Roger A. Barnes MD Pasadena medical marijuana cards

Clinical Trial Data Yet Again Affirms Cannabis’ Efficacy

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:18:58 +0000

Is it any wonder that the US government fights tooth-and-nail to hinder researchers’ attempts to conduct clinical trials assessing the therapeutic utility of cannabis as a medicine? After all, each and every time the federal government begrudgingly allows for such studies they’re faced with credibility-shattering results like this:

Marijuana relieves muscles tightness, pain of multiple sclerosis: Study
via the Toronto Star

Smoking marijuana can relieve muscle tightness, spasticity (contractions) and pain often experienced by those with multiple sclerosis, says research out of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

The findings, just published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included a controlled trial with 30 participants to understand whether inhaled cannabis would help complicated cases where existing pharmaceuticals are ineffective or trigger adverse side effects.

MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord.

The disease attacks the myelin, the protective covering wrapped around the nerves of the central nervous system, and — among other symptoms — can cause loss of balance, impaired speech, extreme fatigue, double vision and paralysis.

The average age of the research participants was 50 years with 63 per cent of the study population female.

More than half the participants needed walking aids and 20 per cent used wheelchairs.

Rather than rely on self-reporting by patients regarding their muscle spasticity — a subjective measure — health professionals rated each patient’s joints on the modified Ashworth scale, a common objective tool to evaluate intensity of muscle tone.

The researchers found that the individuals in the group that smoked cannabis experienced an almost one-third decrease on the Ashworth scale — 2.74 points from a baseline score of 9.3 — meaning spasticity improved, compared to the placebo group.

As well, pain scores decreased by about 50 per cent.

“We saw a beneficial effect of smoked cannabis on treatment-resistant spasticity and pain associated with multiple sclerosis among our participants,” says Dr. Jody Corey-Bloom of the university’s department of neuroscience.

To those familiar with medicinal cannabis research, the results are hardly surprising. After all, Sativex — an oral spray containing plant cannabis extracts — is already legal by prescription to treat MS-related symptoms in over a dozen countries, including Canada, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Spain. Further, long-term assessments of the drug indicate that in addition to symptom management, cannabinoids may also play a role in halting the course of the disease.

Nevertheless, the National MS Society — like the US government — shares little enthusiasm for cannabis medicine, stating, “Studies completed thus far have not provided convincing evidence that marijuana or its derivatives provide substantiated benefits for symptoms of MS.”

Patient advocacy organizations, like the MS Society, have a responsibility to represent the interests of their constituents and to advise practitioners regarding best treatment practices. Why then does this responsibility not extend to patients who use cannabis as an alternative treatment therapy or to those that might one day potentially benefit from its use?

Article originally available at http://blog.norml.org/2012/05/14/breaking-clinical-trial-data-yet-again-affirms-cannabis-efficacy/

Nancy Pelosi: Medical Marijuana Busts By Feds Of ‘Strong Concern’

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:56:39 +0000

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday released a statement pushing back against the Obama administration’s interference with medical marijuana laws in California and beyond. Her statement comes after medical marijuana advocates delivered a petition earlier that day calling on Pelosi to defend patients from ramped up federal enforcement measures.

“I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California,” said Pelosi, “and undermine a policy that has been in place under which the federal government did not pursue individuals whose actions complied with state laws providing for medicinal marijuana.”

Medical marijuana is currently legal in California and 15 other states, plus the District of Columbia, and during his campaign for president, Obama vowed to stop the raids on medical marijuana users that were prevalent under George W. Bush, saying raiding patients who use marijuana for medicinal purposes “makes no sense.”

Yet since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in nine medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments, according to data compiled by Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group. Federal authorities have also seized property from landlords who rent space to growers, threatening them with prosecution, and authorities have even considered taking action against newspapers selling ad space to dispensaries.

Pelosi joins a number of other political figures — among them Barney Frank, Ron Paul and Pat Robertson – who have advocated recently in favor of leaving the issue of medical marijuana to the states.

