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Medicinal Marijuana, a product having the properties of a medicine made from the dried flower clusters and leaves of the cannabis plant usually smoked or eaten to induce euphoria or to relieve pain. The effects of Medicinal Marijuana vary with its strength and dosage and with the state of mind of the user. Typically, small doses result in a feeling of well-being. The intoxication lasts two to three hours, but accompanying effects on motor control last much longer.

Law prof argued for medical marijuana before Supreme Court
by Malcolm Ifekauche
Senior Staff Reporter
February 28, 2005

Law professor Randy E. Barnett talked medical marijuana and arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court at the UA School of Law Friday.
Barnett, a Harvard School of Law graduate and former Chicago prosecutor, tried felony cases as a criminal prosecutor in Chicago before he began his teaching career.
Now a Boston University School of Law professor, Barnett has argued before the Supreme Court in Raich v. Ashcroft. In the case, Barnett's clients were California medical marijuana users who had their plants seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The case is still pending. Full Story...

Students use marijuana to treat health problems
By Phillip G. Kopp
Published: Thursday, February 24, 2005

Junkie, loser, hippie and pothead are just a few of the names that medical marijuana users fear being called. Even with the stereotypes, ordinary people suffering from a variety of illnesses are being treated with marijuana to help them function in everyday life.
The consequences for being treated with this controversial drug can often outweigh the help it provides.
Medical marijuana, or cannabis, has more than half a million patients across the country. A number of patients happen to be attending college, and Bakersfield College is no exception. A few cannabis patients agreed to be interviewed but wished not to have their real names used for fear of persecution and scrutiny.
Cindi has been an active student at BC, maintaining a 4.0 GPA. A mother of three, she has had to battle severe medical problems, such as osteoporosis, arthritis, fibromyalgia and insomnia. She said she took Full Story....

Cannabis is still illegal in the UK despite the recent downgrading to a class 'C' drug.
Bud Buddies was founded in 2001 and is actively campaigning for a compassionate change in the law to allow medicinal cannabis use.
During August 2004 we enjoyed the hospitality of the Bud Buddies staff at their coffee shop in Rhyl in order to find out more about the co-operative...
Their main concerns are the low quality of cannabis available to people currently using the drug medicinally, Full story

Medicinal marijuana bill introduced
JIM BARON, Journal Register News Service 02/24/2005

PROVIDENCE -- A bill that would allow people with degenerative illnesses to use marijuana to help relieve their suffering has 50 co-sponsors in the state House of Representatives and 18 in the Senate, leading supporters to believe this is the year it could win passage.

Sen. Rhoda Perry, who has introduced the measure in each of the last five years, said, "we have indications it is going to pass. We’ve gotten some strong feelings that it is not looked on with such negativity as it has in the past." Rep. Thomas Slater, who introduced the House bill, said the 50 signatures indicate "more than enough" support to pass in that chamber -- but the concern is on the Senate side, which he said, "has a much more conservative viewpoint."
It takes 20 votes to pass legislation in the Senate, two more than the number of co-signers to Perry’s bill.
"The public perception is that (medicinal) marijuana should be available to those who need it," Slater said Wednesday.
The Providence lawmaker said his own two-year battle with cancer has swayed his opinion on the issue. "If you asked me 10 years ago if I would have put in the bill, I don’t think I would have.

"
Perry said her nephew, Edward Hawkins, died of AIDS a year ago last month. Although marijuana could have been made available to him, she said, "he absolutely refused, because he was so afraid of being arrested and thrown out of the nursing home he was in. "It could have provided him with such incredible but simple comfort."
Using marijuana, Perry said, could allow patients like her nephew to stay off other drugs such as morphine "so they can better relate to their families in their last days."
Hawkins was on so much morphine in his last weeks, she said, that it was difficult or impossible for him to have conversations.
Perry responded to critics who say efforts to legalize medicinal marijuana are a Trojan horse to push for the legalization of recreational drug use.

