RESEARCH PROVES EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

AS RHODE ISLAND debates making its medical marijuana law permanent
(it's set to expire in June if not extended by the legislature),
recently published research demonstrates marijuana's value for
patients with life-threatening illnesses. It is clear -- as shown in
a new study from the University of California, published in the
prestigious medical journal Neurology -- that marijuana can sometimes
provide relief when conventional drugs fail.

As an HIV/AIDS physician and researcher, I have seen patients who
suffer from a variety of painful and debilitating symptoms. Some are
caused by the disease itself, while others may be side effects of the
medicines we may need to use to treat viral illnesses such as
HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

These medicines may cause nausea and/or vomiting, and may cause
patients to miss doses or stop treatment. For HIV-infected patients,
another problem is peripheral neuropathy, a painful condition caused
by damage to the nerves of the feet, hands, or other areas of the
body. This can be caused by HIV itself or by some of the medicines
used to treat advanced infection. The pain can sometimes be so bad as
to be disabling.

This pain, like the symptoms experienced by some patients with
multiple sclerosis, may not respond to conventional pain drugs.
Sometimes powerful narcotics may provide little relief.

That's why the new study, conducted by Brown alumnus Dr. Donald
Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco, is so
important. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
(the design considered the "gold standard" of medical research),
measured the effect of smoked marijuana on the pain of peripheral
neuropathy and also on a special type of lab-induced pain used to
provide an objective reference point. These patients were suffering
greatly, even though many were already taking a variety of pain medications.

Marijuana provided significant relief. For both the experimental pain
and the HIV neuropathy, a majority of patients experienced a 30
percent or greater reduction in pain. For some, such relief means
having a bearable quality of life.

This new study should be the final nail in the coffin of claims that
- -- as one White House "fact sheet" put it recently -- "research has
not demonstrated that smoked marijuana can be helpful as medicine."
Marijuana -- smoked, vaporized or ingested -- can indeed provide
relief in some circumstances when other medicines fail.

Relief of suffering is important all by itself, but there is evidence
that this relief can actually save lives. In a study published last
September, patients in treatment for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) --
who may discontinue or interrupt treatment because of the noxious
side effects of anti-HCV drugs -- were far more likely to complete
their medication regimens if they used marijuana. Overall, HCV
patients using marijuana were three times as likely to successfully
clear the deadly virus from their bodies.

While there is always more to learn, there is no longer any doubt
that marijuana can be a useful medicine for some very ill patients,
which can literally help people live satisfying and productive lives.
Rhode Island should make its medical marijuana law permanent, and the
federal government should act immediately to change absurd and
unscientific federal laws that treat seriously ill patients as criminals.

Kenneth Mayer, M.D. is Professor of Medicine and Community Health at
Brown University and director of Brown University's AIDS program.