Her full statement reads:

Access to medicinal marijuana for individuals who are ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is both a medical and a states’ rights issue. Sixteen states, including our home state of California, and the District of Columbia have adopted medicinal marijuana laws — most by a vote of the people.I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California, and undermine a policy that has been in place under which the federal government did not pursue individuals whose actions complied with state laws providing for medicinal marijuana.

Proven medicinal uses of marijuana include improving the quality of life for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other severe medical conditions.

I am pleased to join organizations that support legal access to medicinal marijuana, including the American Nurses Association, the Lymphoma Foundation of America, and the AIDS Action Council.

Medicinal marijuana alleviates some of the most debilitating symptoms of AIDS, including pain, wasting, and nausea. The opportunity to ease the suffering of people who are seriously ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is an opportunity we must not ignore.

For these reasons, I have long supported efforts in Congress to advocate federal policies that recognize the scientific evidence and clinical research demonstrating the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana, that respects the wishes of the states in providing relief to ill individuals, and that prevents the federal government from acting to harm the safe access of medicinal marijuana provided under state law. I will continue to strongly support those efforts.

Nancy Pelosi: Medical Marijuana Busts By Feds Of ‘Strong Concern’

Smoking Medical Marijuana May Decrease Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms, Study Suggests

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:48:26 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People with multiple sclerosis have long said that smoking marijuana helps ease their painful muscle cramping. And a new clinical trial suggests they are not just blowing smoke.

The study, published Monday, found that for 30 MS patients with muscle “spasticity,” a few days of marijuana smoking brought some relief.

But the big caveat, researchers say, is that it’s not clear that the downsides of pot smoking are worth it.

Some people with MS are already using medical marijuana to treat certain symptoms, including spasticity — when the muscles in the legs or arms contract painfully, in something akin to a “charley horse.”

There is some science behind the idea: The body naturally produces cannabinoids, the group of chemicals found in marijuana. And studies have suggested the cannabinoid receptors on our cells help regulate muscle spasticity.

But the evidence that pot smoking actually helps with spasticity has been anecdotal.

“We’ve heard from patients that marijuana helps their spasticity, but I think a lot us thought, ‘Well, it’s probably just making you feel good,’” said Dr. Jody Corey-Bloom, the lead researcher on the new study.

“I think this study shows that yes, (marijuana) may help with spasticity, but at a cost,” said Corey-Bloom, of the University of California, San Diego.

The cost, her team found, is that smoking caused fatigue and dizziness in some users, and generally slowed down people’s mental skills soon after they used marijuana.

But it’s not clear if that would have any long-term consequences, Corey-Bloom said.

About 400,000 people in the United States have MS, a chronic disease in which the protective coating around nerve fibers starts breaking down.

The new study, reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included 30 MS patients with muscle spasticity that had failed to get better with standard medication.

Corey-Bloom’s team had each patient smoke marijuana or “placebo” joints — which looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing, but lacked the active ingredient in marijuana, known as THC.

Each patient smoked marijuana once a day for three days and used the placebo cigarette once a day on three separate days. Before and after each treatment, an independent rater assessed the patients’ muscle spasticity.

Overall, the study found, measures of spasticity dropped an average of three points –about 30 percent — on a 24-point scale when patients smoked marijuana, but didn’t change after they smoked the placebo.

The issue of treating spasticity is “certainly an important one,” said Nicholas LaRocca, vice president of healthcare delivery and policy research at the National MS Society.

“Spasticity is a big problem for many people with MS, and the current medications don’t necessarily work for everyone,” said LaRocca, who was not involved in the new study.

“But smoking marijuana does not appear to be a long-term solution, because of the cognitive effects,” he told Reuters Health.

People with MS are already at some risk of “cognitive changes,” LaRocca pointed out, so the potential for lasting effects from long-term marijuana smoking is a concern.

However, LaRocca said, researchers are developing cannabinoid-based medications for MS. That includes a cannabinoid mouth spray called Sativex that has been approved in the UK, Canada, Spain and New Zealand to treat MS-related spasticity.

Research into cannabinoids and spasticity should continue, LaRocca said, because medications may be able to harness the benefits of specific cannabis compounds, without the side effects linked to smoking pot.

