MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXPERIMENT BEGINS IN SAN MATEO COUNTY

Drug To Be Dispensed To 60 Aids Patients

With approvals from federal and state agencies, San Mateo County launched a
medical marijuana experiment Tuesday that will dispense pot to 60 AIDS
patients for pain management over the next two years.

Doctors at the San Mateo County Health Center will head up the
investigation and identify patients in other county treatment programs for
the study. Only those who have used marijuana in the past will be eligible.

The $500,000 study is said to be the first of its kind in the nation that
allows a government agency to distribute the controlled substance for
medical study purposes. The pot is grown under federal government
supervision at the University of Mississippi. The study also has been
approved by both the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the Food and Drug
Administration.

Dr. Dennis Israelski, Chief of Infectious Disease at the San Mateo County
Health Center, said 60 participants would be given up to two marijuana
cigarettes a day to use at home over a six-week cycle. Patients would be
required to return the butt ends of the smokes and keep a detailed log of use.

Half the group would begin six weeks after the other group, and researchers
would follow up with patients over the next two years.

The purpose of the county's clinical trial is really twofold, according to
officials. Researchers will look at the whole process of legally
distributing pot to patients for home use, as well as track its medicinal
effects on neuropathy -- specifically, limb pain associated with HIV and AIDS.

The study was in many ways the brainchild of County Board of Supervisors
President Mike Nevin. It was three years in the making, following the
passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 by California voters aimed at legalizing
medical marijuana.

"It started when I thought maybe we could somehow use the marijuana
confiscated by law enforcement for medicinal purposes, for people in pain,"
said Nevin.

Nevin described how he was touched by the personal testimony of the late
Joni Commons, the county's former Deputy Director of Health Services, who
admitted feeling relief from pain by using pot during a lengthy battle with
cancer.

However, as proponents of medicinal marijuana struggled with federal and
local agencies that outlaw pot, Nevin said he turned to Israelski for help.

"My first thought was, smok-ing anything is bad," said Israelski. "Before I
tell my patients to smoke anything, I want a study."

A pill form, Marinol, has been said to be ineffective, or in other cases,
too strong for users.

Marijuana, in smokable form, has been said to relieve nausea, pain,
depression and stimulate the appetite of chronically ill patients.

"We believe marijuana has a great future," Israelski said.

County Sheriff Don Horsley said he supports the county study.

For information about joining the study, contact Clinical Trial Coordinator
Mark Traves at San Mateo County Health Services (650) 573-2748.