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PAUL ARMENTANO (July 11, 2007) -- When Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed legislation
last month that would have allowed
citizens with debilitating medical conditions to use medical cannabis under
their doctor's supervision, she alleged that there was no proof of pot's
therapeutic effectiveness and that legal alternatives are available by
prescription. Now, a just-released clinical trial by researchers at Columbia
University in New York is making the governor's statements ring hollow.
On June 21, just 24 hours after Gov. Rell's veto, the online database for
the National Library of Medicine posted an abstract from a forthcoming study
in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes that reports, "Smoked
marijuana ... has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive [patients] by
increasing food intake and improving mood and objective and subjective sleep
measures."
But that's not all investigators found. In a "first" for HIV/AIDS
clinical
research, scientists not only compared the efficacy of inhaled cannabis to a
placebo (in this case, marijuana lacking the compound THC), but they also
tested pot against doses of the so-called "legal marijuana pill" known
as
dronabinol (aka Marinol). For those unfamiliar with dronabinol, it's a
gelatin capsule containing synthetic THC in sesame oil that was approved by
the FDA in 1992 specifically to treat HIV/AIDS-related cachexia (weight and
appetite loss).
So just how did the nearly $1,000-a-month synthetic alternative compare to
the real McCoy?
According to the study, subjects experienced increased appetites after
smoking cannabis or taking Marinol. Patients also experienced equivalent
weight gains after using both drugs (a little more than 1.1 kilograms over a
four-day period). Here's the kicker, though. Investigators reported that
patients needed to take "eight times" the recommended daily dosage
of
Marinol to equal the same therapeutic relief they achieved after smoking
relatively low-strength (2 percent or 3.9 percent THC) pot!
In other words, a few hits of the U.S. government's herbal "schwag"
(the use
of federally grown pot is required in all FDA-approved marijuana trials) was
as efficacious as a mega-dose of Uncle Sam's synthetic pot pill.
Clinicians further reported that smoking higher-strength marijuana - that's
the 3.9 percent pot for this study's purposes - subjectively improved
patients' sleep better than oral THC. Perhaps more important, authors
reported that HIV patients made far fewer requests for over-the-counter
medications while using cannabis. Scientists reported that most of these
requests were to treat subjects' gastrointestinal complaints (nausea,
diarrhea and upset stomach) - conditions that have long been reported by
patients to be alleviated with medical pot.
Of course, among those living with HIV/AIDS, scientific trials like the
Columbia study only reinforce what they've already known for decades.
(According to various surveys, between 25 and 37 percent of HIV/AIDS
patients in North America self-report using cannabis medically to combat
both symptoms of the disease as well as the side effects of antiretroviral
medications.) That for many with debilitating and life-threatening diseases,
pot as a medicine works.
It's just unfortunate that Gov. Rell chose to take her marching orders from
drug warriors in Washington rather than to heed the advice of those patients
and doctors who know far better.
Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for The National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and the NORML Foundation in Washington. He
grew up in Connecticut and is a 1990 graduate of Simsbury High School.
Copyright © 2007, The
Hartford Courant |
