Marijuana study will be controversial
A new debate about medical marijuana will be brewing starting today as the American Society of Anesthesiologists issues its study in which it concludes that smoking marijuana in large does not only does not ease pain, but may increase it. The study concludes that a "moderate" amount of marijuana does reduce pain in healthy volunteer subjects, but pain increases with the marijuana dosage.
The study is featured in the November issue of the journal of Anesthesiology.
According to a press release from the ASA:
"'Our study suggests that there is a therapeutic window for analgesia, with low doses being ineffective, medium doses resulting in pain relief, and high doses increasing pain,' comments lead author Dr. Mark S. Wallace of University of California, San Diego.
"Dr. Wallace and colleagues evaluated the effects of smoking cannabis on pain responses in 15 healthy volunteers. On different days, the research subjects smoked low, medium, or high doses of cannabis (based on the content of 9-delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active chemical in cannabis), or an inactive placebo. Pain was induced by injecting capsaicin, the "hot" chemical found in chili peppers, into the skin. Capsaicin injection is a standard technique used in pain studies.
"Five minutes after smoking, none of the three doses of cannabis had any effect on pain responses to capsaicin. However, 45 minutes after smoking the moderate dose of cannabis, pain was significantly reduced - approximately six points lower on a 100-point scale, compared with the inactive placebo.
"In contrast, 45 minutes after smoking the high dose of cannabis, pain scores were increased - about eight points higher than with placebo.
"The low dose of cannabis had no effect on pain scores. None of the three doses affected the extent of secondary hyperalgesia - that is, the spread of pain beyond the area injected with capsaicin.
"Levels of THC measured in the blood were significantly related to reduced pain scores at the moderate dose of cannabis, but not to the increase in pain with high-dose cannabis. The volunteers' sense of feeling 'high' increased with each dose of cannabis, even though the pain-relieving effects did not."
The ASA calls for more study of the use of pain and marijuana but concludes that given these findings, ASA cannot recommend marijuana for pain relief.
Go to www.anesthesiology.org for more info.
There's a hearing in Washington D.C. today on a bill coauthored by Rep. Mike Thompson to expand the boundaries of the protected ocean area known as the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell National Marine Sanctuary north to Point Arena.
According to the Defenders of Wildlife, who support the legislation, "The Point Arena upwelling source, one of only four mid-latitude coastal upwelling systems that naturally occur worldwide, brings nutrients from the deep ocean to surface waters where they form the basis of a rich marine food chain. Although these four global upwelling centers occupy less than one percent of the ocean, together they have historically supplied approximately one-half of the world's fish catch. The Point Arena oceanic upwelling system supplies nutrients to the federally protected marine ecosystems of the Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones, and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. These nutrients help maintain important commercial and recreational fisheries as far south as the Monterey Canyon."
Resolutions of support for HR 1187 have been adopted by the Boards of Supervisors of the California counties of Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino and San Francisco, in addition to the California Coastal Commission. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations also supports the legislation.