"I would like them to go into the homes of men and women dying in the last stages of AIDS, or who have severe glaucoma or different types of cancer," she said.
Under the legislation, a patient could get a prescription from his or her doctor to use marijuana medicinally. The patient and his or her primary caregiver -- a person over 18 who has agreed to assist the patient -- would be issued "registry identification cards" from the Department of Health that would protect them from arrest, prosecution or civil penalties.
A patient would not be allowed to possess more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana or 12 marijuana plants at any time.
Marijuana is a controlled substance under federal law and a change in the state law would not protect patients or caregivers from arrest or prosecution by federal authorities, who have conducted raids and made arrests in states where medical marijuana is legal.
Among the states that currently allow medical marijuana are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

In the past two years, according to the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, more than 100 Rhode Island doctors have endorsed medical marijuana, as have the Rhode Island Medical Society, Rhode Island State Nurses Association, AIDS Project Rhode Island, United Nurses and Allied Professionals, the American Association of Family Physicians and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, said his group will be working closely with the bills’ supporters in Rhode Island to win passage.
Mirken said the reason most of the states with medical marijuana laws are in the West is that most of the laws have been passed through ballot initiatives rather than state legislatures.
"Public support for this is huge," Mirken said. "It is easier to get a popular vote" than it is to get politicians to support the issue.
When Rhode Islanders were polled on whether they support allowing the medical use of marijuana, Mirken said, 69 percent said they favored it with 26 percent saying they didn’t.
But when those same people were asked if they think a majority of people in the state support it, 26.5 percent said yes and 55.9 percent said no.

RANDOM drug testing in schools runs the risk of encouraging pupils to switch from using cannabis - which can be traced in the body for long periods - to drugs such as heroin which are flushed out more quickly, a report claimed today.

Research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that the expansion of testing could lead to more pupils trying to conceal illegal drug-taking, rather than simply leading to a reduction in use.

The report suggested schools should halt random drug testing because it may have unintended negative consequences.
In the few independent evaluations which have taken place, evidence that the schemes led to a reduction in illegal drug use was "far from conclusive", the report found.
It would seem preferable to avoid the ad hoc proliferation of random testing programmes until such time as there are clear data on effectiveness
Neil McKeganey, professor of drug misuse research at Glasgow University, said: "In light of this, it would seem preferable to avoid the ad hoc proliferation of random testing programmes until such time as there are clear data on effectiveness.
"If random programmes were to be piloted there would be an obvious need to ensure that their impact was rigorously and independently evaluated.
"Such evaluation would need to be undertaken on a large enough sample of schools to be sure that any positive or negative outcomes were a genuine consequence of the drug-testing programme. Research would also need to consider the possible impact of a drug-testing programme on young people’s educational experience."
The report is entitled "Random drug testing of schoolchildren: A shot in the arm or a shot in the foot for drug prevention?"
It pointed out that random schemes only test a small number of pupils and so were unlikely to uncover serious problems. The study added: "Imposing drug-testing programmes could undermine trust between pupils and staff, making it harder to discover whether a positive test is the sign of a significant drug problem, or experimentation.
"It could also give rise to calls for staff to be tested as well - something teachers and their unions might resist."

Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users
22 Feb 2005

Regular users of cannabis could be putting themselves at risk of stroke, while they are still young, indicates a case report, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Illicit drug use is known to be associated with an increased risk of stroke in young users, with heroin, cocaine, and speed (amphetamines) the most frequently implicated.
The patient was a 36 year old primary school teacher, who had been a sporadic user of cannabis in the past. He had no known risk factors for stroke, did not use other drugs, and only drank occasionally.
The first incident occurred after he had smoked a considerable amount of cannabis combined with three or four drinks at a party. He lost his ability to speak, which was followed, a few hours later, by convulsions.
A brain scan revealed one patch of bleeding and another blood clot, but no evidence of narrowed/furred up arteries. He was treated, and recovered.
A year later, after another bout of cannabis smoking, he again lost his ability to talk and experienced weakness on one side of his body (hemiparesis). A brain scan revealed a further small patch of bleeding as well as another blood clot, but in different areas from before.

