Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:


After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.

Medicinal cannabis trials gather steam

Surgery Door

Wednesday 28 Feb 2001

---
A study on whether marijuana can relieve peripheral pain in HIV patients is
among the first projects that have been recently approved by a research
centre funded by the state of California in the US.
The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR), affiliated with the
University of California, gave its approval last week to proposals to test
cannabis as a treatment for specific medical conditions.
Four out of 13 proposals were recommended for funding by the CMCR, and full
approval is pending a final review by state and federal regulatory agencies.

Beyond the study on peripheral pain in HIV patients, the other proposals
approved include an outpatient study of the effectiveness and safety of
marijuana in treating muscle spasms, loss of function, and related pain in
multiple sclerosis (MS), conducted by the university's San Diego branch,
and a study on its efficacy in treating painful HIV neuropathy. The fourth
proposal is a study on the effects of medicinal cannabis on driving ability
of patients with HIV-related neuropathy or spasticity associated with
multiple sclerosis.
The approval is the first step in a long round of assessments by review
groups, culminating in a final review by the US Food and Drug
Administration, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the National Institute on
Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA will supply the drug to researchers.
"We have followed a careful process of protocol review, engaging senior
scientists from around the country on our Scientific Review Board to
evaluate proposals and recommend funding for those that meet our high
scientific standards," said Prof Igor Grant, the director of CMCR.
A study is also under way in the UK to test the pain-relieving effects of
marijuana on MS sufferers. The £950,000 study, run by Dr John Zajicek of
Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, involves 660 patients from across the
country. Each patient will be randomly selected to receive capsules of
either cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, a constituent of cannabis, or a
placebo. MS affects about 85,000 people in the UK.

 

 

 

After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back. 




This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.

Feel free to link to this page!