PATIENT FELT MARIJUANA RELIEVED CANCER PAIN

The case of a Winnipeg woman who used marijuana to relieve pain in the
final stages of cancer has been presented at a conference on palliative care.

"This patient seemed to feel that marijuana seemed to help the symptoms of
her pain," said Hubert Marr, a former Winnipeg physician who now works in
Calgary's Rockyview General Hospital. He said the woman was one of the
first to get government approval to use marijuana for medical purposes.

He presented the Winnipegger's case study on Friday to health workers and
professionals attending an annual conference on palliative care hosted by
Hospice and Palliative Care Manitoba.

The study's patient died from lung cancer last year, but used marijuana,
along with other drugs, for the last six months of her life to alleviate
nerve pain

Marr said the study's results suggest marijuana may help treat some patients.

"There are lots of symptoms from some diseases that may benefit from
marijuana," said Marr, who is a member of the Canadian Consortium for the
Investigation of Cannabinoids in Human Therapeutics, a group of about 30
scientists interested in researching the medicinal uses of marijuana.

"We need more research to see if marijuana works or not, and to see how
much it helps and how. Right now all we have is hints," he said.

"We don't know what the side effects are and at what dosages."

Marr predicted that it would be a number of years before marijuana could be
prescribed, marketed, and sold at pharmacies for medicinal uses.

"We know morphine helps, but we know how to use it safely," he said. "But
there is no data that shows why or how marijuana helps."