Simply Appalling: "First" of the Day: Pot tried for pain relief in outpatients

Monday, August 30, 2010

"First" of the Day: Pot tried for pain relief in outpatients

The study used three different potencies of cannabis - containing 2.5%, 6% and 9.4% of the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol - as well as a placebo (dummy version).
Under nurse supervision, participants inhaled a single 25mg dose through a pipe three times a day for five days followed by nine days off, for four cycles.
Those given the highest dose had significantly reduced average pain compared with the placebo as well as less anxiety and depression, and better sleep.

Study leader Dr Mark Ware said: "To our knowledge, this is the first outpatient clinical trial of smoked cannabis ever reported."

—BBC reporting in "Cannabis may relieve chronic nerve pain"

Another interesting outcome of the research was this—

Dr Peter Shortland, a senior lecturer in neuroscience at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: "Importantly, smoking the drug did not produce the psychoactive effects commonly associated with full strength cannabis."

I'm not sure why the the good professor considered this to be important, but the American morals police will be greatly relieved.

With the full-scale legalization of pot coming up for a vote in California's November election (opposed, sadly, by some growers) and with continuing positive research outcomes such as this, I worry about which group will be locked up next to justify current levels of police, prison guards and prisons.

Related posts
Marijuana: Better than faith-healing (1/03/05)
Quote of the Day (5/12/05)
Form Letter of the Day (12/12/05)
Pseudosocialism (qua Leninism) and the DEA (12/12/05)
Granny of the Day (3/07/07)
High Court Decision of the Day: Smoking while herding (3/29/09)

Labels: First of the Day, marijuana, medical marijuana, research