MARIJUANA PROTECTS BRAIN CELLS DURING STROKES: SCIENTISTS

US scientists have begun testing rats with a chemical from marijuana that
they say appears to protect brain cells during a stroke.

It's far too early to tell if the chemical, cannabidiol, will help people,
and it's unlikely that anyone could get a protective dose by smoking
marijuana, said the scientists.

But they called the research very promising, particularly because
cannabidiol is not psychoactive - it doesn't cause the "high", or mild
euphoric effects that people get from smoking marijuana.

"This is a better candidate" against stroke than other marijuana chemicals,
said Aiden Hampson of the National Institute of Mental Health.

His study, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, found that in a test tube, cannabidiol proved to be a potent
antioxidant that protected animal brain cells exposed to the toxic
neurochemical that is produced during a stroke.

Scientists are studying marijuana and its various chemicals to see if they
have medicinal uses. THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, already has
been studied for various illnesses, including strokes. An oral drug,
Marinol, that contains THC is sold to fight cancer-related nausea and
AIDS-related wasting.

Until now, cannabidiol had been considered an inactive ingredient, Hampson said.

It was studied as a possible drug for Huntington's disease a decade ago but
the tests failed to work.

However, scientists who gave high doses to people at that time uncovered no
serious side effects, he said.

And in Hampson's laboratory studies, he discovered cannabidiol has no
effect on the brain receptors responsible for marijuana's psychological
effects - meaning scientists could investigate high doses without worrying
about drugging-up patients.

Hampson now is giving intravenous cannabidiol to rats and said he has
promising but preliminary results.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)