the activity is not the issue, it is the defense to the charges that is the remedy for the individual.	When there is no punishment, connected to a crime, the law is "void for veigness". As stated in the above article,"no mention of jail...", we now see that the prosecution is attempting to enforce a "void" or "unconstitutional" law. Again, it is the process of how one brings forward these arguments (defenses) that will constitute a remedy, not the facts themselves.The beginnig of the process, in California, is found in the penal code at section 1054.5, which allows the parties to a criminal action, to discover all the evidence that the prosecution has to show whether the "laws" are valid, and if they are being enforced in a "lawful" manner. This is necessary, because things are not always the way they appear to be. By using the process, we are able to force the prosecution into proving their case, which in reality they do not have one. Isn't Marijuana legal for medical purposes?
http://powerpolitics.com
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by observer on February 23, 2001 at 10:01:08 PT
Marijuana Spin
A Marijuana PrimerMust really mean spin.Marijuana was actually legal for medicinal useAnd every other use. Notice this article does not mention jail. That concept gets tip-toed around, as we see here.  The fundamental issue is jailing adults for using a plant, the issue is not one of the relative dangers/effectiveness of medicines for this or that. ... in the United States until the late 1930s, when political sentiment swayed and associated its use to the country’s growing crime and violence rates.There's a white-wash for you! No mention of the sordid racism. There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.-- Harry Anslinger, 1937 testimony to Congress in support of the Marijuana Tax Act.http://www.pdxnorml.org/ii/quotes.html etc.http://www.google.com/search?q=Anslinger+white+womensee espectially: "The History of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937" In certain areas of the United States, however, the fear of marihuana was more intense. These areas mostly coincided with concentrations of Mexican immigrants who tended to use marihuana as a drug of entertainment or relaxation. During the decade Mexican immigration, legal and illegal, rapidly increased into the region from Louisiana to California and up to Colorado and Utah. Mexicans were useful in the United States as farm laborers, and as the economic boom continued they received inducements to travel to the Midwest and the North where jobs in factories and sugar beet fields were available. 14Although employers welcomed them in the 1920s, Mexicans were also feared as a locus of crime and deviant social behavior. By the mid-1920s horrible crimes were attributed to marihuana and its Mexican purveyors. Legal and medical officers in New Orleans began studies on the evil, and within a few years published articles claiming that many of the region's crimes could be traced to marihuana. They implicated it particularly in the most severe crimes, for they believed it to be a sexual stimulant which removed civilized inhibitions.15 As a result, requests were made to include marihuana in the federal law which controlled similar substances, the Harrison Narcotic Act.16 . . .One of the prominent members of the American Coalition, C. M. Goethe of Sacramento, saw marihuana and the problem of Mexican migrants as closely connected (New York Times, Sept 15, 1935, section IV, p 9): Marihuana, perhaps now the most insidious of our narcotics, is a direct by-product of unrestricted Mexican immigration. Easily grown, it has been asserted that it has recently been planted between rows in a California penitentiary garden. Mexican peddlers have been caught distributing sample marihuana cigarets to school children. Bills for our quota against Mexico have been blocked mysteriously in every Congress since the 1924 Quota Act. Our nation has more than enough laborers. . . . In 1934 a US Marshall in Tulsa, Okla, wrote to the FBN, describing marihuana as a most dangerous and crime causing drug which gave its users the feeling that they had "superman and superwoman" powers.19 Newspapers occasionally headlined the weed as a cause of horrible crimes. For example, in 1933 the New York Mirror presented an article in its Sunday supplement on "Loco Weed, Breeder of Madness and Crime.". . . Marihuana "releases inhibitions and restraints imposed by society and allows individuals to act out their drives openly," and "acts as a sexual stimulant," particularly to "overt homosexuals."20 (p. 308) . . .The History of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/mustomj1.htmlTypical of the medical/scientific veneer given to these laws jailing mairjuana users is this congressional testimony: "MARIHUANA AS A DEVELOPER OF CRIMINALS" --MARIHUANA AS A DEVELOPER OF CRIMINALS(By Eugene Stanley, district attorney, parish of Orleans, New Orleans, La.)Many prosecuting attorneys in the South and Southwest have been confronted with the defense that, at the time of the commission of the criminal act, the defendant was irresponsible, because he was under the influence of marihuana to such a degree he was unable to appreciate the difference between right and wrong, and was legally insane. . .THE EFFECT OF THE USE OF THE DRUG . . .In many respects, the action of cannabis sativa is similar to that of alcohol or morphine. Its toxic effects are ecstasy, merriment, uncontrollable laughter, self-satisfaction, bizarre ideas lacking in continuity, and its results are extreme hyperacidity, with occasional attacks of nausea and vomiting. . . .Large doses produce excitement, delusions hallucinations, rapid flow of ideas, a high state of ecstasy, psychomotor activity with a tendency to willful damage and violence, and a temporary amnesia of all that has transpired. In cases of prolonged addiction, especially in the Malays, the somnolent action of Cannabis indica is replaced with complete loss of judgment and restraint, the same effects so frequently observed in alcohol intoxication. . . . It is commonly used as an aphrodisiac, and its continued use leads to impotency. This has been observed among the natives of India.It is an ideal drug to quickly cut off inhibitions. . . .hey were under the complete domination of the sheik, who alone knew the secret of this drug, and gladly followed his will, even to the extent of sacrificing their lives is he commanded them to do so, in order to further experience the pleasures to which they had been initiated.At the present time, the underworld has been quick to realize the value of this drug in subjugating the will of human derelicts to that of the master mind. Its use sweeps away all restraint, and to its influence may be attributed many of our present day crimes. . . .MARIHUANA AS A DEVELOPER OF CRIMINALS http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/t10a.htmIn light of the struggle to have our traditional freedoms returned to us, this article purports to give us a historical review. No mention of the vile racism, no mention of the grossly innacurate and reefer madness propaganda is ever given. And of course, no mention of jail in the entire article.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Kevin Hebert on February 23, 2001 at 10:00:22 PT:
Misinformation is the Opposition's Only Weapon
Without it, they would have to resort to facts, which would of course undermine their cause. Marijuana so rarely causes even the mildest visuals that it is ridiculous to talk of keeping it illegal it based on that effect. Why not ban ground fresh nutmeg, then? Ridiculous.The negative effects of cannabis are so slight that, in comparison to many prescriptions medicines, it is the miracle cure. The negative effects of cannabis compared to alcohol and tobacco are so slight that it is obvious that only lies and deception can keep it illegal.But the truth always comes out.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Duzt on February 23, 2001 at 08:55:25 PT
obvious lies
"Furthermore, smoking marijuana causes most of the same health problems as smoking tobacco, not to mention the obvious hallucinogenic effects that accompany its use."How can we truly get anywhere when we have people doing articles about a drug in which they obviously have never tried and know nothing about. Comments like these are similar to the whole "Marijuana Madness" claims. Marijuana is not a hallucinogenic and does not have the health problems of tobacco. Since we all know this I guess I better vent on who wrote this...
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: