.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) A report released Friday called on the National Institutes
of Health to facilitate research into the medicinal benefits of marijuana,
but the agency says it ``has always'' been willing to consider such projects.

``We will put the applications through our normal scientific review and are
prepared to fund applications that meet the accepted standards of scientific
design and ... are competitive with other applications,'' Dr. Harold Varmus,
director of the NIH, said in a statement.

The NIH funds much of the nation's medical research, but only rarely has
provided grants for studying the therapeutic uses of marijuana.

At the White House, spokesman Mike McCurry said the administration opposes
using marijuana to treat sick people, but acknowledges there are scientific
issues that need to be addressed.

The eightmember committee of private doctors and nurses recommended
marijuana be studied for its effect on improving the appetite of patients
with severe weight loss; controlling nausea and vomiting for cancer patients;
regulating some neurological disorders, such as epilepsy; abating pain; and
treating glaucoma, a serious and progressive eye disorder.

For treatment of some conditions ``marijuana looks promising enough to
recommend that there be new controlled studies,'' committee chairman Dr.
William Beaver of Georgetown University School of Medicine is quoted as
saying in the report.

But the experts said the drug should only be tested on a benefitrisk
calculation, just as other medical therapies are, and should be separated
``from the societal debate over the potential harmful effects of nonmedical
marijuana use.''

Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project, a group favoring more medical
use of the drug, said the report should prompt legislation that would permit
medical use of the drug now, without waiting for research to satisfy
``rigid'' federal requirements.

``If we wait ... thousands of patients will be arrested and sent to prison in
the meantime,'' Thomas said.

The committee, selected and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health,
met for two days in February to review studies on medical uses of marijuana
and to hear testimony from patients and other doctors. Their report is a
``compilation of the opinions'' of the committee.

Among the report's conclusions:

Because smoked marijuana contains a variety of combustion compounds, it can
damage the lungs and possibly the immune system. The committee recommended
the development of an inhalation device that delivers pure THC the active
ingredient in marijuana to the lungs in a controlled dosage and free of the
dangerous combustion compounds.

There is some evidence but no scientificallyvalid studies that marijuana
is useful in treating some forms of epilepsy and spasticity caused by
multiple sclerosis.

Some studies have shown that smoked marijuana is effective for some patients
in relieving nausea cause by cancer chemotherapy. But the committee noted
that since the 1980s when those studies were conducted, a number of new
antinausea drugs have been developed.

There is evidence that marijuana may improve the appetite and help patients
gain weight. This could be lifesaving for AIDS patients who develop wasting,
a severe weight loss condition. However, the committee noted that any
smoking, including marijuana, increases the risk of pneumonia in HIV
patients. It also noted that dronabinol, a pill that contains THC, also is
effective against wasting.

Smoked marijuana is effective in lowering pressure inside the eyeballs of
some patients with glaucoma. But the committee said the drug also drops blood
pressure, and this could compromise blood flow to the optic nerve and damage
vision.

APNY080897 1652EDT