“Smoke Two Joints and Call Me in the Morning”: Health Benefits of Marijuana Continue to Grow
Naweko San-Joyz
February 14, 2007
Marijuana- it’s legal in California, but then again it’s not. Maybe it’s the stigma of anti-government hippies and epithets of “free love” that overpowers the reality that marijuana can serve as a safe drug, and impels the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban marijuana for medical use in the United States.
While you can’t buy a pack of joints at your local pharmacy, the FDA has approved two drugs, Marinol and Cesamet, which contain active ingredients that are present in botanical marijuana, for pharmaceutical use in the US.
Marijuana did not make the FDA’s Orange Book listing of approved drugs because “Mary Jane” apparently lacks substantial clinical trials to verify its therapeutic effectiveness and safeness. Even so, medical associations continue to lend legitimacy to marijuana’s medicinal value.
That latest medical nod to the efficacy of marijuana came from the American Academy of Neurology.
According to a study published in the February 13, 2007, issue of Neurology, smoking marijuana effectively relieves chronic HIV-associated nerve pain, including aching, painful numbness and burning.
As part of the study, 50 people with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy, the most common HIV nerve disorder, were admitted to a California hospital and randomly assigned to smoke either marijuana or identical placebo cigarettes three times a day for five days.
The study concluded that people who smoked marijuana reduced their daily nerve pain by 34 percent compared to 17 percent in the placebo group.
The study author Donald Abrams, MD, with San Francisco General Hospital in San Francisco, California., observed, “Smoking marijuana was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic nerve pain from HIV-associated sensory neuropathy,”
Abrams explains that legal marijuana usage would expand the array of pain relief options for persons who cannot take anticonvulsant drugs such as lamotrigine and gabapentin to ease pain.
Additionally, the first marijuana cigarette reduced chronic pain by an average of 72 percent versus 15 percent with placebo. And more than half of the people who smoked marijuana reported more than a 30-percent reduction in pain compared to 24 percent in the placebo group. The study participants experienced no serious side effects.
Back in October of 2006, another study suggested that a chemical component extracted from the cannabis (marijuana) plant may relax the colon and reduce stomach cramping after eating.
Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota conducted a double-blind, parallel-group study of 52 volunteers who were randomly assigned placebo or a single dose of dronabinol, a synthetic compound that contains naturally-occurring ingredient found in marijuana.
The researchers observed that dronabinol relaxes the colon and reduces post-eating contractions and cramping. The effects were accentuated in females. According to the study leader, Tuba Esfandyari, MD, “The potential for cannabinoids to modulate colonic motor function in disease deserves a further look.”
Perhaps the mounting research on marijuana will allow this drug to become available at your local drug store as opposed to your local dealer. Hey, you might even get a customer rewards discount.
While you can’t buy a pack of joints at your local pharmacy, the FDA has approved two drugs, Marinol and Cesamet, which contain active ingredients that are present in botanical marijuana, for pharmaceutical use in the US.
Marijuana did not make the FDA’s Orange Book listing of approved drugs because “Mary Jane” apparently lacks substantial clinical trials to verify its therapeutic effectiveness and safeness. Even so, medical associations continue to lend legitimacy to marijuana’s medicinal value.
That latest medical nod to the efficacy of marijuana came from the American Academy of Neurology.
According to a study published in the February 13, 2007, issue of Neurology, smoking marijuana effectively relieves chronic HIV-associated nerve pain, including aching, painful numbness and burning.
As part of the study, 50 people with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy, the most common HIV nerve disorder, were admitted to a California hospital and randomly assigned to smoke either marijuana or identical placebo cigarettes three times a day for five days.
The study concluded that people who smoked marijuana reduced their daily nerve pain by 34 percent compared to 17 percent in the placebo group.
The study author Donald Abrams, MD, with San Francisco General Hospital in San Francisco, California., observed, “Smoking marijuana was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic nerve pain from HIV-associated sensory neuropathy,”
Abrams explains that legal marijuana usage would expand the array of pain relief options for persons who cannot take anticonvulsant drugs such as lamotrigine and gabapentin to ease pain.
Additionally, the first marijuana cigarette reduced chronic pain by an average of 72 percent versus 15 percent with placebo. And more than half of the people who smoked marijuana reported more than a 30-percent reduction in pain compared to 24 percent in the placebo group. The study participants experienced no serious side effects.
Back in October of 2006, another study suggested that a chemical component extracted from the cannabis (marijuana) plant may relax the colon and reduce stomach cramping after eating.
Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota conducted a double-blind, parallel-group study of 52 volunteers who were randomly assigned placebo or a single dose of dronabinol, a synthetic compound that contains naturally-occurring ingredient found in marijuana.
The researchers observed that dronabinol relaxes the colon and reduces post-eating contractions and cramping. The effects were accentuated in females. According to the study leader, Tuba Esfandyari, MD, “The potential for cannabinoids to modulate colonic motor function in disease deserves a further look.”
Perhaps the mounting research on marijuana will allow this drug to become available at your local drug store as opposed to your local dealer. Hey, you might even get a customer rewards discount.
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