SMOKING FOR SCIENCE

Toronto Researchers Plan Pot Study

On the sixth floor of a nondescript downtown office tower, two researchers
are spending the summer studying pot and making history. Epidemiologists
James Austin and Siamak Tenzif belong to the Community Research Initiative
of Toronto (CRIT), a group that's drafting a protocol for a
precedent-setting national cannabis study.

CRIT, which primarily studies AIDS issues, got involved with pot following
heavy lobbying from HIV patients. Strong anecdotal evidence suggests
cannabis can relieve nausea and stimulate appetite in people with AIDS. "I
was not personally familiar with medical marijuana before the HIV community
contacted us," Austin says. "Once I started reading the literature, I saw
the need for more study."

CRIT decided to write a research protocol for an experiment designed to
determine the scientific basis behind pot's role in treating HIV. "We were
working on the protocol when Health Canada approached us," recalls Tenzif.

Under pressure to legalize medical marijuana, which thousands of patients
use illegally, Health Canada invited CRIT to take part in a $3.5 million
national pot trial. Founded 10 years ago, CRIT seems an unlikely candidate
for cannabis research. The organization is small -- with a staff consisting
of Austin, Tenzif and two administrators -- and doesn't enjoy a huge
budget. Last year, the group received a quarter-million dollars in funding
from the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Ontario HIV Treatment Network,
DuPont Pharma and other donors. Previous CRIT studies have looked at such
subjects as the role of vitamin therapy and protease inhibitors in
combatting AIDS.

If all goes to plan, the Canadian HIV Trials Network should start carrying
out CRIT's research protocol on live subjects later this year.

Until then, CRIT has to sort out how much money it will get from the feds
and how many patients will be involved in their leg of the pot trials.
These issues will be determined at a mid-summer meeting with federal
officials and fellow researchers, says Tenzif.

That leaves the issue of where exactly Health Canada is supposed to find
the pot it needs for their studies. "They can get it from three sources,"
says Austin, "NIDA and GW Pharmaceuticals are two choices."

The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse is the only legal supplier of
research-grade pot on the continent. GW Pharmaceuticals are a British
company that's developing a cannabis inhaler for use in medical marijuana
tests.

The third option, which Rock has seriously considered, is to purchase
homegrown grass. Such musings have some observers wondering whether full
legalization of marijuana is on the horizon.

For their part, the CRIT crew refuse to take sides in the decrim debate.
CRIT has "no real stand about legalizing medical marijuana," says Austin.
"Our goal is to do the best science possible" -- and leave the laws to the
politicians.