The man refrained from using cannabis for 18 months, but then smoked a reasonable amount in one go, which he combined with three or four drinks. This was followed by an inability to recognise sounds, a condition known as auditory agnosia.
A brain scan revealed a patch of bleeding as well as the damage left by the previous bleeds.
The behavioural abnormalities and increased risk of schizophrenia, associated with frequent cannabis use, are well known, say the authors. But less well known, and no less important, are the cardiovascular effects.
These include rapid heart beat (tachycardia), excessively high or low blood pressure, and the decreased oxygen carrying capability of red blood cells. Cannabis also quadruples the risk of a heart attack within an hour of consumption.
They are at pains to point out that despite the widespread use of cannabis, there have only been 15 other cases of stroke, which have been linked to cannabis consumption.
But they conclude: "Cannabis is not as safe a drug as many believe…Future studies will be needed to clarify the role of cannabis as a stroke risk factor, as it could be underestimated."
An accompanying editorial, which discusses the possible mechanisms for the drug's impact on the cardiovascular system, suggests that recreational users of cannabis should be told more about the potential risks to their health.
"The therapeutic potential of cannabis and its derivatives should be rigorously evaluated and the benefit to risk ratio taken into account before authorising their medical use," writes Dr Dominique Deplanque, of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Lille.

Albania
In spite of laws prohibiting growing and possessing cannabis, enforcement has been virtually nil. There have been fewer than ten arrests in five years.

Australia
After politicians in the Australian Capital Territory voted to allow doctors to determine when cannabis was appropriate for their patients, intense lobbying by the federal government resulted in the legislation being overturned.

Belgium
Though the drug still illegal, the Belgian government has recently initiated trials to determine the effectiveness of medical marijuana, and may soon decriminalize possession of small amounts.

Cameroon
Growing cannabis for any reason is legal, though AIDS and cancer patients are not allowed to use the drug to treat their symptoms.

Canada
In Hitzig v. Canada, a court again declared Canada's Marihuana Medical Access Regulations unconstitutional "in not allowing seriously ill Canadians to use marijuana because there is no legal source of supply of the drug." In effect, this means that Canadians can not be prosecuted for using marijuana medically because the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations gives patients the right to do so, but does not set up any legal apparatus for obtaining cannabis.
Back in July 2000, in the 'Parker' (epileptic Terry Parker) decision, another judge had made a declaration of invalidity of Canada's drug laws as they relate to the 'simple possession' of marijuana due to the lack of a reasonable exemption from the law for medicinal use. The Canadian government was given one year (a suspension of the declaration of invalidity) to remedy the situation, and created the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations. These regulations have been repeatedly deemed unconstitutional in a series of court decisions including 'Hitzig.'
In a similar case based upon these decisions, lawyer Brian McAllister argued on behalf of a 16 year old that because the Canadian government, after setting up the MMAR, never re-enacted the relevant section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Canada effectively has no prosecutable laws prohibiting the 'simple possession' of any amount of cannabis.
Representatives of the United States federal government have claimed that decriminalizing cannabis in Canada may disrupt border trade and relations between the two countries; many Canadians believe that this remains the primary obstacle to decriminalization in Canada. There is some belief that American egotism or desire to be "the world's policeman" is a factor in its attitudes.
Canada produces about 400kg of medical marijuana annually, in an abandoned mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Germany
Like mentioned in the general part, use is legal, and possession of small amounts is not enforced.

Israel
A small number of people have been granted special permission to use cannabis for medical uses by the Health Ministry.

Jamaica
Cannabis possession remains illegal for any reason, though enforcement is scarce. A recent panel recommended legalizing possession for adults for recreation or medical use.

Japan
All THC-containing forms of cannabis have been illegal since 1948, when the occupying forces of the United States enacted the Hemp Control Law after World War 2.

Luxembourg
Cannabis possession is now legal for adults for recreational or medical uses as long the possessor is not near a campus and no children are involved. A loophole in the law makes it impossible for police to search or seize cannabis, making enforcement difficult.

Netherlands
Cannabis has been legally available for recreational use in coffee shops for several years. Thus it has also been available without a prescription for medical uses. In addition, since 2003 it is a legal prescription drug, available at the pharmacy. There it costs more than in the coffee shop: ca. €9 per gram. See Drug policy of the Netherlands.

New Zealand
Health Minister Annette King has stated that she is not "unsympathetic to using cannabis in a medicinal form. But that's different to saying we should let everybody smoke it." Her official position is that more conclusive studies are needed, and a method of regulating dosage is necessary before she support medical access to cannabis.
Scott David Findlay, a paraplegic, was convicted of cannabis charges. The judge, Robert Spear (Dunedin District Court) offered to allow community service instead of imprisonment, but Findlay does not recognize the validity of New Zealand's cannabis laws and would not perform community service. Judge Spear claimed this was a "hollow protest" that he was nonetheless allowed to make, and sentenced him to three months imprisonment.

