POT MAY PROLONG PAIN IN SOME CASES: STUDY

(CNS) - Marijuana's painkilling properties are being called into
question by new research that suggests the drug can amplify and
prolong pain rather than relieve it.

A study published in the current issue of Science suggests
prescribing marijuana for pain relief, which is legal in a number of
countries including Canada, might be counter-productive.

Experiments with rodents and humans found that a group of compounds
that includes cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, can
interfere with the body's mechanisms to stop pain signals from
reaching the brain.

"If you had a toothache, you probably wouldn't want to treat it with
marijuana, because you could actually make it worse," said University
of Texas professor Volker Neugebauer, a study author.

"Now, for more pathological conditions like neuropathic pain -- where
the problem is a dysfunction within the nerves themselves and a
subsequent disturbance throughout the nervous system that's not
confined to the pain system -- marijuana may be beneficial."

Health Canada allows those suffering from grave and debilitating
illnesses to use marijuana for medical use to treat severe pain from
conditions such as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, cancer,
arthritis, and HIV/AIDS.