MEDICAL MARIJUANA RESEARCH FINALLY APPROVED
Source: Marijuana Policy Project
http://www.mpp.org/, Marijuana Policy
Report Vol. 7, No. 2 ? Spring 2001
(California) On June 13, a federal shipment of marijuana arrived at the San
Mateo County Health Center for a medical marijuana study involving people
with AIDS. The county will test the feasibility of allowing patients to
take marijuana out of a hospital setting to smoke it for medical research.
Assuming that there are no diversion problems or other drawbacks, the study?
s subsequent phases may generate the clinical data needed to meet FDA?s
requirements for the approval of marijuana as a prescription medicine. This
study is unique in that it is being funded entirely by the county. (And it
is the only study underway in the country.)
Elsewhere in California, the state-funded Center for Medicinal Cannabis
Research is awaiting federal approval of four grant proposals to study
smoked marijuana.
More information about the center can be found at
http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu.
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CANADIAN CANNABIS DECISION MAY SPARK NEW THINKING
Source: ATT WorldNet Daily News (Reuters),
http://dailynews.att.net/,
Updated 1:53 PM ET July 30, 2001
By Patricia Reaney
(London) - Advocates of the medical use of marijuana got a boost on Monday
when Canada became the first country in the world to allow people suffering
from chronic illnesses to legally grow and use the drug.
The landmark decision puts the therapeutic use of the popular recreational
drug on the world agenda and could sway other nations reviewing the use of
the drug in relieving pain from illnesses such as asthma, multiple
sclerosis, cancer and degenerative muscle and bone diseases.
"It is very courageous for the Canadian government to do this,'' Roger
Pertwee, a leading expert on cannabis from Aberdeen University in Canada,
told Reuters.
"It is the first country that has legalized cannabis for medical use, so in
that sense it is very groundbreaking. It will certainly make other countries
take it seriously,'' said Pertwee, a neuropharmacology professor.
Possessing, growing and selling cannabis for recreational use is still a
crime in Canada but patients whose doctors write a certificate saying they
need it for medical reasons will be allowed to grow and use the drug without
fear of prosecution.
Break The Law
Patients with chronic illnesses have been forced to either break the law to
get cannabis or stick with legal drugs that may not work for them or have
unpleasant side effects.
"It is very tough on people who genuinely need it and can't have it just
because it is being used so much recreationally and the government is so
worried about that,'' Pertwee said.
The Canadian decision puts it on a collision course with the United States,
whose Supreme Court ruled in May there could be no exceptions to the
illegality of cannabis.
The federal ruling effectively ended the legal distribution of medicinal
marijuana in California and other states where it had been permitted.
Most other countries, apart from the Netherlands where its use has been
decriminalized, have a similar policy.
Pertwee applauded the Canadian decision because it relieves the dilemma of
patients, but he and other scientists and clinicians say problems remain
with the supply, dose and delivery systems of marijuana into the body for
medicinal use.
Scientific Proof
Some scientists also agree with the Canadian Medical Association, which is
against the new law because it feels there is not enough scientific proof
about how it works, how much should be taken or how it interacts with other
medication.
Scientists who conducted an analysis of data from 39 clinical trials of
cannabis reported in July that it is no better than codeine in controlling
pain.
But Mark Rogerson of GW Pharmaceutical, which aims to develop the world's
first cannabis-based medicines, said the Canadian decision supported
arguments for the medical benefits.
"There is no doubt this demonstrates the Canadian health authorities
recognize the potential contribution of cannabis-based medicines,'' he said
in a telephone interview.
"Anything which contributes toward putting cannabis center-stage in the
medical picture, we are in favor of.''
Britain's Medical Research Council is doing research into the benefits of
cannabis for multiple sclerosis. The Science and Technology Committee of the
House of Lords (upper house) has also suggested there should be more
leniency in the therapeutic use of cannabis.
"There may be some countries which don't have a policy on this now which may
be forced into having a policy and some of those countries may go the same
route as Canada,'' Pertwee said.
***********************************
MARIJUANA EXTRACTS FOR PAIN STUDY TO BEGIN IN CANADA
SOURCE: NORML E-Zine
http://www.norml.org/news/archives/index2001.shtml
Volume 4, Issue 34, August 15, 2001
(Ottawa, Ontario) An English pharmaceutical company specializing in
medicinal cannabis extracts has received permission to study the effects of
a marijuana spray on chronic pain patients in Canada. The upcoming
randomized, double-blind study will be the first trial of its kind in
Canada.
"The start of clinical trials in Canada is the first phase of our
international trials program," said Dr. Geoffrey Guy, chairman of GW
Pharmaceuticals in London. "The Canadian health authorities have recognized
the potential contribution of cannabis-based medicines in the treatment of
many different conditions."
Patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, spinal cord injury and other
forms of chronic pain will participate in the study, which will be performed
at The Rehabilitation Centre in Ottawa.
Results of a previous U.K. trial of 75 patients found that marijuana
extracts administered under the tongue greatly reduced pain, muscle spasms
and bladder dysfunction in patients with MS.
Since June, Health Canada has appropriated more than a million dollars to
fund medicinal cannabis research, including an $840,000 grant to study the
efficacy of smoked marijuana in the treatment of the AIDS wasting syndrome.
For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Allen St.
Pierre of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751.
