A DOSE OF POT CAN RELIEVE THE PAIN

Medical Briefing By Dr Thomas Stuttaford

Only the most reactionary doctors are likely to object to the use of
cannabis preparations in medicine when there is a clinical indication
for it and other drugs have proved ineffective.

Their use may well include the relief of pain which occurs as the
result of muscular spasm. That is typically experienced by patients
with multiple sclerosis, but also occurs in other neurological conditions.

The prescription of cannabis preparations would be no revolutionary
move. A 1934 pharmacopoeia, which I inherited from my father, lists
three different preparations, including cannabis or its derivatives.
As well as being recommended for the treatment of pain, they were
suggested as a means of inducing euphoria in terminal cases.

What is less certain is that smoking cannabis is the best way to
utilise the plant's undisputed pharmacological properties. Various
extracts of cannabis are likely to have a role in pharmacy, and
research workers are now endeavouring to find one which is clinically
useful without leaving the patient "stoned".

THC, also known as Dronabinol, is already licensed in some countries
for medicinal use. A preparation which tends to be of variable
strength when taken by mouth, it has has proved useful in treating the
nausea and vomiting brought on by the chemotherapy prescribed in the
treatment of cancer.

As with other cannabis prepartions, however, it does have side
effects. These include a lowering of blood pressure and drowsiness, as
well as the mood changes and loss of visual and time sense that would
be recognised by pot smokers.