Portugal
Since 2001, possession of any drug for personal use has been legal, though sale and trafficking are still criminal offenses.

Switzerland
Though all possession and cultivation remains illegal, the Upper House of Parliament has moved towards allowing for decriminalization. Practically, marijuana laws are rarely enforced.

United Kingdom
In 1998, a House of Lords inquiry recommended that cannabis be made available with a doctor's prescription. Though the government of the UK has not accepted the recommendations, new long-term clinical trials have been authorized. Increasingly, juries have returned verdicts of "not guilty" for people charged with marijuana possession for medical use.
In 2003, GW Pharmaceuticals, the UK company granted the exclusive licence to cultivate cannabis for medicinal trials announced the completion of its clinical trials. The company has said that it is on track for obtaining regulatory approval to license the manufacture and sale of a cannabis based medicine starting in 2004. Latest news February 17th

United States
Medical marijuana is illegal for any reason at the federal level. However thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have legislation on the books which allows for medical exemptions to state marijuana laws. Seven states have made recent attempts to enforce these regulations, with California being the most notable. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have recently arrested several medical marijuana growers and sellers whose actions, while legal under state law, still violate federal law. Under Proposition 215, Californians are allowed to have access to medical marijuana. Several jurisdictions, including Oakland, California and San Mateo County, California have announced plans to distribute medical marijuana to patients. Ed Rosenthal, who worked on behalf of the city government of Oakland, was recently convicted on marijuana charges in a federal court. Since the trial, the jurors who convicted him have unanimously spoken out arguing that the trial was not fair and that they regret their conviction, because evidence that Rosenthal was working on behalf of the city and was told by DEA agents and city officials that he was immune to prosecution was suppressed as irrelevant to the trial.
Washington state Initiative 692, passed by the voters in 1998, also authorizes the medical use of marijuana. On 2 November 2004, the voters of Ann Arbor, Michigan had also passed a similar resolution with 75% approval.
The official policy of the federal government in the United States is that medical marijuana is a myth, promulgated by activists who have the eventual goal of legalizing all drugs.

Treatment of side effects associated with antineoplastic therapy is the indication for cannabinoids which has been most documented, with about 40 studies (THC, nabilone, other THC analogues, marijuana). Most trials were conducted in the 1980s. THC has to be dosed relatively highly, so that resultant side effects may occur compar

atively frequently. THC was inferior to high-dose metoclopramide in one study. There are no comparisons of THC to the modern serotonin antagonists. Whereas, dronabinol has a diminished acceptance in the treatment of side effects of chemotherapy, in folk medicine cannabinoids remain popular and are often used in other causes of nausea including AIDS and hepatitis.

An appetite enhancing effect of THC is observed with daily divided doses totalling 5 mg. When required, the daily dose may be increased to 20 mg. In a long-term study of 94 AIDS patients, the appetite-stimulating effect of THC continued for months, confirming the appetite enhancement noted in a shorter 6 week study. THC doubled appetite on a visual analogue scale in comparison to placebo. Patients tended to retain a stable body weight over the course of seven months. A positive influence on body weight was also reported in 15 patients with Alzheimer's disease who were previously refusing food.
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In small clinical trials of D9-tetrahydrocannabinol, nabilone and cannabis, a beneficial effect on spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury has been observed. Among other positively influenced symptoms were pain, paraesthesia, tremor and ataxia. In folk medicine there are reports of improved bowel and bladder control. There is also some anecdotal evidence of a benefit of marijuana in spasticity due to lesions of the brain.
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There are some positive anecdotal reports of therapeutic response to cannabis in Tourette's syndrome, dystonia and tardive dyskinesia. The use in Tourette's syndrome is currently being investigated in clinical studies. Many patients achieve a modest improvement, however some show a considerable response or even complete symptom control. In MS patients, benefits on ataxia and reduction of tremor have been observed following the administration of THC. Despite occasional positive reports, no objective success has been found in parkinsonism or Huntington disease. However, cannabis products may prove useful in levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson disease without worsening the primary symptoms.

There are only a few clinical studies of cannabinoids in painful conditions. In one trial, oral THC proved to be effective against cancer pain in doses of 15 and 20 mg respectively. However some patients experienced intolerable side effects. In a single case double-blind study a patient with familial Mediterranean fever clearly reduced his need for opiates while receiving THC in comparison to placebo. Cannabis has been successfully used in modern folk medicine in a multitude of painful conditions, among them migraine and other forms of headaches, musculosceletal disorders, arthritis, neuralgias, neuropathy, dysmenorrhoea, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, etc.

