CLINICAL TRIALS SHOW MEDICAL BENEFITS OF POT

The first U.S. clinical trials in more than 20 years on the medical
efficacy of marijuana found that pot helps relieve pain and muscle
spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and certain neurological
conditions, according to a report released Wednesday by a UC research
center.

The results of five state-funded scientific clinical trials came 14
years after California voters passed a law approving marijuana for
medical use and more than 10 years after the state Legislature passed
a law that created the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC
San Diego, which conducted the studies.

Dr. Igor Grant, a UC San Diego psychiatrist who directs the center,
called the report "good evidence" that marijuana would be an effective
front-line treatment for neuropathy, a condition that can cause
tingling, numbness and pain.

"We focused on illnesses where current medical treatment does not
provide adequate relief or coverage of symptoms," Grant said. "These
findings provide a strong science-based context in which policymakers
and the public can begin discussing the place of cannabis in medical
care."

Despite California's passage in 1996 of Proposition 215, which allows
patients with a valid doctor's recommendation to grow and possess
marijuana for personal medical use, the federal government classifies
marijuana as an illicit drug with no medical use and has closed pot
clubs and prosecuted suppliers. Thirteen other states have passed
similar measures legalizing medical marijuana.

Proponents of medical marijuana see Wednesday's news as the turning of
the tide for what they hope would become federal acceptance of pot's
therapeutic benefits. A first step

"This is the first step in approaching the (U.S. Food and Drug
Administration), which has invested absolutely nothing in providing
scientific data to resolve the debate," said state Sen. Mark Leno,
D-San Francisco, who noted that marijuana showed benefits throughout
the AIDS epidemic in helping people afflicted with neuropathy and
other ailments.

Dale Gieringer, a Berkeley resident who is executive director of the
California branch of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, agreed.

"This is finally the evidence that shows that the (U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration) stance that marijuana does not have
medical use is just wrong," he said. "It's time for the Obama
administration to act."

During the study, volunteers were randomly given marijuana or
placebos.

The marijuana was obtained through the University of Mississippi,
which has a contract with the federal government to provide the only
pot that can be used for scientific research. Grant said the research
required heavy federal oversight. Long-term issues

He noted volunteers had the same amount of pain reduction with low
doses of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, compared with
high doses of THC. He also said evidence casts doubt on long-term
negative impacts of marijuana use, while acknowledging there have not
been formal studies on the question.

"There is not very strong evidence that marijuana, for example,
produces emphysema or lung cancer or permanent brain damage," Grant
said.

That doesn't mean marijuana is harmless, he said. "Anything you smoke
in a combustible form has potential risks, but the safety profile
seems to be better for it than some other drugs like tobacco," he said.

The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research has approved 15 clinical
studies, five of which were completed and reported Wednesday, and two
are in progress. While researchers said more studies are needed, the
future of the center is in doubt.

The center has spent all but $400,000 of the $8.9 million in research
funding it started with in 1999. Leno said the state doesn't have the
money to continue funding it.

"It may be close to the end of its life unless there's foundation
money to continue the work," Leno said. To read the report

The report by the University of California's Center for Medicinal
Cannabis Research can be found at www.cmcr.ucsd.edu.