Both LaRocca and Corey-Bloom said there were limitations to the current study.

“Blinding” people as to whether they are on marijuana or a placebo is tough since the drug creates a “high” feeling.

In this study, 17 of 30 patients were able to correctly guess whether they were using marijuana or a placebo at each of their six visits with the researchers. And the rest often guessed correctly.

“It’s pretty clear that the patients were not really blinded,” LaRocca said. “What effects that might have had on the results is unclear.”

Corey-Bloom said that should not have influenced the spasticity findings, since an independent researcher (who didn’t know whether patients were smoking marijuana or the placebo) rated spasticity using a standard scale.

But another limitation, she pointed out, is that the study looked at the effects, and side effects, of marijuana over only a few days. “We can’t say anything about long-term effects,” Corey-Bloom told Reuters Health.

For now, LaRocca recommended that people with spasticity see a doctor experienced in treating MS. And if you’re on an anti-spasticity medication and it’s not working well enough, or the side effects are too much, tell your doctor, he said.

For some people, a change in the medication dose might help.

Article originally available at http://www.empowher.com/multiple-sclerosis/content/marijuana-may-ease-multiple-sclerosis-symptoms

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month – March

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:17:12 +0000

Pasadena, California

Colorectal cancer affects both men and women equally – 130,000 people are
diagnosed with the disease every year. But colorectal cancer is preventable, and

can be successfully treated and is often curable when detected early.

To lower your risk of colorectal cancer, the American Society of Colon and Rectal
Surgeons recommends that you:

• Get regular colorectal cancer screenings after age 50. Between 80-90%
of colorectal cancer patients are restored to normal health if their cancer
is detected and treated in the earliest stages.
• Eat a low-fat, high-fiber diet.
• If you use alcohol, drink only in moderation. If you use tobacco, quit. If
you don’t use tobacco, don’t start. Alcohol and tobacco in combination
are linked to colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal cancers.
• Exercise for at least 20 minutes three to four days each week. Moderate
exercise such as walking, gardening or climbing steps may help.
Colorectal cancer is extremely preventable if polyps that lead to the cancer are
detected and removed, and it is very curable if the cancer is detected in its early
stages. Since there are very few symptoms associated with colorectal cancer,
regular screening is essential.
Talk to your colorectal surgeon or other healthcare
provider about colorectal cancer and what kind of
screening test is right for you.
To learn more, visit the American Society of
Colon and Rectal Surgeons web site at
www.fascrs.org.
Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month was founded
by the Cancer Research Foundation of America in
collaboration with the National Colorectal Cancer
Roundtable and the American Digestive Health
Foundation.

If you, or someone you know is suffering from cancer and would like to learn more about using marijuana as medicine, please call Roger A. Barnes, MD at 626-344-7596 to learn more or visit http://www.TheCannabisDoctors.com . Dr. Barnes can evaluate potential patients to determine if marijuana can help their condition at his Pasadena Medical Marijuana Evaluation clinic located at 1224 E. Green Street #101 Pasadena, CA 91106.

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Potential Link Between Colorectal Cancer Risk, Obesity And Alcohol Consumption (medicalnewstoday.com)
Colonoscopy Lowers Rate of Cancer Deaths, Study Finds – New York Times (nytimes.com)

Medical Cannabis Compliance Lawyer makes recommendations of Regulations for Marijuana

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:55:21 +0000

Crescent City, CA(PRWEB) February 18, 2012

The vagueness of laws governing the use of medical marijuana in California has resulted in a patchwork of local regulations and tensions with federal regulators. The confusion has prompted activists to search for a way to improve California medical cannabis regulations. Medical marijuana attorney Chris Van Hook proposes using 3 existing frameworks for regulating marijuana, depending on its intended use: pharmaceutical, herbal, or food/industrial.

Van Hook, founder of the Clean Green Certified medical marijuana inspection program, points out medical cannabis is used in a few distinct ways. Cannabis-based drugs like Sativex are prescribed by doctors in Europe and Canada as an actual medicine, and although they are not available in the US at this time, Van Hook believes there is a large potential market here. Patients also use cannabis as an herbal remedy to relieve various ailments by inhaling, vaporizing, eating or using cannabis tinctures. Finally, cannabis is taken as a dietary supplement/food/fiber crop.