In 1971, during a systematic investigation of its effects in healthy marijuana users, it was observed that cannabis reduces intraocular pressure. In the following 12 years a number of studies in healthy individuals and glaucoma patients with marijuana and several natural and synthetic cannabinoids were conducted. Marijuana decreases intraocular pressure by an average 25-30%, occasionally up to 50%. Some non-psychotropic cannabinoids, and to a lesser extent, some non-cannabinoid constituents of the hemp plant also decrease intraocular pressure.

The use in epilepsy is among its historically oldest indications of cannabis. Animal experiments provide evidence of the antiepileptic effects of some cannabinoids. The anticonvulsant activity of phenytoin and diazepam have been potentiated by THC. According to a few case reports from the 20th century, some epileptic patients continue to utililize cannabis to control an otherwise unmanageable seizure disorder. Cannabis use may occasionally precipitate convulsions.
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Experiments examining the anti-asthmatic effect of THC or cannabis date mainly from the 1970s, and are all acute studies. The effects of a marijuana cigarette (2% THC) or oral THC (15 mg), respectively, approximately correspond to those obtained with therapeutic doses of common bronchodilator drugs (salbutamol, isoprenaline). Since inhalation of cannabis products may irritate the mucous membranes, oral administration or another alternative delivery system would be preferable. Very few patients developed bronchoconstriction after inhalation of THC.

According to historical and modern case reports cannabis is a good remedy to combat withdrawal in dependency on benzodiazepines, opiates and alcohol. For this reason, some have referred to it as a gateway drug back. In this context, both the reduction of physical withdrawal symptoms and stress connected with discontinuance of drug abuse may play a role in its observed benefits.
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An improvement of mood in reactive depression has been observed in several clinical studies with THC. There are additional case reports claiming benefit of cannabinoids in other psychiatric symptoms and diseases, such as sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, and dysthymia. Various authors have expressed different viewpoints concerning psychiatric syndromes and cannabis. While some emphasize the problems caused by cannabis, others promote the therapeutic possibilities. Quite possibly cannabis products may be either beneficial or harmful, depending on the particular case. The attending physician and the patient should be open to a critical examination of the topic, and a frankness to both possibilities.

In a number of painful syndromes secondary to inflammatory processes (e.g. ulcerative colitis, arthritis), cannabis products may act not only as analgesics but also demonstrate anti-inflammatory potential. For example, some patients employing cannabis report a decrease in their need for steroidal and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Moreover there are some reports of positive effects of cannabis self-medication in allergic conditions. It is as yet unclear whether cannabis products may have a relevant effects on causative processes of autoimmune diseases.
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There are a number of positive patient reports on medical conditions that cannot be easily assigned to the above categories, such as tinnitus, chronic fatigue syndrome, restless leg syndrome, and others. Several hundreds possible indications for cannabis and THC have been described by different authors.

Cannabis products often show very good effects in diseases with multiple symptoms that encompassed within the spectrum of THC effects, for example, in painful conditions that have an inflammatory origin (e.g., arthritis), or are accompanied by increased muscle tone (e.g., menstrual cramps, spinal cord injury), or in diseases with nausea and anorexia accompanied by pain, anxiety and depression, respectively (e.g. AIDS, cancer, hepatitis C).

In many cases doctors have found that, in addition to suppressing nausea and vomiting, smoking marijuana is a highly successful appetite stimulant.

The importance of appetite stimulation in cancer therapy cannot be overstated. Patients receiving chemotherapy often lose tremendous amounts of weight. They endanger their lives because they lose interest in food and in eating. The resulting sharp reduction in weight may well affect their prognosis. Marijuana smoking induces some patients to eat…This allows them to retain strength and makes them better able to fight the cancer.

By gaining control over their severe nausea and vomiting these patients undergo a change of mood and have a better mental outlook than patients who, using the standard anti-emetic [anti-vomiting] drugs, are unable to gain such control."

