Washington, DC: Recent media reports alleging that the daily use of cannabis may impede certain lung functions should be seen as an opportunity to better educate marijuana consumers about ways to mitigate the health risks associated with smoking, NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano said today.

The widely reported study, published online in the journal Thorax, found that the daily long-term smoking of cannabis cigarettes obstructed airflow to the lungs in a manner equivalent to smoking 2.5 to 5 tobacco cigarettes in succession. Investigators hypothesized that this result was because some marijuana smokers may consume greater quantities of both tar and carcinogenic hydrocarbons than do those who inhale filtered tobacco cigarettes.

Heavy use of cannabis was also associated with wheezing, cough, and chest tightness, researchers found. However, investigators did not find a positive association between smoking cannabis and the development of emphysema (over-inflation of the air sacs in the lungs). Emphysema is the most common cause of death from respiratory disease in the United States.

Armentano said that cannabis consumers have long been aware that smoking marijuana cigarettes can irritate the lungs, but added that most of pot’s potential health risks to the respiratory system may be eliminated by vaporization. "By heating marijuana to a temperature where active cannabis vapors form, but below the point of combustion, consumers significantly reduce their intake of gaseous combustion toxins, including carbon monoxide," he said.

Most recently, investigators at San Francisco General Hospital reported in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics that the "vaporization of marijuana does not result in exposure to combustion gases, ... and is preferred by most subjects compared to marijuana cigarette." A previous clinical trial published in 2006 in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences reported that vaporization is "safe and effective" cannabinoid delivery system that "avoid[s] the respiratory disadvantages of smoking."

Armentano also affirmed that cannabis smoking is not positively associated with cancers of the lung, mouth, or upper aerodigestive tract (e.g., pharynx, larynx, or esophagus). In 2006, the results of the largest case-controlled study ever to investigate the respiratory effects of marijuana smoking reported that pot use was not associated with cancer, even among subjects who reported smoking more than 22,000 joints over their lifetime.

"While smoking cannabis may pose some minor respiratory risks to the user, these health risks are far less than those posed by tobacco smoking and may be significantly mitigated by engaging in vaporization as an alternative to smoking," Armentano concluded. "Unfortunately, cannabis prohibition greatly limits consumers access to such devices and impedes technological advancements in this area – subjecting users to respiratory risks that they would otherwise avoid."

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: paul@norml.org

Additional information is available in the NORML White Paper, "Cannabis Smoke and Cancer: Assessing the Risk," available online at:
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6891

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7330

Cannabis Receptor System Offers Novel Target For Osteoporosis Treatment, Study Says

August 9, 2007 - Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel: The endocannabinoid system plays a significant role in skeletal remodeling (the process whereby old bone is removed and new bone is added) and is an ideal target for anti-osteoporotic drug development, according to a forthcoming review to be published in the journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Investigators at the Bone Laboratory of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem report that the activation of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor reduces experimentally-induced bone loss and stimulates bone formation. "A therapy based on synthetic CB2 agonists is a promising novel target for anti-osteoporotic drug development," they conclude.

Investigators had previously reported that mice deficient in CB2 receptors exhibit markedly accelerated age-related bone loss (osteoporosis).

Osteoporosis is a degenerative skeletal disease characterized by a deterioration of bone tissue.† Approximately 10 million Americans over age 50 suffer from osteoporosis and another 34 million are at risk for developing the disease.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: paul@norml.org

Full text of the study, "Regulation of Skeletal Remodeling by the Endocannabinoid Sytem," will appear in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Additional information on cannabis and osteoporosis is available in NORML’s booklet, "Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids," available online at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7002

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7331

Canada Approves Cannabis Spray For Cancer Pain

August 9, 2007 - Ottawa, ON, Canada

Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian health officials granted regulatory approval this week to Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts, as an adjunctive analgesic treatment in adult patients with advanced cancer.

Sativex is already available in Canada by prescription for the treatment of pain associated with multiple sclerosis. Regulators in Great Britain and Spain have also granted limited regulatory approval for the drug.

In clinical trials, patients with cancer who were unresponsive to opioids reported significantly improved pain relief after Sativex administration.

Produced by the British biotechnology firm, GW Pharmaceuticals, Sativex is a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing precise doses of the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol (CBD), as well as naturally existing terpenoids and flavonoids.

Despite the drug’s growing acceptance in Canada, the company recently withdrew its application for European regulatory approval after UK regulators demanded additional clinical data on the drug.

For more information, please visit: http://www.gwpharm.com

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7332

Source: NORML Foundation (DC)
Published: August 9, 2007
Copyright: 2007 NORML
Contact: norml@norml.org
Website: http://www.norml.org/

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