UVSS HEMPOLOGY 101 CLUB
LECTURE SERIES 2007/08

LESSON #17: MEDICAL USES OF CANNABIS - Part 2

The data on the adverse effects of marijuana are more extensive than the data on its effectiveness. Clinical studies of marijuana are difficult to conduct: researchers interested in clinical studies of marijuana face a series of barriers, research funds are limited, and there is a daunting thicket of regulations to be negotiated at the federal level (those of the FDA, and the DEA) and state levels. As a consequence, the rapid growth in basic research on cannabinoids contrasts with the paucity of substantial clinical studies on medical uses. The profile of cannabinoid drug effects suggests that they are promising for treating wasting syndrome in AIDS patients. Nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana.

Although some medications are more effective than marijuana for these problems, they are not equally effective in all patients. A rapid-onset (that is, acting within minutes) delivery system should be developed and tested in such patients. Smoking marijuana is not recommended. Terminal cancer patients pose different issues. For those patients the medical harm associated with smoking is of little consequence. For terminal patients suffering debilitating pain or nausea and for whom all indicated medications have failed to provide relief, the medical benefits of smoked marijuana might outweigh the harm. Institute of Medicine Report, MARIJUANA AND MEDICINE: ASSESSING THE SCIENCE BASE, 1999 - National Academy of Sciences, USA.

In the double-blind trial, the researchers randomised 31 patients to receive the CBM and 27 the placebo. The CBM (brand name: Sativex) was in the form of an easy-to-use mouth spray that patients could administer themselves up to a maximum of six doses a day. The CBM consisted of a blend of whole plant extracts, standardised for content that delivered approximately equal amounts of two key therapeutic constituents from the cannabis plant: delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Mouse studies have shown that THC and CBD have anti-inflammatory effects, and that CBD blocked progression of rheumatoid arthritis and produced improvements in symptoms. CANNABIS-BASED MEDICINE RELIEVES THE PAIN OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND SUPPRESSES THE DISEASE, innovations-report.com.

The Chinese, Indian (Ayurvedic) and Tibetan literature on the subject goes back to at least the 10th Century. In China as early as 2737 BC it was used by herbalists in the court of Emperor Shen. The Tibetans call it ‘Sman-mchog rgyal-po’ which translates as ‘King of the best of medicines’. In Ayurveda it is called ‘Harikaki’ and described as being ‘useful to human beings like a mother’. One thing is for sure; the worldwide prohibition of medical cannabis is one of the most aggressive and extreme examples of a general campaign against herbal medicine in general, openly backed by the drug companies. They operate massive and constant lobbying operations at the highest levels. Their pharmaceutical grip on the planet is threatened by the re-emergence of very useful medical herbs like cannabis, especially if such herbs were to be freely available in an open market which they would not control. USING MEDICAL CANNABIS, schmoo.co.uk/index.htm.

If cannabis were unknown, and bioprospectors were suddenly to find it in some remote mountain crevice, its discovery would no doubt be hailed as a medical breakthrough. Scientists would praise its potential for treating everything from pain to cancer, and marvel at its rich pharmacopoeia—many of whose chemicals mimic vital molecules in the human body. THC is the best known active ingredient of cannabis, but by no means the only one. At the last count, marijuana was known to contain nearly 70 different cannabinoids, as THC and its cousins are collectively known. These chemicals activate receptor molecules in the human body, particularly the cannabinoid receptors on the surfaces of some nerve cells in the brain, and stimulate changes in biochemical activity.The Economist, REEFER MADNESS, April 27, 2006.

On March 17, 1999, the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine concluded that “there are some limited circumstances in which we recommend smoking marijuana for medical uses.” The IOM report, the result of two years of research that was funded by the White House drug policy office, analyzed all existing data on marijuana's therapeutic uses. Prior to 1937, at least 27 medicines containing marijuana were legally available in the United States. Many were made by well-known pharmaceutical firms that still exist today, such as Squibb (now Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Eli Lilly. MEDICAL MARIJUANA BRIEFING PAPER, mpp.org.