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We are unable to accept your offer, as you are aware the supply, dealing, production (including cultivation) and trafficking of cannabis is illegal in this country. http://www.drugs.gov.uk/NationalStrategy/CannabisReclassification

Anecdotal reports suggest that cannabis can have a beneficial effect on a number of MS symptoms, although research based evidence to support this is limited. A survey of patterns and prevalence of cannabis use by people with MS in Halifax, Canada, reported on a relatively high usage of cannabis amongst people with MS and describes anecdotal reports of a benefit.

Controlled clinical trials, including the large-scale trial of a cannabis based tablet in the UK (the CAMS study) have not reported objective symptom improvements, although there was subjective evidence of benefit. This report highlights that cannabis may be beneficial for stress, sleep and muscle problems and mood. There also appears to be strong variability between the doses needed to produce an effect. This study suggests that further exploration of cannabis as a potential therapy is warranted.

We will update our website on the use of cannabis derivatives with more information, once it is available.

Licensing of cannabis derivatives for medical use - such as the relief of multiple sclerosis symptoms - may be given government backing if current trials prove successful.

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A MULTIPLE sclerosis sufferer has called for cannabis to be available on the NHS to help ease the intolerable'' pain of thousands of people with the illness. The call comes only weeks after British scientists announced that a substance in the drug can help sufferers cope with the condition.

Barron Potts, 53, of Egremont Street, Gleinsford, was diagnosed with the condition in 1994 and is a self-confessed cannabis user. He says the drug is the only reliable way to ease his suffering without causing unpleasant side-effects and is the only way he can make his life bearable. He is furious after fellow sufferer Thomas Yates from Lowestoft, was prosecuted after he allegedly grew cannabis plants at his home to allow him a constant supply of the drug to help him cope with the condition.

Mr Potts says cannabis is the only thing that works with immediate effect and does not leave you feeling sick, drowsy or lethargic for days after taking it, like many of prescribed drugs. He said: "MS is an awful condition which affects around 100,000 people in Britain and I would say around 35% of those use cannabis. It is the only thing that works. The only way I can describe the constant pain is that it is like being in a vice that is closing. I also suffer from spasticity, spasms, my speech becomes affected and I get attacks of optic neuritis, which impairs my sight. I smoke one joint a night or take the drug in my coffee before I go to bed and within 15 minutes I feel my muscles start to relax, the spasms stop, it helps to control the spasticity. When I get attacks of optic neuritis it feels as if my eyeballs are about 15 times bigger than usual but after I have taken cannabis I can feel the swelling coming down. Cannabis gives me eight unbroken hours of constant and vital sleep."

Sources: East Anglian Daily Times (UK) : Teresa O'Boyle, Eastern Daily Press (UK) : Brian Farmer, Independent, The (UK) Brian Farmer, East Anglian Daily Times (UK) : Don Barnard

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British, French Drug Firms Lead in Marijuana Tests
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Reuters News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) Sept 30 - British and French pharmaceutical companies are racing ahead of their U.S. counterparts to develop new drugs containing marijuana to relieve pain and treat a wide range of illnesses because marijuana is illegal in the United States, scientific researchers said on Wednesday.

"The plant that nature gave us has significant potential therapeutic effects," said Dr. Donald Abrams, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and a marijuana researcher.

But Abrams and two other scientists said drug development in the United States is lagging because the federal government has made marijuana -- Cannabis sativa -- an illegal "controlled substance."

The U.S. government restricts medical research involving marijuana and fights to shut down groups dispensing it to cancer patients and others with chronic pain or other diseases, the scientists noted.

They reviewed research and development of drugs based on marijuana and its active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, at the Biophex 2004 conference in San Francisco.

Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which sponsors clinical studies of marijuana-based drugs, said, "It is more difficult to research marijuana than psychedelic drugs like Ecstasy."

Doblin said he has been waiting more than one year to get 10 grams of marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a research study at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Another very intriguing link between natural cannabinoids and memory was found in the brains of people who died of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers discovered that the brains of people died of Alzheimer's showed substantially less cannabinoid binding than shown by the brains of the control group. The abnormal absences of cannabinoid receptors weren't located in regions correleated with the damage done by Alzhemier's disease itself, so the researchers did not believe that the Alzheimer's disease caused the disappearance of CB1 receptors.
The difference between the Alzheimer's and control CB1 levels was the highest in the hippocampus, the same region of the brain where cannabinoids help regulate short-term memory. The Alzheimer's brains showed binding to the test cannabinoid that was reduced by 49% compared to the binding observed in the control brains.
There is not yet an explanation for this difference. Research showed that in rats, cannabinoid receptors and the ability to respond to anandamide (and THC) develop gradually from birth until adulthood, and then remain fairly constant as the animals age.

