Sebastopol, CA: Patients with Crohn's disease report subjective benefits from cannabis, including pain relief and increased appetite, according to survey data published in the autumn issue of O'Shaughnessy's: The Journal of Cannabis in Clinical Practice.

Twelve patients were self-selected to participate in the survey, which assessed subjective changes in volunteers' symptoms after the use of cannabis. "For all signs and symptoms evaluated in the study, the patients described marked improvements with the use of cannabis," concluded co-author Jeff Hergenrather of the California Society for Cannabis Clinicians. "Beneficial effects were reported for appetite, pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, activity, and depression. Patients also reported that cannabis use resulted in weight gain, fewer stools per day and fewer flare-ups of less severity."

Authors also found that patients' use of cannabis was associated with a decrease in their use of other pharmaceutical medicines.

The pilot study is the first to examine the therapeutic use of cannabis in patients with Crohn's disease.

Pre-clinical data published this past summer in the journal Gastroenterology found that cannabinoids may promote healing of the gastrointestinal membrane, and could offer relief to patients suffering from inflammatory disorders such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Previous trials in animals have demonstrated that the activation of cannabinoid receptors in the gastrointestinal tract protects the body from inflammation and modulates gastric secretions and intestinal motility, among other functions.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. A summary of the study, "Cannabis alleviates symptoms of Crohn's disease," is available online at: http://www.ccrmg.org/journal/05aut/chrons.html

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6725

Cannabis Extracts Relieve Arthritis Pain, Study Says

November 17, 2005 - Bath, United Kingdom

Bath, United Kingdom: Cannabis extracts suppress pain and improve sleep quality in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the journal Rheumatology.

Fifty-eight patients participated in the randomized, double-blind, parallel group study. Thirty-one volunteers self-administered Sativex, a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing precise doses of the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol (CBD), for a period of five weeks while the others received a placebo.

Compared to the placebo group, patients who had taken Sativex experienced statistically significant improvements in pain on movement, pain at rest, quality of sleep, inflammation, and intensity of pain, the study found.

The study is the first clinical trial to investigate the effects of either cannabis or cannabis extracts on patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

In March, survey data published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice reported that approximately one out of six medicinal marijuana patients in the UK use cannabis to alleviate symptoms of arthritis.

Previous clinical data on Sativex have demonstrated cannabis extracts to reduce neuropathic pain, spasticity, pain-related sleep disturbances, and urinary dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis patients unresponsive to standard treatment.

Sativex is now available by prescription in Canada and in Spain under the Spanish Ministry of Health's compassionate access program.

This week, British regulatory officials also approved the limited use of Sativex for select patients in the UK as an unlicensed medicine. Regulatory approval for full licensing of the drug remains pending.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Preliminary assessment of the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of a cannabis-based medicine in the treatment of pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis," is available in the November issue of Rheumatology.

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6727

San Francisco Okays Guidelines For Medical Cannabis Distribution

November 17, 2005 - San Francisco, CA, USA

San Francisco: San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation this week regulating the distribution of medical cannabis by the city's estimated 35 dispensaries.

The new guidelines require dispensary operators to apply for a business license and adhere to zoning laws restricting the distribution of cannabis near school grounds. The regulations also limit the amount of medical cannabis that patients may purchase at the facilities to one ounce per visit.

Dispensaries will have up to 18 months to acquire the necessary permits and licenses required by the new legislation.

"The passage of these city-wide provisions represent an historic moment in the legal struggle to make cannabis available to physician-approved patients, " said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "These are the first regulatory and business controls governing the retail distribution of marijuana in the United States since it was federally outlawed in 1937." An estimated 8,000 patients have city-authorized identification cards to use medicinal cannabis.

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of NORML, at (202) 483-5500 or Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858.

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6726

Source: NORML Foundation (DC)
Published: November 17, 2005
Copyright: 2005 NORML
Contact: norml@norml.org
Website: http://www.norml.org/

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