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Does cannabis have therapeutic value?
Cannabis Health Journal | Issue #10

The issue of cannabis/marijuana as a valid alternative medicine in healthcare continues to be a highly controversial social issue in the United States. The dissonance between its identification as an illicit drug and studies that validate its benefits for selected patients creates a confusing picture for both healthcare providers and patients. In 1999 the Institute of Medicine completed its study, Marijuana as Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, per the request of General Barry McCaffrey, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy at that time. The experts concluded that cannabis does have therapeutic value, is not highly addictive, and is not a gateway drug. They recommended that it should be immediately available for therapeutic use for cancer and AIDS patients in its current smokable form and that research should be conducted on alternative delivery methods. They also noted that due to its relative safety, physicians should be able to conduct studies on their patients whom they believe could be helped by the use of cannabis.

Patients Out of Time is a Virginia based national non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and health care professionals about the therapeutic use of cannabis and has co-sponsored two previous national clinical conferences on this topic in 2000 and 2002. The discovery of endogenous cannabinoids and receptor sites in the human body resulted in a significant increase in the research related to the use of cannabinoids in patient care.

Some of the results of this worldwide research in the field of cannabis therapeutics will be presented at The Third National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics to be held May 20-22, 2004 in Charlottesville, VA, USA. This conference is jointly sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Patients Out of Time. The conference will be co-presented by the Virginia Nurses Association, the University of Virginia School of Nursing, the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the University of Virginia School of Law. The conference theme is Use Throughout the Life Span and the audience will learn about the role of cannabis and cannabinoids from birth, through childhood, adolescence, adult life and all the way to the end of life.

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam from Hebrew University, Jerusalem will present his research on dexanabinol, a synthetic, non-psychoactive cannabinoid for use in treating traumatic brain injuries; University of Iowa’s Nursing College Dean Melanie Dreher RN, PhD, will present research on its use during pregnancy; Dr. Billy Martin, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicity of Virginia Commonwealth University will discuss the risk of cannabis dependence; Willem Scholten, PharmD, Head of the Office of Medical Cannabis, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports in The Netherlands will explain how his country has integrated cannabis into its national Formulary.
Dr. Mark Ware of McGill University will address his current clinical trials with patients with pain in Canada while Dr. Donald Abrams, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Chief of Hematology-Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital will present his finding on cannabis and pain in ongoing US clinical trials.

Studies on alternative delivery methods of cannabinoids are also included in the conference. Assistant Professor Audra Stinchcomb, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky will present her research on the development of a cannabis patch under a grant from the American Cancer Society. Dr. Geoffrey Guy, Founder and Executive Chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, United Kingdom, will discuss the development of Sativex®, an oral mucosal cannabis extract spray.

Arnold Trebach PhD, JD, Professor Emeritus, American University is the Founder and Past President of The Drug Policy Foundation; President of the Trebach Institute; and Chair, Board of Advisors, International Prohibitionist League. Professor Trebach will discuss “The Strange History of the War on Medicine”. Richard Bonnie, JD, John S. Battle Professor of Law at the University of Virginia’s School of Law will speak to “Medical Ethics and Cannabis Prohibition”. Professor Bonnie, co-author of “The Marijuana Conviction”, is a member of the Planning Committee and on the Board of Advisors of Patients Out of Time.

For the legal community the state of the art knowledge provided by the faculty should provide both sides of the system ample science. Prosecutors will learn that current Virginia and federal laws prohibiting using cannabis as a medicine are based on knowledge that is decades old and overtaken by research that is replicated and in opposition to the current prohibitionist policy. Defense attorneys will come away from the forum with a wealth of information that counters the “no medical use” mantra of the federal government and the ability to mount credible and successful “medical necessity” defenses for the ill charged with a crime for self-medication with cannabis.

This conference should be of special interest to primary care and family physicians. Cannabis is the most used illicit drug in the US. Physicians must be able to provide accurate evidence-based information regarding the use and effects of cannabis to their patients who use cannabis for medical or recreational purposes. The clinical research presented will also be of interest and relevance to physicians working in pediatrics, oncology, HIV/AIDS, pain management, hospice care, psychiatry, neurology, physical and medical rehabilitation, and trauma. Please go to www.medicalcannabis.com for further information on the conference agenda, faculty, and registration. On behalf of all patients out of time, please take advantage of the 2004 conference location to learn from world experts about this highly controversial but relatively safe and scientifically promising therapeutic medicine.


Logosnote: I can't harp enough on how much I appreciate the articles in this magazine. To read the rest of this months issue, visit http://www.cannabishealth.com/issue10/index.html .

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The more I learn, the less I know. | Truth doesn't change, only our perception of it does.
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