‘Gold Standard’ Studies Show That Inhaled Marijuana Is Medically Safe And Effective
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February 17, 2010
The results of a series of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials assessing the efficacy of inhaled marijuana consistently show that cannabis holds therapeutic value comparable to conventional medications, according to the findings of a 24-page report issued earlier today to the California state legislature by the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR).Four of the five placebo-controlled trials demonstrated that marijuana significantly alleviated neuropathy, a difficult to treat type of pain resulting from nerve damage.
“There is good evidence now that cannabinoids (the active compounds in the marijuana plant) may be either an adjunct or a first-line treatment for … neuropathy,” said Dr. Igor Grant, Director of the CMCR, at a news conference at the state Capitol. He added that the efficacy of smoked marijuana was “very consistent,” and that its pain-relieving effects were “comparable to the better existing treatments” presently available by prescription.
A fifth study showed that smoked cannabis reduced the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. A separate study conducted by the CMCR established that the vaporization of cannabis – a process that heats the substance to a temperature where active cannabinoid vapors form, but below the point of combustion – is a “safe and effective” delivery mode for patients who desire the rapid onset of action associated with inhalation while avoiding the respiratory risks of smoking.
Two additional clinical trials remain ongoing.
The CMCR program was founded in 2000 following an $8.7 million appropriation from the California state legislature. The studies are some of the first placebo-controlled clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of inhaled cannabis as a medicine to take place in over two decades.
Placebo-controlled clinical crossover trials are considered to be the ‘gold standard’ method for assessing the efficacy of drugs under the US FDA-approval process.
“These scientists created an unparalleled program of systematic research, focused on science-based answers rather than political or social beliefs,” said former California Senator John Vasconcellos, who sponsored the legislation in 1999 to launch the CMCR. Vasconcellos called the studies’ design “state of art,” and suggested that the CMCR’s findings “ought to settle the issue” of whether or not medical marijuana is a safe and effective medical treatment for patients.
“This (report) confirms all of the anecdotal evidence – how lives have been saved and pain has been eased,” said California Democrat Senator Mark Leno at the press conference. “Now we have the science to prove it.”
Full text of the CMCR’s report to the California legislature is available at online at: http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/CMCR_REPORT_FEB17.pdf.
106 Responses to “‘Gold Standard’ Studies Show That Inhaled Marijuana Is Medically Safe And Effective”
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clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap.
This is absolutely incredible news. A huge step in favor of medical marijuana and one more nail in the prohibition coffin.
Sorry for this NORML ………..THIS IS F**KIN AWESOME not to mention there again science is proving that this is a safe preventable or cure for almost anything .You guys rock with all the info i check this shit every day an still hav yet to make a donation sorry for that too
Absolutely great news!!! How much evidence is needed until these idiot politicians realize that marijuana is great for medical patients in need of relief???
“These scientists created an unparalleled program of systematic research, focused on science-based answers rather than political or social beliefs”
And therein lies the key to undoing the horrors of prohibition.
It’s about time someone points out publicly that the “inhaling smoke” argument does not hold for vaporizing.
I understand inhaling cannabis smoke has not been linked to cancers or lung disease, but I’ve talked to doctors who abide by the blanket policy that inhaling any combusted substance is bad by default — and to them I’ve always argued vaporizing.
I hope this gets traction.
Great news but sadly I’m wondering how this will be covered by our media? Oh well, great news!
This is wonderful news. Now we just need a good ‘gold standard’ test on the effects of high grade hemp oil on cancer!
This is great news! This goes against what Kerlikowske said about SMOKED marijuana, and now he’s trapped in a corner. I don’t think the feds can keep cannabis listed as a schedule 1 drug much longer without people becoming more and more pissed. Change is finally coming. But how did the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research conduct these studies without being stopped? Regardless… awesome news. It’s about time.
Someone tell them to do a “gold standard” study on cancer treatment.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=mf&gid=286239318164
I just don’t see any reason why, study after study, that so many states are still waiting for it to be fully legalized and regulated. Everyone needs to realize that while smoke itself may not be the best way to use marijuana, it still has health benefits.