“Each of these methods of use is legitimate and the uses are not exclusionary; in fact, they should be recognized and further developed,” says Van Hook.

The California medical cannabis compliance lawyer says pharmaceutical cannabis will most likely always be grown indoors. There will be very specific patentable strains producing patentable compounds that will help in the very specific manner for which they have been tested and developed. Regulatory standards for cleanliness, dosage standardization labeling and prescribing will be thoroughly developed, as they should be for that particular market.

“The expansion of this market will increase the number of people who will become more comfortable with cannabis. This in turn will increase the number of patients who will become comfortable with the other regulatory categories of cannabis—herbal remedies and food/fiber crops,” he explains.

Cannabis used in herbal remedies will come from both the indoor- and outdoor-grown cannabis production models. The regulatory constraints of herbal remedies are much less burdensome than the pharmaceutical regulations, and their use need not be prescribed by a doctor. Examples of this type of use include edibles, falling under existing food regulations; in pill form, similar to garlic pills or fish oil pills; in tincture form, like Echinacea; or inhaled in a manner similar to aromatherapy, where herbs and plants that are burned and the smoke is inhaled to clear nasal systems or to break up colds. The smoke may be inhaled or the plant matter vaporized to reduce the smoke intake.

“Under this regulatory framework there need not be any medical proof that it is working; there only need be the patient determining that it is helping them,” notes Van Hook. He says this largest category of use does not require the strict regulations applied to pharmaceuticals. The agricultural standards for the production, field handling, and manufacturing/processing of herbal remedy crops are already in place and successfully used to regulate the multi-billion dollar herbal products industry.

Cannabis as a food and fiber agricultural crop will almost exclusively come from outdoor cannabis production, which can support the larger volumes of cannabis required for the developing juicing methods, hemp fiber and dietary oils from seed production. Existing agricultural production, field handling and food processing regulations are already in place to produce and market raw fresh wheatgrass juice to consumers, and these regulations could easily be adapted for cannabis juicing, says Van Hook.

He says by properly placing the different ways that medical cannabis is used into the appropriate existing regulatory frameworks of: pharmaceutical, herbal remedy, and food and fiber crops, California will 1) widen and expand the market for all cannabis uses 2) help assure that the agricultural and small farm component of the industry is not overburdened by pharmacological standards and regulations, and 3) more accurately describe the regulatory frameworks each use of cannabis should be in.

“By expanding the regulatory categories cannabis can operate under, each category’s growth would enhance and support the other two. Each developing use would have clear regulatory guidelines that are already in place. Each category of participant could then be buoyed by the success of the other two categories and friction between the different types of uses would be minimized,” Van Hook concludes.

About Clean Green Certified

Clean Green Certified, an independent third-party medical cannabis certification program created by attorney Chris Van Hook, is an agricultural process review and certification program based on the non-use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and sprays, and the building of consumer confidence that their agricultural products are produced in manner that is both healthy and safe for the environment. Their California medical marijuana quality control programs also include Best Practices certification, which allows the limited and responsible use of synthetic chemical fertilizers, and compliance with Mendocino County Code 9.31 (the medical cannabis cultivation regulation ordinance).

Clean Green’s expert legal team also provides services that include: medical cannabis expert witness testimony; on-site inspections; medical cannabis compliance for growers and for handlers/processors/dispensaries; formation of grower collectives and nonprofit corporations; commercial leases; product licensing; contracts and real property issues; administrative law; and permit assistance and acquisition.

For more information about the Clean Green Certified program, call Chris Van Hook at (707) 218-6979 or visit http://www.cleangreencert.com.

To learn more about becoming a legal medical marijuana patient, please visit http://www.thecannabisdoctors.com or call Roger A. Barnes, MD for a confidential Pasadena Medical Marijuana Evaluation at 626-344-7596

Los Angeles Medical Cannabis Cup Awards Show(pasadenamarijuanaevaluations.com)
About those State of California medical marijuana ID cards (pasadenamarijuanaevaluations.com)

Don’t use medical marijuana before driving in Pasadena!

admin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:11:37 +0000

Acute cannabis consumption and motor vehicle collisionrisk

Everyone knows that drinking and driving is never a good idea. Well, according to a new study by the British Medical Journal, using medical marijuana and driving is also a bad idea. The study concludes that people who smoke marijuana within a few hours of getting behind a wheel, may be almost twice as likely to cause an accident compared with someone who was not using medical marijuana.

There was a review of nine studies done on marijuana smoking and car crashes. The researchers were from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Conclusions: Acute cannabis consumption is associated with an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash, especially for fatal collisions. This information could be used as the basis for campaigns against drug impaired driving, developing regional or national policies to control acute drug use while driving, and raising public awareness.

The entire study can be read here http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e536

If you or someone you know is suffering from a chronic condition, and would like to learn more about using medical marijuana, legally as a medicine, please contact Roger A. Barnes, MD at 626-344-7596 or visit http://www.TheCannabisDoctors.com to schedule a confidential medical marijuana evaluation in Pasadena, California

Pasadena Medical Marijuana Evaluations (pasadenamedicalmarijuanadoctors.blogspot.com)
California Medical Association Calls For Legalization Of Marijuana (pasadenamarijuanaevaluations.com)
Marijuana-Based Painkiller Seeks FDA Approval (pasadenamarijuanaevaluations.com)

Los Angeles Medical Cannabis Cup Awards Show

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:43:01 +0000

On Sunday, February 12, the HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup culminated in the presentation of awards to the top products of the medical cannabis industry of Greater Los Angeles. A crowd of 500 filled the plaza of L.A. Center Studios to witness the first-ever cannabis competition that HIGH TIMES magazine has staged in Southern California.

Comedian Rob Cantrell kicked off the show and stars of the cannabis industry presented the awards, including HIGH TIMES Freedom Fighter of the Year Debby Goldsberry.

Also on hand to present the award for Best Sativa was the entire crew of Odd Future. Flesh-n-Bone and Layzie Bone from Bone, Thugs & Harmony took the stage to present the Best Hybrid Cup and revved up the crowd with their own impromptu pot rap.

Medical marijuana pioneer Dennis Peron took the stage and told the crowd that the age of legal medical cannabis is “coming soon” nationwide. The HIGH TIMES Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to the late, great Jack Herer who history recognizes as the leader of the modern cannabis movement. His son, Dan, accepted the award and warned the crowd against becoming complacent – that there is still important work to do.

Article originally available at http://hightimes.com/lounge/ht_admin/7526

Obama Ignores Medical Marijuana During Google+ Hangout

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:21:30 +0000

President Barack Obama, again, turned to social media to connect with voters — and again he used it as another chance to ignore talking pot.

You might have noticed that every time President Obama takes to the series of interactive intertubes, the unwashed masses want to talk, not taxes and not turkey, but the good herb. Last year, the POTUS employed YouTube and Twitter to walk amongst the people, and on Monday, Obama connected with his fellow Americans using “Hangout” on Google +.

Just like the last two times, viewers/voters submitted questions to the president for consideration via YouTube. And just like the last two times, a question about marijuana legalization was the top draw.

And, just like the last time, the question from a retired cop about failed drug policy and a reexamination of law enforcement priorities was not forwarded to the president.

Yet again, Obama is blameless: The White House says Google + moderators selected the questions.

Some 133,000 questions were sent in to the president, according to Reuters. Two questions received top billing: A video question about marijuana, and a texted question about copyright infringement.

The video question came from former Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Stephen Downing, who noted a recent Gallup Poll showed more Americans in favor of legalization than not. “What do you say to this growing voter constituency that wants more changes to drug policy than you have delivered in your first term?” Downing asked.

It’s anyone’s guess, as the president was too busy doing a dance in front of camera, taking questions about his 20th wedding anniversary and those silly little things called drones in the Middle East.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney noted that it was out of the White House’s hands. Google + moderators picked the questions to feed to the president, whose answers were interspersed between give-and-take with five “typical” Americans in the Google + “hangout.”

