Cannabis News Media Awareness Project
  UC Study Finds That Marijuana Eases Pain
Posted by CN Staff on March 01, 2007 at 08:03:49 PT
By Jaclyn Snow, Staff Writer  
Source: UCSD Guardian 

medical California -- UCSD has entered the controversial medicinal marijuana argument, providing funding for a new study that found that smoked marijuana substantially reduced pain in AIDS patients in the face of the federal government's position that smoked marijuana has no medical value.

A recent UC San Francisco study focused on patients with a painful nerve condition in their hands and feet. The condition, called peripheral neuropathy, is characterized as a constant burning on the bottoms of the feet and hands.

In the double-blind study, half of the patients receiving marijuana cigarettes with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, reported a 30-percent drop in pain, twice that of patients on the placebo, a cigarette with no THC. UCSD reviewed the proposal from Donald Abrams, the study's lead author, and provided the funding.

Thirty percent of AIDS patients suffer from peripheral neuropathy, a condition that has no FDA-approved treatment, forcing patients to go on anti-seizure medication to relieve pain.

Despite the hurdles of conducting a medicinal marijuana study, which include getting permission from eight government agencies, Igor Grant, the executive director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UCSD, said that there has been no resistance in carrying out the study.

"The fact that this was set up as a scientific research study under the umbrella of the University of California, as well as a very stringent review process from outside experts [satisfies critics]," Grant said.

The marijuana was procured from a federally sanctioned field at the University of Mississippi. The subjects were given three marijuana cigarettes a day with THC levels at 3.56 percent, which is considered a low level.

However, Abrams stated that the patients did get high. A National Organization of Reformed Marijuana Laws survey found THC levels in nonmedical marijuana across the country to average between 8 to 20 percent.

The White House Office of National Drug Policy Web site states that "marijuana as a smoked product has never proven to be medically beneficial and, in fact, is much more likely to harm one's health" - a position this study may dispute.

"It's time for the government to wake up and smell the data," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest medicinal marijuana-advocating group in the country. "We consider this to be very significant evidence underlying, frankly, what other people already knew, that marijuana is capable of relieving certain types of pain that do not respond well to conventional treatments."

The ONDP supports research with cannabinoid-based drugs, such as Marinol, but CMCR hopes to study cannabis and products used by the general population, according to Abrams.

"Cannabis has many other potentially beneficial components beyond delta-9 THC," Abrams stated in an e-mail.

In 1999, Gov. Gray Davis established the CMCR, headquartered at UCSD with UC San Francisco as a partner. Abrams' study was the first of its kind completed with taxpayer funds, at a cost of approximately $849,000. A total of $8.7 million has been directed to the program since its launch in 2000.

Though the trial was small, Grant sees this study as very promising for the medicinal marijuana community.

"The continued study could help solve the marijuana debate in the future," Grant said. "We will have some good scientific data, one way or the other."

Source: Guardian, The (U of CA, San Diego, CA Edu)
Author: Jaclyn Snow, Staff Writer
Published: March 1, 2007
Copyright: 2007 UCSD Guardian
Contact: editor@ucsdguardian.org
Website: http://www.ucsdguardian.org/

Related Articles & Web Sites:

NORML
http://www.norml.org/

Marijuana Policy Project
http://www.mpp.org/

Marijuana as Wonder Drug
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22698.shtml

Feds Still Ostriches On Medical Marijuana
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22689.shtml

Truth and Medical Marijuana
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22683.shtml


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Comment #10 posted by Toker00 on March 02, 2007 at 03:39:13 PT
Had enough, you got lucky???
Many men of money are anxious right now. They see how bad things are getting and are afraid they won't be able to hang on to their money rolls or that their rolls will begin to decrease instead of increase. The only ones who are secure and sure of our economy are the ones invested in War and Oil. It's a match made in Hell. The Oil lubricates the War machines that in turn kill and destroy to steal more oil for, and to protect, their investors. Then you have the Power Leeches that cling to the Powerful, and exist on the waste that the Powerful excrete. The PissTasters, the Prohibians, the Prisons for Profit, the Pharmaceutical Protectors (DEA), the Propaganda Producers (ONDCP), Pnacers, Presidents, Politicians, Police, Prosecutors, Parole Personnel, Probationers, Propagandized People (Sheeple), Paranoid Patriots and many other People in Powerful Positions. These folks are the POWERS THAT BE.

I say we can defeat them with Peace and Pot.

Power to the People!

Toke.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by Had Enough on March 01, 2007 at 18:02:51 PT
Will Rogers
Thanks Toker

That would be me too.

I think I will lay that line on a few people who have criticism of me using my time last weekend with those two loose dogs.

