bullet medicinal marijuana final presention feb 2009

8/12/2019 Bullet Medicinal Marijuana Final Presention Feb 2009

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Thesis:

Marijuana remains a highly controversial drug worldwidebecause of it medicinal use.

Cannabis sativa is believed to be a native plant of India,where it possibly originated in a region just north of theHimalayan mountains. Marijuana is the buds and leaves ofthe Cannabis Sativa plant. Cannabis sativa is perhaps the

most recognizable plant in the world because pictures areshown in the media, text books and drug-preventionliterature.

The plant houses 460 known compounds, 60 of which areknown as cannabinoids meaning that they are unique to

cannabis plant


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INTRODUCTION

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),approximately 5.1 percent or 11.2 m

illion people of the population agetwelve or older were monthly marijuana users.

Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves,

stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. You may hear marijuanacalled by street names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane,gangster, or chronic. There are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana.

Cannabis is an herb that once grew naturally along the roads and fields ofMexico and the Southwest United States. Its name comes from thecompounds found within it, cannibinoids. These chemicals bind the

cannibinoid receptors in the human brain and are involved in pain,memory, neurodegeneration, and inflammation. The human bodyproduces its own form, called endocannibinoids.
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htmhttp://www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htmhttp://www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htm


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Marijuana use is linked to several adverse effects.

Because of the many hazards associated withmarijuanause, the (DEA)has classified marijuana as aSchedule Idrug, m

eaning that it has the highestpotential for abuse and has no accepted medical usesaside from research.

However in recent years, clinical research has shownthat marijuana is effective for treating several medicalconditions such as chemotherapy induced nausea, HIV

cachexia (weight Loss) , glaucoma, analgesia, andneurological disorders, brain tumors.

Despite these findings, the federal government and theDEAare still resistant in accepting marijuanas roles asa medical therapy.

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BODY: On March 17, 1999, the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) said that

smoking marijuana has benefits for the terminally ill. Theysuggested that studies begin on producing inhalation devices toprovide a safe alternative to the harmful effects of smoking.

The study concluded that cannabinoids can be useful in treatingpain, nausea and appetite loss caused by advanced cancer andAIDS. D-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) also acts as a sedative andreduces anxiety, which in itself may have therapeutic effects.

In the case of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), marijuana seems to bring

relief to sufferers like no other painkillers can. Multiple Sclerosis isa debilitating disease that causes damage to the brain anddestruction of the protective fatty coating around nerve cells.Subsequently, sufferers of MS tend to experience burningsensations in the limbs, particularly at night. Conventionalanalgesics can do little to ease this pain.

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MRI OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS


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Sufferers say that smoking a joint before bedtime can be thedifference between getting sleeping at night and staying awakedue to the pain.

Sufferers of MS also experience spasms as a result of nerve

damage. Marijuana has shown to help control the incidence ofspasms in MS sufferers, epilepsy sufferers, and those who havesuffered spinal cord injuries.

One of the first therapeutic uses of marijuana in the modern erahas been its effects in suppressing nausea suffered by anti-cancer

chemotherapy patients. The controversy in this case is whether ornot marijuana needs to be smoked in order to achieve the fullbenefits.

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The use of medicinal marijuana for treatment ofglaucoma has had mixed results. Although mostpatients will tell you that marijuana helps theirglaucoma. A study by Keith Green, was conducted tosee the clinical effects, including toxicological effects, of

marijuana and it's many constituent components on theeye and the remainder of the body.

The conclusions derived from this study yielded mixedresults. In the case of glaucoma, it is widely accepted

that the elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) that causesdamage to the optic nerve is greatly reduced in 60 to 65percent of users when marijuana is smoked.

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A common theme that has been echoed in many of the studies orreviews of studies that have been done is that more research isneeded in order for one to come to a clear conclusion about thetherapeutic effects of marijuana.

For groups who are interested in therapeutic uses, they advocatefor proper trials of individual cannabinoids for specific disordersto be performed. Yet, regardless of whether all of the currentresearch is conclusive or not, it has been noted throughout historythat people feel relief and obtain pleasure from marijuana.

One would find it difficult to discover another drug that has asmany benefits as marijuana. In the past, records have shown thatpeople smoked marijuana for its euphoric effects, painkillingquality, and for religious purposes. History has shown that theeffects of marijuana can be beneficial.

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Also exogenous (meaning external source) foreign materials like microorganisms,fungi, and pesticides have been implicated in marijuana use.

Stimulate Appetite and Alleviate Cachexia (Weight Loss) Marijuana has been shown to increase appetite and food intake after

smoking. Surveys in the 1970s showed that 93 percent of marijuanausers reported enjoying food more after they smoked and subsequentlyate more (Tart 1970). Foltin et al (1988) report an increase in food intakeafter smoking marijuana versus placebo (sugar pill). This information isuseful particularly for HIV infected patients who are at risk foropportunistic infections, enteric infections leading to mal-absorption, anddecreased caloric intake.

These risk factors can lead to decrease in appetite, weight loss, an increasemorbidity in HIV infected patients with a weight 20 percent or morebelow ideal body weight.

Marijuana has been shown to increase appetite and weight gain inHIV infected patients. VonRoenn et al. (1994) demonstrated an increasein weight upon administration of dronabinol, a synthetic THC, and

megestrol acetate, an appetite stimulant.Page 10
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Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting.

Numerous studies have been performed regarding dronabinol'santiemetic effects. Sallan et al. (1975) showed that dronabinol wassuperior to placebo in nausea caused by chemotherapy that induced amoderate amount of emesis.

There have been only two clinical trials that have addressed the issue ofsmoke marijuana specifically. Levitt et al. (1984) conducted a small studythat showed 35 percent were free of vomiting and 15 percent were free ofnausea.

Vinciguerra et al. (1988) had a larger study population of 74patients. They specifically looked at the patients who failed standardantiemetic regimes. 34 percent of patients rated marijuana as veryeffective, 44 percent rated it as moderately effective, 22 percent rated it ofno benefit.

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Analgesia

There are numerous studies documenting the affect of marijuanaon pain. The studies yield mixed results but the overall consensus is thatmarijuana does have some analgesic properties.

Several animal studies using rats and mice conclude that delta-9-THC is equipotent and possible even more potent than morphine in

controlling pain.

Noyes et al. (1975a) performed two studies involving inpatientoncology patients. The first study enrolled 10 cancer patients, observingtheir response to 5, 10 15, and 20 mg doses of delta-9-THC. Noyes et al.found that there was a significant dose response curve.

The second study compared 10 and 20 mg of THC with 60 and 120 mg ofcodeine. They found that pain relief with THC was equivocal tocodeine. Both codeine and THC were more effective than placebo.

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The DEA Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana concludes that

there are potential use. However, they do admit that the control ofneurogenic pain is lacking and THC may have a role there.

Although THC has been shown to be an effective analgesic, the largepresence of pain medications in the market prevents marijuana fromfinding a useful niche.

Neurological and Movement Disorders

There are reports that marijuana has antispasmatic, antitremor, andantiataxic activity. In the clinical setting, these properties may haveutility in Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, Multiple sclerosis,siezures and in spinal cord injuries.

There are anecdotal reports that both smoking marijuana and oral THCrelieve spasticity and nocturnal spasm associated with multiple sclerosisand spinal cord injuries.

The anticonvulsant effects are particularly effective in generalized andpartial tonic-clonic siezures.

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Glaucoma Initial studies by Helper and Frank showed that smoked marijuana lowered

pressure. The 1976 study showed that marijuana cigarettes with 4% THC loweredintraocular pressure by as much as 27 percent when compared to placebo. Oraldosages of 20 mg THC lowered intraocular pressure by 17 percent when comparedto placebo. They also noted that marijuana was particularly effective in those withrefractory glaucoma.

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Brain Tumors Cannabinoids, the active ingredient in marijuana, show promise in

treating the brain tumors known as gliomas. After finding thatcannabinoids kill tumor cells in animals, researchers demonstrated theirsafety in humans by injecting them directly into brain tumors. One of theexperimenters, Manuel Guzman of Complutense University in Spain,

concludes: Of interest, cannabinoids seem to be selective antitumoral compounds as

they can kill tumor cells without significantly affecting the viability oftheir non-transformed counterparts. . . . The fair safety profile of THC,together with its possible growth-inhibiting action on tumor cells, may setthe basis for future trials aimed at evaluating the potential antitumoralactivity of cannabinoids..


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CONCLUSION: As for coming to a conclusion on these matters, the fact is there is

none yet. The answer to these problems usually lay in the land ofcompromise were each side has given and taken just the rightamount so that they feel theyve ended up somewhere near wherethey started.

The question is not whether marijuana works as a medication.That has been proven already. The issue becomes: Canmarijuana work as a medication in our society and remember thatevery scientific discovery has contributed to our society. In ourcurrent society, marijuana has become the devil himself. For himto find entrance into our society as a peer requires him not just tobe a fine upstanding citizen but a veritable saint.

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Its not worth it! X

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Work Sited: Williams, E.G.; Himmelsbach, C.K.; Wikler, A.; and Rudle, D.C. Studies on marihuana and

pyrahexyl compound. Publ Health Rep61(29):1059, July 19, 1946. Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana. National Institutes of

Health. http://www.nih.gov/news/medmarijuana/MedicalMarijuana.htm MarijuanaDrugEnforcemenAdministration. http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/marijuana.htm Abrams, D.I.; Hilton, J.F.; et al. Short-Term Effects of Cannabinoids in Patients with HIV-1

Infection. Ann Intern Med. 2003;139:258-266. Laszi, J. (1979). Tetrahydrocannabinol: From pot to prescription? Annals of Internal Medicine,

91(6), 916-919. Retrieved March 24, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database. Straus S. Immunoactive cannabinoids: Therapeutic prospects for marijuana

constituents. PNAS2000;97: 9363-9364. White D, Martin D, Geller T, Pittman T. Stroke associated with marijuana abuse. Pediatric

Neurosurgery 2000; 32: 92-94. Marmor J. Medical Marijuana. West J Med1998; 168: 540-543.

Clark P. The Ethics of Medical Marijuana: Government Restrictions vs. MedicalNecessity. Journal of Public Health Policy2000; 21(1): 40-60. Oster, M.H.; Enders, S.R.; Samuels, S.J.; Cone, L.A.; et al. Megestrol acetate in patients with

AIDS and cachexia.Ann Intern Med121:400-408, 1994. Noyes, R., Jr.; Brunk, S.F.; Baram, D.A.; and Canter, A. Analgesic effect of delta-9-

tetrahydrocannabinol.J Clin Pharmacol15(2-3):139-143, February-March, 1975a.

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