From the Las Vegas Review-Journal
letters@lvrj.com http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/
July 14, 1998
See
"Cannabis could
form the basis for an entirely new approach to pain." "Why marijuana is emerging
as such a panacea."
and links
OUR READERS RESPOND
POT FACTS
To the editor: Don Giteronke’s June 21 letter to the editor questions why patients
desire medical marijuana when synthetic THC (Marinol) is already legally available.
(Ed. note: I did not post that letter but see the related article
Nevada State Medical
Association Opposes Even AMR’s Very Restrictive Medical Marijuana Initiative)
The active ingredient in Marinol, delta-9-tetrahyrdocannabinol (THC), is only one the
compounds isolated in marijuana known to have medical benefit to patients.
It is likely that many patients favor inhaled marijuana to
Marinol because marijuana includes other therapeutically active cannabinoids whereas
Marinol contains only one. Cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabichromine (CBC) are two additional
naturally occurring compounds in marijuana that demonstrate medical value in scientific
trials.
Animal studies, case studies, and human clinical trials show CBD to be a potent
anticonvulsant for patients suffering from epilepsy.
CBD also appears to reduce certain involuntary abnormal movements in patients suffering
from movement disorders.
According to marijuana and neurological disease expert Dr. Paul Consroe of the
University of Arizona, the compound appears to have distinctive therapeutic value for
several neurological disorders.
This would help explain why many patients who suffer from movement disorders,
spasticity or epilepsy find relief from whole smoked marijuana but not from Marinol. Also,
there is evidence that CBD may reduce or block some of the psychoactive effects of THC.
Often times, patients complain that Marinol’s highly variable and enhanced
psychoactivity discourages them from using the drug.
Thus, CBD (and perhaps other marijuana constituents) can produce beneficial therapeutic
effects and at the same time reduce some of the unwanted side effects of natural and
synthetic THC.
CBC is a nonpsychoactive compound found in cannabis that appears to have medical value
as an anti-inflammatory.
In Holland, scientists now breed strains of cannabis high in
non-traditional cannabinoids like CBD and CBC so that science may better observe the
specific therapeutic effects of these individual compounds.
By federally prohibiting the consumption of whole smoked marijuana, and approving the
prescription use of oral THC, the government is unnecessarily forcing patients to use a
synthetic drug that lacks much of the therapeutic effectiveness the cannabis plant may
provide.
PAUL ARMENTANO
Director of Publications The NORML Foundation Washington, D.C.
Supported