Nothing new here really... The efficacy of marijuana as an analgesic has already been firmly established (even though the government denies this).Medical Marijuana Use Relieves Pain in Most Patients
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 19 - The findings of a new study support the medical use of marijuana for the management of chronic pain.
"The Canadian Marijuana Medical Access Regulations program allows Health Canada to grant access to marijuana for medical use to those who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses," Dr. Mary E. Lynch, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and colleagues explain.
Dr. Lynch's group reports on a case series of 30 patients (mean age 45 years) followed at a tertiary care pain management center who used medicinal marijuana for 1 to 5 years under the MMAR program.
The patients were asked to complete a follow-up questionnaire, which contained demographic and dosing information, a series of 11-point numerical symptom relief rating scales, a side effects checklist, and a subjective measure of improvement in function.
The subjects were followed up for a mean of 23.6 months. The average dose of marijuana was 2.5 g per day. Marijuana was smoked or taken orally. The results are published in the November issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Twenty-eight patients reported moderate or greater pain relief. Moderate or complete relief in other symptoms was also reported. Twenty-three patients reported side effects, the most common being increased appetite, a sense of well-being, weight gain and slowed thoughts. No serious treatment-related adverse events were reported.
Most patients reported improvements in function, while the rest reported no changes, Dr. Lynch and colleagues report.
While the findings from these 30 patients are positive, the researchers recommend further study with randomized, placebo-controlled trials on the therapeutic use of marijuana.
J Pain Symptom Manage 2006;32:497-501.
Most of us know that, here in the U.S., drugs are regulated by the Controlled Substances Act. This includes the five 'drug schedules,' which erroneously categorize drugs by what they label "potential for abuse," "currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States," "abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence," and a few others.
Schedule one drugs are considered to be the most dangerous. To reach this level, the drug must meet the following:
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
On this same schedule we find Heroin, GHB, LSD, Peyote, and, yes, Marijuana. That's right, the government ranks marijuana with Heroin.
Now, I'm no fan of the weed. It never did anything for me, but this is pretty damn silly and, like usual, it ignores all of the evidence. By the way, cocaine, meth, and PCP are Schedule two drugs...
Anyway, is it just a matter of time before the U.S. sees federal legalization?
-- Asuka
