LEGAL MEDICAL USE OF CANNABIS IGNORED

To the Editor,

As the author of the recent publication, "Emerging Clinical
Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the
Scientific Literature," I am disappointed that Rachel Vamenta's Nov.
5 commentary makes no reference to the substantial body of emerging
science supporting the medical use of cannabis.

While writing this booklet, I reviewed more than 150 clinical and
preclinical studies assessing the therapeutic value of cannabis and
its active compounds to treat symptoms - and in some cases, moderate
disease progressions - in a variety of illnesses, including multiple
sclerosis, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, diabetes and Lou Gehrig's
disease. Nearly all of the studies cited in my work were published
within the past six years.

Additional scientific studies are being published in peer-reviewed
journals everyday. For example, a recent review by investigators at
the National Institutes of Health ("The endocannabinoid system as an
emerging target of pharmacotherapy," Pharmacology Today) reported that
compounds in pot "hold therapeutic promise in a wide range of
disparate diseases and pathological conditions," including movement
disorders, mental disorders and cardiovascular disorders.

This February, investigators at San Francisco General Hospital and the
University of California's Pain Clinical Research Center assessed the
efficacy of inhaled cannabis as a treatment for HIV-associated sensory
neuropathy. Writing in the journal Neurology, researchers reported
that patients who smoked low-grade cannabis three times daily
experienced, on average, a 34 percent reduction in pain.

Investigators at Columbia University in New York published clinical
trial data in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes this
summer that concluded, "Smoked marijuana has a clear medical benefit
in HIV-positive (patients) by increasing food intake and improving
mood and objective and subjective sleep measures." Researchers in the
study compared the efficacy of inhaled cannabis to the Marinol a
synthetic form of THC, but reported that the prescription pill was far
less effective. In fact, patients in the study required eight times
the daily recommended dose of Marinol to achieve the same therapeutic
benefits provided by just a few puffs of weed, researchers reported.

Finally, last month an investigative team at Trinity College in
Ireland proclaimed in the British Journal of Pharmacology that
pot-based therapies may offer greater hopes for staving off
Alzheimer's disease than do existing pharmaceutical therapies
("Alzheimer's disease: Taking the edge off with cannabinoids?").
Researchers wrote, "Cannabinoids offer a multifaceted approach for the
treatment of Alzheimer's disease by providing neurotrophin expression
and enhancing neurogenesis (the formation of new brain cells)." Can
somebody please name another plant with the power to achieve all this?

Finally, unlike Ms. Vamenta, I frequently interact with medical
marijuana patients. Many of them write to me daily, as do their
physicians. Often they tell me stories like this:

"I was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor inside the left
temporal lobe of my brain. I had surgery, and I've just started
chemotherapy and radiation. The surgeon actually apologized for the
fact that he could not write me a prescription for marijuana, but he
told me it was safe to smoke. My prescriptions make me very dizzy and
nauseous, and I have ever-present headaches that top any of the worst
hangover headaches anyone could possibly have. My brain is still so
badly swollen. The swelling has actually gotten worse and is
exacerbated by the radiation. Marijuana is saving my life right now;
it has helped to kill my seizures, nausea, dizziness and calm my headaches.
If marijuana can help me with all my other problems in addition to
possibly reducing the size of my tumor and extending my life, then why
on earth would our government not allow me to have it?"

Why indeed? Perhaps we should ask the Times' opinion editor.

Paul Armentano

Senior Policy Analyst, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Washington, D.C.