Recently I’ve seen people going berserk around me. People wigging out for no reason at all. Some at me too, for whatever reason. One guy is really wealthy, just went bonkers on me. He apologized and all but still I think, what’s going on with this world. That man could quit tomorrow, and live the rest of his life very comfortable. But No, he needs more money and hoards what he has and thinks everybody is out to take it from him. He is really miserable. And the news with all these wacko kids shooting up the schools with machine guns, Republican politicians (Foley) on committees to deal with pedophiles, meanwhile he is sending kinky emails to interns, gets to resign with full tax payer paid pension, health care, etc… And the former House Speaker Hassert acting like it’s a new revelation, he steps down with full benefits paid for by us. Not to mention events in the rest of the world. I look around and see a broken world gone wrong. Bizarro World.

Friday night I looked up to this star Bride calls her favorite. I looked at it and thought “Man things would be so much better if I could just rub on a pup." Saturday Morning it happened less than 7 hours later.

I think St. Frances was communicating, telling me to be patient, and to “Carry On, My Wayward Son. There Will Be Peace When You Are Done”

Kansas - Carry On My Wayward Son

http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=77692

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by Toker00 on March 01, 2007 at 15:51:53 PT
Celebrate the "Constitution" March 4th.
Or read about it here.

http://wethepeoplemarch4th.org/

Toke.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by Toker00 on March 01, 2007 at 15:36:56 PT
Had enough, here's a famous Dog Lover quote:
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. -Will Rogers

Toke.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by Hope on March 01, 2007 at 15:22:35 PT
OverwhelmSam Comment 4
An excerpt from the article you posted, that just floored me: "And where are the ministers who should be taking their congregations to the streets to fight crime?"

That ranks as one of the most ludicrous statements I've ever seen in print.

And WHAT kind of minister needs to "be taking their congregation to the streets to fight crime"? What in the world kind of congregation and religion would that be? Is he talking about a Church of Vigilantes or something?



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by Truth on March 01, 2007 at 12:22:44 PT
great news
Articles like this are great. The TRUTH is coming out.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by OverwhelmSam on March 01, 2007 at 11:39:52 PT
I Knew It Would Come To This
And it's just starting. By law enforcement bullying the citizens for years over drug use, the citizens are beginning to fight back. I'm sure the cannabis user haters will turn a blind eye and deaf ear to it all. Oh well, reap what you sow.

"The threats -- "All cops must die," "We've got guns too," "Cops are gonna cry. Dope boys" -- are dangerous enough, attacking the law enforcement personnel who keep all of us safe.

But they go sickeningly further, specifically naming as targets five officers who make many drug arrests, as well as housing authority workers who evicted some who broke housing rules.

Some in the neighborhood may know who tried to turn those threats into fatal action -- but still have said nothing.

Two Cocoa police officers were shot at in recent weeks and another Cocoa resident was arrested for threatening an officer."

Source: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n257/a05.html?999

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by MikeEEEEE on March 01, 2007 at 11:12:32 PT
What they're afraid of is...
the TRUTH.

For the longest time they've been afraid of real evidence based research, here in the U.S.

Prohibition was never born out of the truth, common-sense and reason (except their own).

The prison industry has reason to worry.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 01, 2007 at 11:09:57 PT
Just a Comment
I just want to say that I hope everyone that could be in the areas where tornadoes might form stays safe. It looks nasty.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by Toker00 on March 01, 2007 at 09:48:14 PT
Marijuanoids or Cannabinoids?
Is it Marijuanis or Cannabuana? Is it Cannajuana or Maribis? Marijuana or Cannabis? Confusing...I choose CANNABIS. (Please don't take me too seriously on this folks. I'm just doodling again.)

Introducing the HuB Party. Human Being Party. Our platform is simple. We believe in the Power of Love. One nation under Love. All other political parties believe in the Power of War. They believe in Weapons of Mass Destruction, we believe in Weapons of No Destruction. Our motto is END ALL WARS. When we finally do come to power, there will only be one kind of people we need to worry about. PoW's. Persons of War. We will temporarily fill our Prisons with PoWs. Once they are all safely locked away, we will establish factories at these prisons and begin moving ALL WMDs to these prisons for the inmates to begin dismantling. The sooner they complete the entire dismantlement of ALL weapons, the sooner they win their freedom. No early releases.

You don't JOIN the HuB party, you are already Human. All you have to do is agree with our platform and our direction for change. Acknowledgement that you are a member of the HuB is enough to become a member. Please acknowledge and vote for all future HuBs.

More on this party later. : ) Speaking of Parties, I'm more than ready for a good ole' END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW Party. Because the crazier Prohibition continues, the longer it gets.

Toke.



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