It’s unclear why Silicon Valley-based Google opted not to test the president — perhaps it’s the mutual flow of money and influence between the two?

“It’s worse than silly that YouTube and Google would waste the time of the president and of the American people discussing things like midnight snacks and playing tennis when there is a much more pressing question on the minds of the people who took the time to participate in voting on submissions,” said Downing, a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a coterie of cops and former cops who speak out against the Drug War.

“The time to discuss this issue is now. We’re tired of this serious public policy crisis being pushed aside or laughed off.”

This article was originally available at http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/01/medical_marijuana_obama_google.php

If you, or someone you know, is suffering, and would like to learn more about using marijuana as medicine, please call Roger A. Barnes, MD at the Pasadena Medical Marijuana Evaluation Clinic at 626-344-7596 or visit his website at http://www.thecannabisdoctors.com

Ron Paul for Medical Marijuana Legalization: Five Highlights of 2011

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:28:16 +0000

Ron Paul, a presidential candidate and a Republican Congressman, along with Barney Frank, former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has already called for an act to legalize medical marijuana in the United States. He claims the substance can help cure or, at the least, offer painkilling options for patients suffering from diseases.

There were several highs and lows, in legal matters surrounding the use and possession of the substance, all through last year. Here are the top 5 highlights…

5. Connecticut and Arkansas Lower Fines for Cannabis Possession: Gov. Dan Malloy, on June 30, signed a legislation decriminalizing marijuana in Connecticut and making the possession of under a half-ounce punishable only by a fine of $150. Meanwhile, in Arkansas, Gov. Mike Beebe signed a legislation that would relax the penalty for possessing up to four ounces of marijuana (previously punishable by up to a year in jail, along with a $1,000 fine). Judges will now punish first-time offenders with a year’s probation.

4. Bill Introduced in Congress: Congressmen Ron Paul and Barney Frank introduced a bill that would let states decide their own marijuana policies without federal intrusion; this was not just about medical marijuana policies. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) – a cannabis advocacy organization in the United States – has lobbied Congress for five years to initiate this legislation, which MPP helped to draft. At least 21 House members are sponsoring this legislation, as of today.

3. Medical Marijuana Laws Implemented and Expanded by New Mexico, New Jersey, Maine and D.C. : Maine’s Health Department issued eight dispensary licenses in 2010, going by a ballot initiative that was approved of by 59 percent of Maine voters in November 2009. All but one of the dispensaries has opened. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie held a news conference on July 19, where he said he didn’t believe New Jersey dispensaries would be targeted under federal law, and, as a result, six dispensaries will open in the state. In New Mexico, the number of dispensaries increased from 17 to 25. The D.C. government, on its part, launched an application process that will result in 10 growers and five dispensaries being licensed in the nation’s capital by April.

2. World leaders and Their Views: The “Global Commission on Drug Policy“, on June 2, announced its support for the drug. This was also seen as a way of rejecting former U.S. President, Richard Nixon, and his launch of the modern drug war some 40 years ago. Eminent personalities such as former United Nations General Secretary and British businessman Richard Branson endorsed the decriminalization of marijuana. This generated huge waves of positive media coverage in the U.S. and across the world.

1. Congress Turns against Anti-Drug Campaign: The Congress and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in 1998, passed a law creating the “National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign,” which received an average of $186 million out of taxpayer money, annually, over its first five years. The pro-use organization, MPP, has been lobbying Congress this past decade, to eliminate the program. In 2012, the program received only $35 million in funds. On Dec. 23, Congress and President Obama eliminated funding for the ads in 2012.

Article originally available at http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/285583/20120122/ron-paul-medical-marijuana-legalization-five-highlights.htm

Marijuana-Based Painkiller Seeks FDA Approval

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:36:54 +0000

By Lisa Leff http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/23/marijuana-based-painkiller-seeks-fda-approval/?iid=hl-main-feature

A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in medical marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.

A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world’s first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents — a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013.

