POT OFFERS BUZZ-FREE PAIN RELIEF - STUDY

Research Took Almost 10 Years to Complete

Smoking pot can make some of the pain go away, without the patient
getting high.

The finding comes from what researchers in Montreal believe to be the
first outpatient clinical trial of smoked cannabis, involving 21
people with chronic neuropathic pain.

The results, which included improvements in mood and sleep, were
published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Dr. Mark Ware and colleagues at McGill University and McGill
University Health Centre got the ball rolling for the study almost a
decade ago, but found it was a long road to get all the necessary
approvals and import a convincing marijuana placebo from the United
States.

But they plowed ahead, supported by a grant from the Canadian
Institute for Health Research, because they felt it was important to
generate some scientific data.

Marijuana is illegal in Canada but can be used medicinally in some
circumstances. In 2001, Health Canada brought in marijuana medical
access regulations outlining conditions for possessing, producing and
using the herb for medical purposes.

Despite the years that have passed, "the debate rages on about medical
marijuana," Ware said.

"We hear this a lot from policy makers and from regulatory colleges,
especially here in Canada . . . there is very little evidence, and
many of them aren't aware of any evidence that smoked cannabis has any
medical value."

Marijuana with potencies of 2.5 per cent, six per cent and 9.4 per
cent of the active ingredient THC were obtained from Prairie Plant
Systems, the company that was given a government contract 10 years ago
to produce a safe, standardized supply of marijuana.

A placebo came from the U.S., where an alcohol extraction process was
used to remove the active ingredient, and the herb was reconstituted
so it looked like a green leafy material, Ware said.

There was a lot of paperwork and back-and-forth.

"Importing cannabis from the United States is not a trivial issue in
this environment," Ware noted.

Patients were given a special pipe bought on the Internet and
25-milligram capsules of a substance to put in the pipe and light. The
smoke was to be inhaled once - three times a day for five days - and
patients didn't know whether they were getting a placebo or one of
three different potencies of active drug.