The Case for Research into Medicinal Marijuana

The recent report out of Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology at the University of Rostock in Rostock Germany in marijuana research has caused me to revisit a podcast interview that I conducted last year with Dan Bernath from the Marijuana Policy Project.

Robert Ramer and Burkhard Hinz reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that marijuana has compounds in it which may have an anti-cancer effect. In laboratory settings they found that cannabinoids suppress tumor cell invasion and stimulate the expression of an enzyme inhibitor involved in tumor cell invasion.

This research was done in Germany and at present time studies like these can not be carried out in the United States because of laws in place that make marijuana an illegal street drug, but also make it illegal to use in medical research. In order to conduct any research in the United States on the medicinal benefits of marijuana researchers have to apply for permission to use government grade marijuana. Based on lengthy details laid down in the Controlled Drug Substance Act it is determined by the government if that permission can and will be granted.

This is because, despite a 3,000 year history of being used as an anapestic and analgesic prior to World War One, and more recently studies showing that it helps relive pain due to nerve damage associated with epilepsy and MS and can be used to treat wasting syndrome in patients with AIDS and cancer, marijuana is a schedule one drug.

Schedule one drugs are drugs or substances that have been determined to have a high potential for abuse, there is a lack of safety information on the drug or substance based on a laboratory setting and it has no accepted medical use in the United States.

During my interview with Mr. Bernath he pointed out that all drugs have the potential for abuse or dependency. One has to look no further than the number of prescription drugs and nonprescription drugs that are abused. One has to look no further than the world of professional sports to find people who have become dependant on pain medications. You don't have to any further than your local drug store for pseudoephedrine containing cold medication where you are asked for an ID and a record is kept of who bought what and you are only allowed a limited number of purchases in a given amount of time because people learned how to use it's components to make methamphetamines.

Interesting though, is the fact that opium is also an illegal street drug but can be found in medications such as codine, morphine and oxycodone. Opium is listed as a schedule two drug along with heroin, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and can lead to severe psychological or physical dependency but it also has an accepted medicinal use.

What is even more surprising than that is that a drug called Xyrem, used to treat narcolepsy, is a schedule three drug. Schedule three drugs are classified as having an abuse level less than schedule one and schedule two drugs with a low to moderate physical or psychological dependency and has an excepted medicinal use in the United States. What is the big deal about Xyrem being a schedule three drug? The main ingredient is gamma-hydroxybutyrate or GHB, the date rape drug.

Many deaths have been attributed to GHB, several heart attacks in teenagers have been associated with caffeine overdose related to energy drinks. According to Dan Bernath, there have yet to be deaths reported due to marijuana overdose.

I am not condoning marijuana use, but in my mind it seems hypocritical to classify drugs such as opium and GBH as being less dangerous than marijuana and therefore giving the government reason to block research into medical value.

Currently tweleve states have laws making medicinal marijuana legal. This means that people have permission from the state government to grow their own marijuana under regulation based on doctor recommendation or prescription. The federal government regularly makes raids on these people, arresting and charging them with possession, and confiscating a couple small plants. The federal government refuses to acknowledge these state laws because they are in contradiction to federal drug laws as well as refusing to acknowledge that marijuana helps relieve people of pain, nausea and wasting due to AIDS, cancer and glaucoma and that these reports are documented in peer reviewed medical journals.

Drugscience.org, home of the Cannibas Rescheduling Petition, has been fighting since at least 2002 to have marijuana reclassified under the Controlled Substance Act arguing that cannibus has an accepted medical use in the United States, is safe for use under medical supervision, has an abuse potential lower than Schedule I or II drugs, and has a dependence liability that is also lower than Schedule I or II drugs.

What I want explained to me, as I am sure a number of other people want explained to them, is what is the rational that marijuana is more dangerous than opium, heroin or GHB and therefore does not warrant medicinal research.