2010- FULL LEGALIZATION NEEDS TO HAPPEN!
2010- GOVERNMENT LIES NEED TO END!
This should put a big thorn in the prohibitionists sides! Guess its time to get back on track with using one of the oldest medical plants in the world! Time to push the politics out of the herb.
nice to finally see research in the US making cannabis sound good for a change!!
thanks!
Thank you to all researchers involved. Now, does law or lawsuit force the DEA to reschedule? Wiki says a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance …(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. This is in the US, and currently HAS accepted medical use in treatment (thanks to CMCR). A mandatory rescheduling is in order.
woot! Who would have thought? lolllll.
The government will claim that the cannabis was not from an authorized source, theirs.
The study is redundent since they would never release their supplies to prove MJ as anything less than deadly poison and if they had, the quality is so poor as to give negative results anyway.
[Paul Armentano responds: The marijuana supply used in the studies was from NIDA.]
[...] ‘Gold Standard’ Studies Show That Inhaled Marijuana Is Medically Safe And Effective [...]
We’ve always had the scientific evidence. Congress just hasn’t actually done anything useful with it.
Wow, such great news. We need more “real science” around cannabis. I don’t think this is enough to get the Government to consider re-classifying cannabis off Schedule 1 status however.
We could conduct all the science experiments in the world many times over for the rest of our lives. Prohibitionists will continue to fight us and the truth. This doesn’t change the way the game is played.
this is good news are the prohibitionist going to keep lie us.
So is this going to make it to any mainstream news stations? Or will it go unheard?
[Paul Armentano responds: There is an extensive Associated Press wire story on this linked in my report. Google news lists separate stories from 380+ national news outlets. This story is being picked up widely in mainstream news outlts.]
“[Paul Armentano responds: The marijuana supply used in the studies was from NIDA.]”
Okay, now I am impressed. If you can get positive results from low potency brown bud….wow!
I have wonder how CCMCR managed to get NIDA approval though since they’re stated policy is not to permit their supply to be used for research to explore any possible benefits cannabis may have.
Absolutely awesome news.
[Paul Armentano responds: CMCR received NIDA approval because it had the backing and funding of the state of California. Even then, on average, federal approval took about 18 months for each separate study. Most private or university investigators do not have the time or the funding to do likewise.]
its all like a snowball rolling down hill,its getting bigger and better,its slowly turning in our favor as long as we all keep pushing
Paul Armentano, what would you say to this: “Thank you to all researchers involved. Now, does law or lawsuit force the DEA to reschedule? Wiki says a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance …(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. This is in the US, and currently HAS accepted medical use in treatment (thanks to CMCR). A mandatory rescheduling is in order.” Which was said earlier by “Victory”? I’d just like to know if this is true or not, and what you think this means for the future of medical cannabis in this country.
Thanks!
[Paul Armentano responds: I posed a question to the CMCR researchers at the new conference that went something like this: "Given that the CMCR trial design is the gold standard design used by private manufacturers who seek to go before the FDA for review to bring a new drug to market, and given that there is no legal private producer of marijuana that could ever go before the FDA, would the CMCR consider submitting their body of work to the FDA for their review?" Igor Grant said that my question was a valid one and while the CMCR had never previously considered such an option that it was worthy of discussion. Regarding rescheduling only Congress can reschedule and/or DEA/HHS. A rescheduling petition was filed several years ago and has sat before DEA for many years now unanswered.]
I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to all the medical researchers that contributed to this study. Thank you. I smoke Marijuana for Neuropathic pain, from a vehicle accident back in 2006, at which I was not at fault. I have burning/tingling sensations chronically on my left foot and leg. I am off all prescription medication and have been since 2008. I now only smoke Marijuana. Unfortunately, I live in the State of Georgia that doesn’t have medical marijuana available as of yet. It is incredibly frustrating to reside in a backwards conservative state. However, change is gradually coming.
Standing Ovation,, keep up the good work guys, lets keep the fight to end this strong n blaze proudly!
It sounds great to me but the Sac Bee is saying that this report means ..
