Pubdate: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 Source: Houston Voice (TX) Copyright: 2003 Window Media LLC Contact: http://www.houstonvoice.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2892 STUDY SAYS MARIJUANA, HIV MEDICATION CAN MIX SAN FRANCISCO - A University of California San Francisco study says that short-term use of medical marijuana causes no harm to people with HIV who are on combination antiretroviral therapy, according to Health Day News. Researchers said they could find no harmful changes in HIV levels in the participants when they smoked marijuana or took dronabinol, an oral medical cannabinoid. The study examined 62 people with HIV who are on antiretroviral regimens containing a protease inhibitor and lasted 25 days. Researched divided the volunteers into three groups. A group of 20 smoked marijuana. A second group of 22 received dronabinol and the final group of 20 received an oral placebo. CD 4 T-cell counts increased by about 20 percent for groups that used marijuana and dronabinol. CD 8 T-cell counts increased by 20 percent in the marijuana group and by 10 percent in the dronabinol group. There was no increase in CD 4 or CD 8 T-cell counts in the placebo group. "The change in lymphocyte counts for the smoked marijuana group is intriguing. At a minimum, it contradicts findings from previous studies suggesting that smoked marijuana suppresses the immune system," said study author Dr. Donald Abrams, a USCF professor of clinical medicine. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens