POT STUDY CRITICS BLAST QUALITY

Government Accused Of Supplying Low-Grade Marijuana For Research

The pot is unsmokable, they say, full of sticks, stems and seeds. The leaves
have gone stale after at least a year of storage, freezing and then thawing.

Marijuana supplied to researchers from the government farm in Mississippi
isn't quality product, according to a range of observers, from Redwood
Shores HIV patient Phillip Alden to a cop-turned-county supervisor.

Alden said he knows from experience -- he's smoked it. And the result? An
upper respiratory infection and an early departure from a landmark research
study, the first publicly funded analysis of HIV patients smoking cannabis
in their homes.

In 10 months, fewer than 10 subjects have been accepted into San Mateo
County's marijuana study, which took years to get funded and approved. The
county's medical chief of staff, Dr. Dennis Israelski, had planned for 60.

Some say it must be the pot.

``I couldn't smoke the stuff any more,'' said Alden, a freelance writer who
relies on marijuana to ease HIV-related wasting disease. ``I was disgusted
with the federal government.''

Dale Gieringer, California coordinator for the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, agrees. ``It's unconscionable that they would be
giving this marijuana to patients,'' he said. ``It's stale, low-potency
ditch weed.''

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which grows the marijuana plants that
are pre-rolled, frozen and sent to officially sanctioned researchers across
the country, denies its research product is substandard.

``The marijuana we provide does not contain sticks and seeds. The problem is
re-humidifying -- it makes it kind of harsh,'' said Steve Gust, special
assistant to the director of NIDA. ``Certain procedures are needed to make
it smoke right.''

Gust said researchers aren't complaining about quality. He thinks groups
like NORML are looking for something to blame if the results of the studies
show it has little medicinal value. ``Then they can say the marijuana isn't
of sufficient quality,'' Gust said.

Damaging Rumors

Cannabis trials in San Mateo County began in July, but few patients so far
meet the strict standards to enroll. There is no hard evidence that the
quality of the cannabis used in the study is hindering recruiting.

But stories -- and rumors in some cases -- have slowed progress, said
Israelski, an associate clinical professor at Stanford University. When
Alden was forced to drop out of the study late last year because of an
inflamed throat, for example, published reports of his experience swirled
quickly through Internet circles and HIV support groups.

``We've been hurt by word on the streets,'' Israelski said. ``But the word
on the street might not reflect reality.''

To counteract the slow start, the county is trying to broaden its study.

In a letter sent to regulatory agencies this month, researchers ask to
expand the HIV patient pool to include people suffering from nausea, weight
loss and wasting disease.

Supervisor Mike Nevin is frustrated that the county is once again asking for
approvals from the myriad agencies that must OK any changes to the research
plan. He spent three years fighting for funding and regulatory approval.

Nevin envisioned his county's research program after a colleague, Joni
Commons, died of breast cancer in 1998. Commons won him over, convincing the
former San Francisco police inspector that marijuana brought her critical
pain relief.

``We've put too much effort into this, and we don't want to be playing games
here,'' Nevin said. ``It needs to be a certain grade of substance, and
unless it's stronger, they'll set us up for defeat.''

Medicinal marijuana research is moving steadily forward in other parts of
the country, with multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS patients. The newly
inaugurated Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research in La Jolla will soon
oversee studies at 15 university sites.

Some Too Potent

Most researchers interviewed, unlike marijuana advocates, did not complain
about the quality of the NIDA product. According to strict protocols, they
can't unroll the carefully measured, frozen joints they receive, although
several said they can hear seeds popping when some of their patients smoke,
or they see the seeds fall out the untwisted end of the joint. They've heard
that the sticky buds gum up the government's rolling machine.

But that hasn't stopped more than 500 people from joining waiting lists for
clinical trials at the La Jolla center, where, in contrast, two recently
enrolled subjects complained that the pot was too potent.

``They've reported getting high shortly after the first few puffs,'' said
Dr. Andrew Mattison, the center's co-director. ``These are people with a
chronic, debilitating illness who do not want to get high. They want to get
pain relief.''

Researchers concede that the less a patient has to smoke, the better. More
potent cannabis delivers a more concentrated effect, with fewer
smoking-related hazards.

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