“Getting high not needed for pot to relieve pain, new UC study shows”
According to many people posting comments, they seem to think this means they should take THC out of the medical marijuana.
I’m just sayin’.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/2544345.html?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:cd0460c1-b21c-41f6-9467-1cb7423e793f
Cannabiniods obviously have medical benifits, otherwise the U.S.Patent office would have not issued 998 patents for THC and the other healing cannabinoids! How is the DEA going to debate this one!
You can’t allow medical marijuana! Then all those dang-dong flower wearing hippies will start smoking and then it’s just a matter of time before we live in a socialist, old people-killing, gay marrying, crack smoking shell of the good old U-S of A! Hooooooooey! Whoopy-hoo gelp gelp whiskey bottle outhouse gelp gelp git ‘er done!!!!!!1
Sincerely,
Middle America
yes…awesome information….now, we must anticipate how THEY will twist an turn this information until it will fit THEIR story of bad…bad cannabis…..THEY continue to beat the dead horse in spite of factual information such as this. we must find a way to take away their beating sticks…..the truth can be found by asking the people like us who know the truth…come on all those who seek the truth…ask us…..the ones who actually have used it for all of our adult life……and, have had a good, balanced, healthy life….
I’m thrilled with the strides medical marijuana is making. But, is anybody else worried that once MMJ becomes totally mainstream, conservative lawmakers are going to push back by trying to equalize the penalties for possession with those for other prescription drugs? Could we see felony charges for possessing any amount of pot without a prescription???
thank god someone finally comers out with info about marijuana tht doesnt say tht it is a drug and is bad for u…. hopefully soon this stupid useless war on pot will end
Since NIDA supplied the cannabis cigarettes how are we to know what strain was used? That does make a difference in results, does it not?
Now maybe the drug czar will admit that Marijuana has medical benefits. Now we can get medical cannabis in all states.
do you seriously think that “they” haven’t known this all along? it’s always been about the control and money, nothing else. complete legalization means you can grow your own medicine for pennies. a medicine that has the very same cannabinoids contained in the human body. God had a plan, and men stole it, for their own agenda’s.
very very nice…too bad Obama,Harper and The Police wont use that info…Norml is certainly not going to shut down its web site tomorrow…
Well?
Does that mean that cannabis will be removed from Schedule I?
What Schedule should it be in for cannabis also to be legalized for recreational use?
This just shows us what we already. It’s too bad it doesn’t matter because here in America the Feds have control not the people.
This just shows us what we already know. It’s too bad it doesn’t matter because here in America the Feds have control not the people.
I just cant wait for the excuse that there gona come up with for this. I bet its gona be exceptionally retarded
It’s pretty funny how some countries schedule the drug as Class A and some B and some C (Britian rescheduled it to B from C if I remember)…
It’s the same damn plant. If one country sees a substance as medicinal or non-harmful, where is the consistency? It’s the same herb/flowering plant no matter where.
It makes the US federal government: look ignorant, appear without common sense and credibility. And hopefully to the brainwashed portion of the countr(ies), show it’s just propagandic lies they have propogated & that the body cares only enough about the people it CONTROLS to pass for legitimate.
Show them how it’s done California.
But I wonder what will happen when the majority of the state votes it in. I’m going to expect a non-justified nullification by the government.
This is to the DRUG CZAR MR.K= AAAAH INHALE-AAAAAAHHH EXHALE. When you get paid by our tax dollars you will lie about anything just to make a living. The propaganda machine is going down the tubes and our Berlin Wall on MARIJUANA PROHIBITION is crumbling to dust. The DEA (DEAD END ATROCITIES) is like the TALIBAN enforcers of law and do not care about what happens to the people as long the laws are enforced and people are being punished with no type of morality or justice. In the U.S. it’s a POLICE STATE and the NEW WORLD ORDER with BIG BROTHER technology taking over. Oh where, oh where has our Constitution has gone?
SACRAMENTO, CA – Medical pot can ease pain and relax muscle spasms, according to a researcher who briefed legislators at the State Capitol on Wednesday.
