Tapping Medical Marijuana’S Potential

[Sledge]

Tapping Medical Marijuana’s Potential By JANE E. BRODY

 

Marijuana has been used medically, recreationally and spiritually for about 5,000 years. Known botanically as cannabis, it has been called a “crude drug”: marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals from 18 chemical families. More than 2,000 compounds are released when it is smoked, and as with tobacco, there are dangers in smoking it.

Medical marijuana clinics operate in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and its recreational use is now legal in Colorado and Washington. A Gallup poll conducted last month found that 58 percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana.

Yet researchers have been able to do relatively little to test its most promising ingredients for biological activity, safety and side effects. The main reason is marijuana’s classification by Congress in 1970 as an illegal Schedule I drug, defined as having a potential for abuse and addiction and no medical value.

American scientists seeking clarification of marijuana’s medical usefulness have long been stymied by this draconian classification, usually reserved for street drugs like heroin with a high potential for abuse.

Dr. J. Michael Bostwick, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said the classification was primarily political and ignored more than 40 years of scientific research, which has shown that cellular receptors for marijuana’s active ingredients are present throughout the body. Natural substances called cannabinoids bind to them to influence a wide range of body processes.

In a lengthy report entitled “Blurred Boundaries: The Therapeutics and Politics of Medical Marijuana,” published last year in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Dr. Bostwick noted that the so-called endocannabinoid system has an impact on the “autonomic nervous system, immune system, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive system, cardiovascular system and endocrine network.”

There is evidence that several common disorders, including epilepsy, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder, involve disruptions in the endocannabinoid system, suggesting that those patients might benefit from marijuana or its ingredients.

The strongest evidence for the health benefits of medical marijuana or its derivatives involves the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain and the spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis. Medical marijuana is widely recognized as effective against nausea and appetite loss caused by chemotherapy, although better treatments are now available. But preliminary research and anecdotal reports have suggested that marijuana might be useful in treating a number of other conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, migraine, cancer growth, abnormal heart rhythms, Alzheimer’s disease, fibromyalgia, incontinence, bacterial infections, osteoporosis, intense itching, Tourette’s syndrome and sleep apnea.

“Medical experts emphasize the need to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug to facilitate rigorous scientific evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids and to determine the optimal dose and delivery route for conditions in which efficacy is established,” Diane E. Hoffmann and Ellen Weber, legal experts at the University of Maryland, wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Marijuana’s best-known ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is responsible for the high sought by recreational users. But many people who try smoking marijuana to relieve a health problem are distressed by its psychoactive effects.

Experts believe that some people would do better with a derivative of marijuana that offers therapeutic action without the mind-altering baggage. A more precise dose, free of unwanted contaminants, would be safer, and its effects would be reproducible.

“We believe that physicians should clearly explain to their patients that medical marijuana is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and that it is not a standardized or purified product,” Dr. Herbert D. Kleber of Columbia University and Dr. Robert L. Dupont of Georgetown Medical School wrote last year in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

One vocal proponent of a more scientific approach to medical marijuana is Martin A. Lee, the author of “Smoke Signals” and director of Project CBD, an acronym for cannabidiol, a compound in marijuana with high therapeutic potential but no psychoactive properties; indeed, it can neutralize the high caused by THC.

Mr. Lee said in an interview that medical marijuana clinics “offer a hodgepodge” of products, including many strains of the plant with varying ratios of active ingredients. While all clinics are in business to make money, he said, the more serious ones try to direct consumers to products that best suit their needs.

Still, access to purified and well-tested drugs derived from marijuana would be a far better approach. One such drug, Sativex, is currently in Phase 3 trials in the United States for the relief of neuropathic pain. It is a combination of CBD and THC in a ratio that minimizes the appetite stimulation, drowsiness and anxiety induced by THC while magnifying painkilling and anti-tumor properties, Mr. Lee said.

The endocannabinoid system has two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2, that bind to different components in marijuana. CB1 receptors are concentrated in the central nervous system; when activated, they can make people feel high. And when THC stimulates CB1 receptors governing food intake, the resulting “munchies” can help people whose appetites are depressed by AIDS or cancer.

The drugs Marinol and Cesamet are THC compounds in pill form, approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS-related anorexia and wasting. Their action is slowed by having to pass through the digestive system before reaching their target.

CB2 receptors are concentrated in the peripheral nervous system and immune system. Their stimulation, primarily by CBD, can relieve pain and increase the body’s anti-inflammatory activity.

Sativex, the THC-CBD combination, is available in Canada to treat cancer pain and neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis. It is sprayed under the tongue for quick entry into the bloodstream, as happens when marijuana is smoked. CBD has just been approved for initial testing in people to treat intractable epilepsy.

Dr. Bostwick described the medical potential of marijuana as “incredibly exciting.” But, he added, “it is not being realized, because researchers can’t get the material for study.”

Lamenting the current patchwork of state laws governing medical marijuana, he said consumers should be sure to know the law in their jurisdiction and work closely with a physician to assure they are using marijuana appropriately.

 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/tapping-medical-marijuanas-potential/?partner=EXCITE&ei=5043&_r=0

 

[AmishRnot4ganja]

Getting cannabis reclassified so it can be studied? Good luck with that.

[trichcycler]

Before your 5000 years, there was 5000 prior years of cannabis use. I'll fill in the blanks.

Keep in mind many countries enjoy legalized cannabis, it's research, and disease fighting implications.

