Marijuana found to effectively treat pain

Another shot was fired in the war over marijuana legalization yesterday, as the Institute of Medicine released a government-funded report asserting that the drug is effective in treating pain, while also cautioning against marijuana smoking.

"Marijuana's future as medicine does not involve smoking," said co-principle investigator Stanley Watson, co-director of the Mental Health Research Institute at the University, during a press conference in Washington D.C. "It involves exploiting the potential in cannabinoids such as THC, the key psychoactive ingredient of marijuana."

The report, a product of 18 months of deliberations involving dozens of experts from around the world, found that marijuana was useful in treating nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and weight loss from AIDS.

The report's authors recommended smoking marijuana only in the case of terminally ill patients who would not be affected by the adverse effects of the inhalation of smoke, which include an increase in the chance of cancer and lung damage.

"For people who are terminally ill, marijuana offers very little risk," said Steven Childers, a professor of pharmacology at Wake Forest University who served on the advisory panel for the report.

Childers said "the report is not intended to examine issues such as legalization" but that he hopes it will encourage further research into harnessing the ingredients in marijuana that produce its medicinal benefits.

A drug containing THC currently exists on the market and is used to treat nausea and vomiting, but some say it is not as effective as marijuana.

Some marijuana reformers greeted yesterday's report, which was funded by the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, with little enthusiasm, saying it does not go far enough in encouraging marijuana smoking for patients in part because it is sponsored by the government.

"They are standing by the hard and fast rule that no smoking medicine is useful," said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "An adult should not face criminal charges for responsibly using marijuana in the home."

Childers disagreed with the charge that IOM, a private branch of the National Academy of Sciences, is treading politically thin ice, saying "the Institute of Medicine is about as nonpolitical as you can image."

Among the report's other contentions was that there is no evidence that marijuana acts as a "gateway" drug, so-called because some argue it leads to the abuse of harder substances. The report also rejected the idea that allowing medical use of marijuana would increase smoking in the general population.

Other observers responded with skepticism to the report's assertion on the benefits of smoking marijuana. Bob Maginnis, a spokesperson for the Washington-based Family Research Council, said marijuana is virtually never needed.

"I don't buy into the myth that they have to have marijuana," Maginnis said. "We have good medicines out there that can treat what marijuana supposedly helps."

Michigan state Sen. David Jaye (R-Macomb) concurred, scoffing at the efforts of the marijuana legalization movement.

"I've got to admit the aging hippies are getting creative in their older years," Jaye said. "But I don't buy it. They now want to make a profit on drugs they used in the '60s."

The report comes at a time when marijuana legalization is gaining increasing support across the country. In addition to California, which legalized medicinal marijuana in 1996, six states approved referenda on the issue last year.

Despite the debate over the report's meaning, Childers said the findings will have a positive impact on marijuana research.

"In the short term, a report like this will clearly stimulate research in the field and will help answer a crucial question: Is marijuana the best medicine to treat certain painful illnesses?"

03-18-99