WHAT MARINOL IS

The June 7 wire-service story ("Medicinal weed is illegal") about the U.S.
Supreme Court ruling on medical marijuana included the following:
"Anti-cancer drugs such as Marinol, which is available by prescription, can
cause nausea and vomiting." The story also said marijuana is being studied
to reduce this side effect from this drug. Marinol is the trade name for
the drug Dronabinol, a synthetic oral preparation of one of 66 active
compounds in Cannabis sativa, the marijuana plant. It itself has been
studied to relieve symptoms of nausea, vomiting and poor appetite in cancer
patients, rather than causing these symptoms itself.

Unfortunately, it works less well clinically than the herb from which it
comes (the marijuana plant). This is a case where patients get better
results from the herb itself --a complex mixture of many compounds --
rather than a synthetic compound of only one supposed "active ingredient."
This principle often carries throughout the world of botanical medicine.

Pamela A. Pappas, M.D.

Chapel Hill