LOCAL POT STUDY SOUGHT

Federal OK Needed: San Mateo County Plans Medicinal Marijuana
Trial

San Mateo County officials are increasingly hopeful of gaining federal
approval for the nation's first locally funded medicinal marijuana
trial in January.

Last month, a bipartisan group of 34 members of Congress sent a letter
to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala urging her to
support such projects.

``Medicinal marijuana research should proceed as expeditiously as
possible,'' the letter said. Shalala's support could be critical in
the county's application to the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
which would approve the study protocol and supply ``research-grade''
marijuana.

County health researchers are ``confident that the protocol has a good
chance of being approved,'' county Supervisor Mike Nevin said in a
recent report to fellow board members. For two years, the former San
Francisco police officer has been a leading advocate for compassionate
distribution of medicinal marijuana to people suffering from AIDS,
glaucoma, chronic pain and other serious ailments.

County public health doctors and consulting researchers had
institution officials critique a draft of the study protocol before
submitting the final application earlier this month. ``We strongly
believe that we've done everything we've been asked to do,'' Nevin
said.

He's also buoyed by congressional lobbying for medicinal studies.
``We've gotten a positive response out of Congress that we've never
had before,'' Nevin said, crediting Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, for
spearheading support.

``(Eshoo) agrees with the San Mateo County leadership that medicinal
marijuana, when used in a responsible and appropriate manner, has an
important role in helping people,'' said her chief of staff, John Flaherty.

If approved, the county-funded $350,000 study on safety and benefits
of medicinal marijuana could begin almost immediately with an initial
60-patient clinical trial. Participants would be AIDS or cancer
patients in the final six months of life who suffer from dramatic
weight loss, nausea and vomiting.

The marijuana used in the 12-week trial would be carefully monitored
by county doctors, with each patient receiving a seven-day,
21-cigarette supply. To ensure scientific consistency, participants
would be shown how to meticulously smoke three cigarettes daily
(``inhale for three seconds, then hold their breath for five seconds
and then exhale''), according to the study protocol. They'll keep
diaries of the marijuana's effect on their appetites and moods and
return leftover ``cigarette ends'' to confirm their
participation.

``What we're trying to do is give medical science a chance to prove
beyond any doubt that marijuana should be available in every pharmacy
in America for those who truly need it for medicinal purposes,'' Nevin
said.

He hopes solid evidence will dispel the doubts that clouded
Proposition 215, the initiative Californians passed in 1996 allowing
physician approval of medicinal marijuana use for seriously ill
people. State and local officials struggled to apply the vaguely
written law in the face of strong opposition from federal law
enforcement officials and former state Attorney General Dan Lungren.

But political winds may be shifting in support of medicinal marijuana
use as scientific validation and popular support mounts.

After two distinguished national scientific panels concluded there is
evidence that marijuana can be useful in the treatment of some
patients, the Clinton administration made it easier for academic
researchers to obtain samples of research-grade marijuana supplied by
the government.

About 73 percent of Americans support ``making marijuana legally
available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and
suffering,'' according to a March Gallup poll. California's law was
followed by passage of similar measures in Alaska, Washington, Nevada,
Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and Maine.

``It's not just `crazy California' supporting this any more,'' Nevin
said. ``There are seven states that have passed laws like Proposition
215, and it's about time the federal government and the Congress get
some courage on this issue.''
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Contact Alan Gathright at agathright@sjmercury.com or (650)
364-4750.