Dr. Igor Grant told lawmakers at a press conference that medicinal marijuana has benefits proven in ten years of research.
The work at UC San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research cost almost $9 million, a drop in the bucket compared to research to bring most drugs to the marketplace.
“They were able to determine in all of their studies, that without exception, pain was relieved and in the case of MS, that spasms were significantly reduced,” said State Senator Mark Leno – (D) San Francisco, a medical pot supporter.
The Center has run out of research money and the state’s budget crisis means new funding is unlikely, according to Leno, who wants to see the federal government finance more study.
“There is enormous possibility here. Studies to determine if this can benefit those who suffer from glaucoma, from different cancers,” Leno said.
Those who’ve used medical pot for years said the results have come as no surprise. Conway Hudson of Citrus Heights said he began using medical pot after a drunk driving accident left him partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
“I can get around. I’m not stiff. I move. I’m not threatened to fall out my chair as much,” Hudson said.
A Sacramento teacher who came to a local medicinal pot clinic to make a purchase said he began using marijuana after a car accident six years ago.
Asked to be known only as James, he said the medical pot he buys has helped him use fewer painkillers. “(It has) …increased my mobility, increased my will to get up, be productive,” he said.
A bipartisan bill to fund medical marijuana research was passed in 1999, three years after California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, allowing those with special certificates to use medical marijuana.
Now they can no longer claim that there are no clinical studies supporting medical marijuana. Will this be enough to get cannabis removed from schedule 1?
Will this stop the Drug Czar from repeating his lie about smoked marijuana not being medicine?
Since all the marijuana was furnished by NIDA and was government grown marijuana,what would these same test results have been using the more exotic strains?
Date: February 17, 2010
UC Studies Show Marijuana Has Therapeutic Value, Reports to Legislature
First results in United States in 20 years from clinical trials of smoked cannabis
Researchers from the University of California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) have found “reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment” for some specific, pain-related medical conditions. Their findings, presented today to the California legislature and public, are included in a report available on the CMCR web site at http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu.
“We focused on illnesses where current medical treatment does not provide adequate relief or coverage of symptoms,” explained CMCR director, Igor Grant, MD, Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine. “These findings provide a strong, science-based context in which policy makers and the public can begin discussing the place of cannabis in medical care.”
Researchers have completed five scientific clinical trials, with more in progress. These studies showed that cannabis can be helpful in easing pain in selected syndromes caused by injury or diseases of the nervous system and possibly for painful muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis.
“These scientists created an unparalleled program of systematic research, focused on science-based answers rather than political or social beliefs,” said Senator John Vasconcellos, original author of The Medical Marijuana Research Act of 1999 (SB847) which led to the creation of the CMCR.
Study results have been published in high-impact medical journals, garnering national and international attention which prompted leading experts to come together and foster scientific dialog on the possible uses of cannabis as a therapeutic agent. More study will be necessary to figure out the mechanisms of action and the full therapeutic potential of cannabinoid compounds, according to the UC researchers.
About The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research:
The CMCR was created in 2000 (through the passage of SB847) to conduct clinical and pre-clinical trials of cannabinoids, including smoked marijuana, to provide evidence, one way or the other, to answer the question “Does marijuana have therapeutic value?” The program’s purpose is to oversee objective, high-quality, medical research that would enhance understanding of the efficacy and adverse effects of marijuana as a pharmacological agent. The project was never to be construed as encouraging or sanctioning the social or recreational use of marijuana. http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu
# # #
Media Contact: Kim Edwards, 619-543-6163
To all those that say vaporizing is safer than regular smoking, perhaps that is true, but smoking cannabis is still safe. It is NOT linked to respiratory problems or lung cancer, as proven by Dr. Donald Tashkin. The smoke from cannabis is special, and is not dangerous like other smoke because of the cannabinoids present in it. This is scientific fact.
We all knew this was the case but now we can PROVE it completely!! Awesome!!
whoa wait a minute… NIDA approved this?!
shouldn’t THAT be bigger news than yet another study proving that this plant is a medicine? I thought they “were focusing on the negative aspects of cannabis”
FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!