MARIJUANA-LIKE DRUG ELUDES SCIENTISTS

As Ricky Williams fights social anxiety disorder with marijuana, scientists
are working to take advantage of the plant's anti-anxiety properties while
avoiding the drug's side effects.

Ricky Williams' claim that marijuana helps stave off social anxiety may have
scientific merit, but developing a drug that could produce similar results
will take years, medical experts said Thursday. In lab animals, higher
levels of cannabinoids -- the compounds found in marijuana, and which occur
naturally in the brain -- sometimes decrease anxiety. Scientists are trying
to develop a drug that would replicate this effect in humans. But even under
the rosiest circumstances, it will take nearly a decade to bring the drug to
market. In the meantime, scientists recommend against smoking marijuana to
relax. ''One of the reasons humans use marijuana is because it reduces
anxiety,'' said Cecilia Hillard, a professor of pharmacology at the Medical
College of Wisconsin. ``On the other hand, the reason most often cited for
stopping using marijuana is that it causes anxiety.'' Daniele Piomelli, the
scientist who is developing the cannabinoid-based drug, is more blunt.
''Cannabis is not a very good medicine,'' he said.

PROMISING TESTS

A compound Piomelli developed at the University of California at Irvine
slows the breakdown of the canabinoids that occur naturally in the brain.
Tests in mice and rats suggest this may reduce anxiety without causing the
memory loss, appetite increase and decrease in cognitive function associated
with smoking marijuana.

Human trials of the compound are slated to begin within two years, Piomelli
said. But drugs that work in mice often fail in people, and several experts
said they were not aware of any studies that used marijuana to treat anxiety
in humans. Scientists following federal recommendations have studied
marijuana to treat multiple sclerosis, advanced HIV and cancer-related pain.
The government has approved a marijuana-like drug to treat
chemotherapy-induced nausea. It's more difficult for psychiatrists to study
marijuana. ''It's kind of hard to do that research, because of the illegal
nature of the drug,'' said Dianne Chambless, a University of Pennsylvania
psychologist who studies social-anxiety disorder.

THERAPY

Chambless said therapy for social-anxiety disorder often helps patients
relax by understanding that the whole world is not judging their every move
- -- which might not be the case for a star running back like Williams. ''For
most people with social anxiety everybody really isn't watching you or
judging you, but for people in his position, people really are,'' she said.
``It's a very tough position to be in.''