Report On Medical
Value Of Marijuana Published In Sacramento Paper
Where It Can Be Ignored By Wilson & Lungren
From the Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html
http://www.sacbee.com/
September 24, 1998
STUDY FINDS MEDICAL BENEFITS IN MARIJUANA
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A new study showing how the active ingredient in marijuana works on the brain apparently backs claims that smoking pot relieves pain.
Like morphine, the substance known as THC affects an area at the base of the skull that blocks pain impulses, the University of California at San Francisco study said.
The findings are in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.
They appear to give credence to the claim that marijuana has medical benefits at a time when communities are considering whether to legalize pot use for illnesses.
In laboratory experiments, researchers gave rats tiny doses of a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol, a cannabinoid, and then measured how long it took the rats to move their tails from a heat source. Cannabinoids are the major active ingredient in marijuana.
Researchers focused on a region deep in the brain called rostral ventromedial medulla,
or RVM, which researcher Ian Meng described as a relay station for pain signals similar to
the volume knob on a stereo.
See
"Cannabis
could form the basis for an entirely new approach to pain."
"Why marijuana is emerging as such a panacea." UK Report
THC, like morphine, turns down the volume—minimizing the intensity of pain sensations reaching other parts of the brain—by switching off certain cells.
That suggests that marijuana-like drugs might be developed as effective painkillers
without the unwanted side effects of opiates like morphine, which is highly addictive and
can cause nausea. Marijuana-like drugs, in contrast, are less
addictive, tend to counteract nausea and stimulate appetite.
See
No
Evidence That THC Is Addictive Says Maker of Marinol After 9 Month Study Including Law
Enforcement
"I think in the future you’ll see different kinds of drug combination therapies, where you can use cannabis-like drugs with a lower dose of a morphine compound and possibly reduce side effects," Meng said.
The findings were cheered by marijuana users who say the drug helps them cope with diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
Five states and the District of Columbia have initiatives similar to Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot measure that lets Californians with doctors’ notes grow and use marijuana for pain relief.
(Ed. note: While Marijuananews.com naturally focuses on the need to stop arresting marijuana users, this and similar studies point out the enormous cost of ignoring the medical uses of cannabis. This sort of research should have been done decades ago. If this work had been done then, it would have saved countless people great suffering. In the meantime, people are still being arrested for using medical marijuana.
We should also remember that it will be years before science catches up with nature and
much longer before everyone who needs these synthetic derivatives will able to afford
them. Even if Marinol worked as well as whole cannabis, and it does not, it is terribly
expensive. These new drugs may cost even more. Relief from pain is not just for the rich.)
See