These countries have not reduced their rates of cancer with cannabis use yet,

 

10,000-year History of Marijuana use in the World

8,000+ BCE Use of hemp cord in pottery identified at ancient village site dating back over 10,000 years, located in the area of modern day Taiwan. Finding hemp use and cultivation in this date range puts it as one of the first and oldest known human agriculture crops. As explained by Richard Hamilton in the 2009 Scientific American article on sustainable agriculture "Modern humans emerged some 250,000 years ago, yet agriculture is a fairly recent invention, only about 10,000 years old ... Agriculture is not natural; it is a human invention. It is also the basis of modern civilization." This point was also touched on by Carl Sagan in 1977 when he proposed the possibility that marijuana may have actually been world's first agricultural crop, leading to the development of civilization itself (see 1977, below).
6,000 BCE Cannabis seeds and oil used for food in China.
4,000 BCE Textiles made of hemp are used in China and Turkestan.



2,737 BCE First recorded use of cannabis as medicine by Emperor Shen Neng of China.
2,000-800 BCE Bhang (dried cannabis leaves, seeds and stems) is mentioned in the Hindu sacred text Atharvaveda (Science of Charms) as "Sacred Grass", one of the five sacred plants of India. It is used by medicinally and ritually as an offering to Shiva.
1,500 BCE Cannabis cultivated in China for food and fiber. Scythians cultivate cannabis and use it to weave fine hemp cloth.
700-600 BCE The Zoroastrian Zendavesta, an ancient Persian religious text of several hundred volumes refers to bhang as the "good narcotic."
600 BCE Hemp rope appears in southern Russia.
700-300 BCE Scythian tribes leave Cannabis seeds as offerings in royal tombs.
500 BCE Scythian couple die and are buried with two small tents covering containers for burning incense. Attached to one tent stick was a decorated leather pouch containing wild Cannabis seeds. This closely matches the stories told by Herodotus. The gravesite, discovered in the late 1940s, was in Pazryk, northwest of the Tien Shan Mountains in modern-day Khazakstan. Hemp is introduced into Northern Europe by the Scythians. An urn containing leaves and seeds of the Cannabis plant, unearthed near Berlin, is found and dated to about this time. Use of hemp products spread throughout northern Europe.
430 BCE Herodotus reports on both ritual and recreation use of Cannabis by the Scythians (Herodotus The Histories 430 B.C. trans. G. Rawlinson).
200 BCE Hemp rope appears in Greece. Chinese Book of Rites mentions hemp fabric.
100 BCE First evidence of hemp paper, invented in China.
100-0 BCE The psychotropic properties of Cannabis are mentioned in the newly compiled herbal Pen Ts'ao Ching.

0-100 CE Construction of Samaritan gold and glass paste stash box for storing hashish, coriander, or salt, buried in Siberian tomb.
23-79 Pliny the Elder's The Natural History mentions hemp rope and marijuana's analgesic effects.
47-127 Plutarch mentions Thracians using cannabis as an intoxicant.
70 Dioscorides, a physician in Nero's army, lists medical marijuana in his Pharmacopoeia.
100 Imported hemp rope appears in England.
105 Legend suggests that Ts'ai Lun invents hemp paper in China, 200 years after its actual appearance (see 100 BCE above).
130-200 Greek physician Galen prescribes medical marijuana.
200 First pharmacopoeia of the East lists medical marijuana. Chinese surgeon Hua T'o uses marijuana as an anesthetic.
300 A young woman in Jerusalem receives medical marijuana during childbirth.
570 The French queen Arnegunde is buried with hemp cloth.



500-600 The Jewish Talmud mentions the euphoriant properties of Cannabis.
850 Vikings take hemp rope and seeds to Iceland.
900 Arabs learn techniques for making hemp paper.
900-1000 Scholars debate the pros and cons of eating hashish. Use spreads throughout Arabia.
1000 Hemp ropes appear on Italian ships. Arabic physician Ibn Wahshiyah's On Poisons warns of marijuana's potential dangers.
1090-1124 In Khorasan, Persia, Hasan ibn al-Sabbah, recruits followers to commit assassinations...legends develop around their supposed use of hashish. These legends are some of the earliest written tales of the discovery of the inebriating powers of Cannabis and the use of Hashish by a paramilitary organization as a hypnotic (see U.S. military use, 1942 below). Early 12th Century Hashish smoking becomes very popular throughout the Middle East.
1155-1221 Persian legend of the Sufi master Sheik Haydar's personal discovery of Cannabis and his own alleged invention of hashish with it's subsequent spread to Iraq, Bahrain, Egypt and Syria. Another of the ealiest written narratives of the use of Cannabis as an inebriant.
1171-1341 During the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt, Cannabis is introduced by mystic devotees from Syria.
1200 1,001 Nights, an Arabian collection of tales, describes hashish's intoxicating and aphrodisiac properties.
13th Century The oldest monograph on hashish, Zahr al-'arish fi tahrim al-hashish, was written. It has since been lost. Ibn al-Baytar of Spain provides a description of the psychoactive nature of Cannabis. Arab traders bring Cannabis to the Mozambique coast of Africa.
1271-1295 Journeys of Marco Polo in which he gives second-hand reports of the story of Hasan ibn al-Sabbah and his "assassins" using hashish. First time reports of Cannabis have been brought to the attention of Europe.
1300 Ethiopian pipes containing marijuana suggest the herb has spread from Egypt to the rest of Africa.
1378 Ottoman Emir Soudoun Scheikhouni issues one of the first edicts against the eating of hashish.
1526 Babur Nama, first emperor and founder of Mughal Empire learned of hashish in Afghanistan.
1532 French physician Rabelais's gargantua and Pantagruel mentions marijuana's medicinal effects.

 

I believe the few who keep this from the thinking men have deep seeded motivation, ranging from awakened minds, to treating ailments, to profits from textiles, etc. I just don't see those few, the wealthiest of them all, allowing us to vote their wealth away, ever. but I hope so

[tooldini]

Nice reading