Sativex contains marijuana’s two best known components — delta 9-THC and cannabidiol — and already has been approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries for a different usage, relieving muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

FDA approval would represent an important milestone in the nation’s often uneasy relationship with marijuana, which 16 states and the District of Columbia already allow residents to use legally with doctors’ recommendations. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes pot as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but the availability of a chemically similar prescription drug could increase pressure on the federal government to revisit its position and encourage other drug companies to follow in GW Pharma’s footsteps.

“There is a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what the states have pushed for and what the market is providing,” said Aron Lichtman, a Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacology professor and president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. “It seems to me a company with a great deal of vision would say, ‘If there is this demand and need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lot of money.’”

Possessing marijuana still is illegal in the United Kingdom, but about a decade ago GW Pharma’s founder, Dr. Geoffrey Guy, received permission to grow it to develop a prescription drug. Guy proposed the idea at a scientific conference that heard anecdotal evidence that pot provides relief to multiple sclerosis patients, and the British government welcomed it as a potential way “to draw a clear line between recreational and medicinal use,” company spokesman Mark Rogerson said.

In addition to exploring new applications for Sativex, the company is developing drugs with different cannabis formulations.

“We were the first ones to charge forward and a lot of people were watching to see what happened to us,” Rogerson said. “I think we are clearly past that stage.”

In 1985, the FDA approved two drug capsules containing synthetic THC, Marinol and Cesamet, to ease side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The agency eventually allowed Marinol to be prescribed to stimulate the appetites of AIDS patients. The drug’s patent expired last year, and other U.S. companies have been developing formulations that could be administered through dissolving pills, creams and skin patches and perhaps be used for other ailments.

Doctors and multiple sclerosis patients are cautiously optimistic about Sativex. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has not endorsed marijuana use by patients, but the organization is sponsoring a study by a University of California, Davis neurologist to determine how smoking marijuana compares to Marinol in addressing painful muscle spasms.

“The cannabinoids and marijuana will, eventually, likely be part of the clinician’s armamentarium, if they are shown to be clinically beneficial,” said Timothy Coetzee, the society’s chief research officer. “The big unknown in my mind is whether they are clearly beneficial.”

Opponents and supporters of crude marijuana’s effectiveness generally agree that more research is needed. And marijuana advocates fear that the government will use any new prescription products to justify a continued prohibition on marijuana use. .

“To the extent that companies can produce effective medication that utilizes the components of the plant, that’s great. But that should not be the exclusive access for people who want to be able to use medical marijuana,” Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes said. “That’s the race against time, in terms of how quickly can we put pressure on the federal government to recognize the plant has medical use versus the government coming out with the magic bullet pharmaceutical pill.”

Interest in new and better marijuana-based medicines has been building since the discovery in the late 1980s and 1990s that mammals have receptors in their central nervous systems, several organs and immune systems for the chemicals in botanical cannabis and that their bodies also produce natural cannabinoids that work on the same receptors.

One of the first drugs to build on those breakthroughs was an anti-obesity medication that blocked the same chemical receptors that trigger the munchies in pot smokers. Under the name Acomplia, it was approved throughout Europe and heralded as a possible new treatment for smoking cessation and metabolic disorders that can lead to heart attacks.

The FDA was reviewing its safety as a diet drug when follow-up studies showed that people taking the drug were at heightened risk of suicide and other psychiatric disorders. French manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis, pulled it from the market in late 2008.

Given that drug companies already were reluctant “to touch anything that is THC-like with a 10-foot- pole,” the setback had a chilling effect on cannabinoid drug development, according to Lichtman.

“Big companies like Merck and Pfizer were developing their own versions (of Acomplia), so all of those programs they spent millions and millions on just went away…” he said.

But scientists and drug companies that are exploring pot’s promise predict the path will ultimately be successful, if long and littered with setbacks.

One is Alexandros Makriyannis, director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Northeastern University and founder of a small Boston company that hopes to market synthetic pain products that are chemically unrelated to marijuana, but work similarly on the body or inhibit the cannabinoid receptors. He also has been working on a compound that functions like the failed Acomplia but without the depressive effects.

“I think within five to 10 years, we should get something,” Makriyannis said.

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