New Studies Expose Government Lies About Medical Pot

[marmar]

from AlterNet:


New Studies Expose Government Lies About Medical Pot

By Paul Armentano, AlterNet. Posted July 13, 2007.



The Republican governor of Connectictut is the latest politician to look foolish for pushing tough anti-marijuana policies in the face of scientific data that proves the arguments hollow.


When Connecticut's Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed legislation last month that would have allowed citizens with debilitating medical conditions to use medical cannabis under their doctor's supervision, she alleged that there was no proof of pot's therapeutic effectiveness and that legal alternatives are available by prescription. Now, a just-released clinical trial by researchers at Columbia University in New York is making the governor's statements ring hollow.

On June 21, just 24 hours after Gov. Rell's veto, the online database for the National Library of Medicine posted an a forthcoming study from the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes that reports, "Smoked marijuana … has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive by increasing food intake and improving mood and objective and subjective sleep measures."

But that's not all investigators found. In a "first" for HIV/AIDS clinical research, scientists not only compared the efficacy of inhaled cannabis to a placebo (in this case, marijuana lacking the primary therapeutic and psychoactive compound THC), but they also tested pot against doses of the so-called "legal marijuana pill" known as dronabinol (aka Marinol). For those unfamiliar with dronabinol, it's a gelatin capsule containing synthetic THC in sesame oil that was approved by the FDA in 1992 specifically to treat HIV/AIDS-related cachexia (weight and appetite loss).

So just how did the nearly $1,000-a-month synthetic alternative compare to the real McCoy?

According to the study, subjects experienced increased appetites after smoking cannabis or taking Marinol. Patients also experienced equivalent weight gains after using both drugs (a little more than 1.1 kilograms over a four-day period). Here's the kicker, though. Investigators reported that patients needed to take "eight times" the recommended daily dosage of Marinol to equal the same therapeutic relief they achieved after smoking relatively low-strength (2 percent or 3.9 percent THC) pot!

In other words, a few hits of the U.S. government's herbal "schwag" (the use of federally grown pot is required in all FDA-approved marijuana trials) was as efficacious as a mega-dose of Uncle Sam's synthetic pot pill. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/56753/

[babylonsister]

1. Big pharma wins again. This needs to stop! nt

[havocmom]

2. Yep, it is about protecting Big Pharma profit$ over patient care

Again, the bean counters win over the sick people. Capitalism trumphs real care.

[rodeodance]

3. neither Dems nor Repugs are willing to put themselves on the line for pot-a bit

for 'medical' mj-----but nothing else.