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| Treatments: A Closer Look At Medical Marijuana |
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Posted by FoM on July 16, 2001 at 23:06:01 PT By John O'Neil Source: New York Times 
Two studies of the accumulated data on marijuana's medical value have found mixed results: the drug had some advantages over standard treatments for severe nausea, but no advantage in reducing severe pain. Both papers were published this month in The British Medical Journal.A study on marijuana as a pain medication, led by Dr. Fiona A. Campbell of Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham, England, compared the results of nine clinical trials involving 222 patients. The researchers concluded that marijuana- based medications were no better than codeine in managing acute pain, and had more harmful side effects. Dr. Martin R. Tramèr of the Hôspitaux Universitaires in Geneva led a study on nausea. Reviewing 30 trials involving 1,366 patients, the researchers concluded that medications containing marijuana were slightly more effective than the standard antinausea drugs given with chemotherapy. The marijuana-based drugs produced more side effects, including some, like euphoria and drowsiness, that might have been desirable to some patients. Patients who used both a standard drug and a marijuana-based drug preferred the marijuana compound by a large margin, the researchers said. They wrote that they did not know whether pleasant side effects could account for the patients' overwhelming preference for marijuana. The researchers concluded that the evidence could be interpreted two ways. Patient preference and the superiority of certain effects could support its use, while side effects and lack of information about marijuana's effects could work against it. Source: New York Times (NY) Related Articles & Web Site: Medical Marijuana Information Links Medical Marijuana: No Case Research Casts Doubt on Cannabis Benefits Cannabis 'No Better Than Codeine' for Headaches Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #6 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on July 17, 2001 at 10:58:07 PT |
| Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. Does it matter? The point is to ask whether it's an effective social policy to lock people away in prison for using it. I doubt you'd be able to find anybody, no matter how corrupt, who'd be able to argue that locking up sick people is good for their health, and yet that's just what the "civilized" nations are doing all the time, and it's just the thing the media is afraid of (or paid to avoid)... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #5 posted by Ben Cohn on July 17, 2001 at 10:39:42 PT:
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| Notice that the article repeatedly refers to "marijuana-based drugs" and "medications containing marijuana." Which means marinol, dronabinol, dexanabinol, or other synthetic molecules or compounds based on cannabinoid structures. None of these synthetics or extracts have the same beneficial effects as herbal The only place the article isn't careful to distinguish the "marijuana-based drugs" No such thing was shown. BC [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by The Offspring on July 17, 2001 at 07:19:38 PT |
| I remember an earlier article talking about negative side effects of marijuana, now they are saying the side effects are good. Marijuana is best taken in smoke form. Whats with trying to come up with pills based on Cannnabis. Give the patient an ounce of good marijuana and that would be that What's wrong with being drowsy. If you are sick, I don't think sleep will hurt you. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by Roberto on July 17, 2001 at 06:22:16 PT:
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| Cannibas medical limitations are in question quite a bit at the moment. But for the record this is my personal experience with the matter: I have had nausea leave my body within minutes and for good with a small amount of smoke, no other medication has even come close to the same effects. I have tried cannibas to relieve acute pain (sprains and such), the result was quite negative. My mind just focused on the pain and its throbbing nature, leaving me in discomfort for a couple of hours. But first and foremost, it should be legal for all individuals to determine these facts. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by MikeP on July 17, 2001 at 05:06:35 PT |
| The pain study was not actually a study at all but was a grouping together of a number of older works. The pain relieving benefits of Cannabis were only viewed in an acute care context such as for post-op pain, and in that narrow context were found to be no better than codeine. Cannabis is not used to treat acute pain- it is used for chronic pain, neuropathic pain and arthritic pain. In these area's nothing on the legimate market will touch Cannabis for efficiency, and these are the area's Health Canada's new research program will focus on. The British "Study" is just more of the old whitewash dressed up in a new wrapper. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by lookinside on July 17, 2001 at 04:37:33 PT:
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| pot WORKS...they compare it to codeine, and say it is no better...yet codeine is one of the best painkillers available...that tells me that cannabis works very well... the powers that be are afraid of medicine that is easy to the spin on this article tells us who wrote it...i wouldn't [ Post Comment ] |
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