More than 15 million Americans are affected by asthma. Smoking cannabis (the "raw drug" as the AMA called it) would be beneficial for 80% of them and add 30-a60 million person-years in the aggregate of extended life to current asthmatics over presently legal toxic medicines such as the Theophylline prescribed to children. "Taking a hit of marijuana has been known to stop a full blown asthma attack." (Personal communication with Dr. Donald Tashkin, December 12, 1989 and December 1, 1997.) The use of cannabis for asthmatics goes back thousands of years in literature. American doctors of the last century wrote glowing reports in medical papers that asthma sufferers of the world would "bless" Indian hemp (cannabis) all their lives. Today, of the 16 million American asthma sufferers, only Californians, with a doctor's recommendation, can legally grow and use cannabis medicines, even though it is generally the most effective treatment for asthma. (Tashkin, Dr. Donald, UCLA Pulmonary Studies (for smoked marijuana), 1969-97; Ibid., asthma studies, 1969-76; Cohen, Sidney & Stillman, Therapeutic Potential of Marijuana, 1976; Life Insurance Actuarial rates; Life shortening effects of childhood asthma, 1983.)

There are more than 60 therapeutic compounds in cannabis that are healing agents in medical and herbal treatments. The primary one is THC, and the effectiveness of therapy is directly proportionate to the herb's potency or concentration of THC. Recent DEA reports of increasingly potent marijuana therefore represent a major medical advance; but, incredibly, the government uses these very numbers to solicit bigger budgets and harsher penalties. On November 5, 1996, 56% of California citizens voted for the California Compassionate Use Act (medical marijuana initiative) ending all legal state efforts to keep marijuana from being used as medicine by California citizens. Arizona citizens, in November 1996, also passed, by an even greater margin - 65% - a drug declassification initiative that included medical marijuana, backed by, among others, the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Arizona's governor and legislature, exercising their veto override ability on their state initiative laws for the first time in 90 years, struck down this popular initiative passed by the people Arizona citizens angrily responded by re-collecting more than 150,000 signatures in a 90-day referendum period and promptly returned the medical marijuana initiative to the ballot for November 1998. The following explains how people will benefit when the freedom of choice of doctors and patients is once again respected. Warning: This writer, responsible scientists and doctors advise: There is no pharmacological free lunch in cannabis or any drug. Negative reactions can result. A small percentage of people have negative or allergic reactions to marijuana. Heart patients could have problems, even though cannabis generally relieves stress, dilates the arteries, and in general lowers the diastolic pressure. A small percentage of people get especially high heart rates and anxieties with cannabis. These persons should not use it. Some bronchial asthma sufferers benefit from cannabis; however, for others it may serve as an additional irritant. For the overwhelming majority of people, cannabis has demonstrated literally hundreds of therapeutic uses.

USA: Medical marijuana case before Supreme Court

The principle of states' rights faced a stiff challenge at an US Supreme Court hearing on 29 November, as the justices tried to decide whether federal drug laws should be superior to a California state law permitting the medical use of cannabis.

Justices expressed reservations about allowing medical marijuana for patients whose doctors have recommended it and appeared sympathetic to the federal government's argument that it has the power to prosecute or take other action against patients who use cannabis. The justices are deciding whether a federal law outlawing marijuana applies to two seriously ill California women. California is one of 10 states allowing medical use of cannabis.

The Bush administration appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court in California ruled that marijuana used for medical purposes was different from drug trafficking. The appeals court said states could adopt medical marijuana laws as long as the marijuana was not sold, transported across state lines or used for non-medicinal purposes. The lawsuit was brought in 2002 by Angel Raich, who has an inoperable brain tumour and other medical problems, and Diane Monson, who suffers from severe back pain. Their doctors recommended marijuana for their pain.

Justice Stephen Breyer said the two women could have gone to U.S. regulators and asked them to allow the use of medical marijuana. If denied, they then could have sued. "That seems to me the obvious way to get what they want," Breyer said. A ruling in the case is due by the end of June 2005.

(Sources: Financial Times of 29 November 2004, Reuters of 29 November 2004, New York Times of 30 November 2004)

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