Cannabis
as Medicine
Research
continues into therapeutic uses for cannabis, THC & synthetic
alternatives.
One alternative is the use of the major active ingredient in marijuana,
delta-9 THC. The drugs names are Nabilone & Dronabinol (Marinol).
They may be as effective and even less likely to cause adverse effects
than smoking marijuana cigarettes according to their makers.
It is
a strange irony that after decades of declaring that cannabis is medically
ineffective, drug agencies are now enthusiastically backing the synthetic
(but more expensive) alternatives, by arguing that they are equally
as effective.
They
are taken in tablet form, and do not produce the rapid-onset high that
cannabis does when smoked, although they may cause euphoria, or 'thinking
difficulties' according to manufacturers.
Unfortunately,
tablets provide patients with little control over dosage. When cannabis
is inhaled, it works so quickly that once the effects are felt, people
simply stop smoking. However, all control is lost once a tablet is swallowed,
and as oral THC takes so long to work, patients may take a second dose.
It is perhaps for this reason that people using these substitutes are
believed by some to experience more adverse psychological effects that
when using cannabis.
More
information is available at http://www.marinol.com
Nabilone
is available for prescription-only hospital use in the UK as an anti-nausea
drug for chemotherapy patients who are unresponsive to other treatment.
Dronabinol (Marinol) is available in the UK but only on a 'named-patient
basis' (which involves complex administration). It may be used as an
anti-nausea medicine or as an appetite-stimulant for people with AIDS.
Marinol users are advised to avoid alcohol as the two can interact with
dangerous consequences.
In the
UK, a recent recommendation by the Select Committee on Science and Technology
that doctors should be permitted to prescribe an appropriate preparation
of cannabis if they saw fit (albeit as an unlicensed medicine and on
a named-patient basis) was rejected by the Government. In 1997 The U.S.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Workshop on Medical Marijuana, stated
"Marijuana looks promising enough to recommend that there be new
controlled studies done."
The
Medical Research Council recently authorised grants totalling over £1.5
million involving two new trials:
(i)
Dr. Zajicek, a neurologist at Derriford Hospital is conducting a three-year
study to assess the efficacy of cannabis extract and THC in the treatment
of spasticity in people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.
(ii)
Dr. Holdcroft at Hammersmith Hospital is conducting a two-year study
to assess the efficacy of cannabis extract and THC as post-operative
analgesics (painkillers).
The
UK company GW Pharmaceuticals Ltd has also been granted Home Office
licenses to cultivate, possess and supply cannabis for research purposes.
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