Pubdate: Sun, 22 May 2005
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2005
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/406
Author: Frank Urquhart
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

CANNABIS LINKED TO BONE DISEASE

EXCESSIVE use of cannabis might lead to brittle bone disease, new
research has shown.

Scottish scientists found that the drug can cause increased bone loss,
which in turn leads to osteoporosis. The findings add to a growing
body of evidence on the dangers of cannabis and prompted campaigners
to renew their calls for the government to rethink its drugs law.

Researchers at Aberdeen University made the discovery while carrying
out a study, which was funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign, into
chemicals produced naturally in the body called endogenous
cannabinoids. The good news is that through understanding for the
first time that cannabinoids regulate bone density, scientists have
paved the way for new drugs to treat bone disorders.

But the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, also sounded
a warning for the 3.5 million cannabis users in the UK. Professor
Stuart Ralston, who led the study, said: "I wouldn't want to strike
fear into everyone who uses the drug, but our tests lead us to the
conclusion that it might cause bone loss."

Cannabinoids act in the same way as chemicals in cannabis by attaching
themselves to receptors in the body, stimulating appetite or bone
metabolism. Prof Ralston said: "These experiments were not carried out
on human patients, but the prediction is that if someone is
continually exposed to cannabis, then it would stimulate the cells
that would cause a loss of bone. The drugs which stimulate these
receptors - and mimic the effects of cannabis - were detrimental to
bone and caused increased bone loss, which could, in turn lead to
osteoporosis."

Prof Ralston, now based at Edinburgh University, said the discovery
opened the door to drugs used to treat obesity being used to prevent
and treat osteoporosis. He said the drugs that block cannabinoid
receptors to suppress appetite could also be used to stop bone loss.

He explained: "We were looking at the role of these cannabinoid
receptors - the molecules that, like cannabis, would bind on to the
bone.

"We started using drugs that would block these receptors and we found
that they completely prevented bone loss. It was a very, very
impressive effect."

More than 250,000 people in Britain suffer osteoporosis-related
fractures each year, but Prof Ralston said that the most widely used
drug treatments for osteoporosis, cancer-related bone diseases,
rheumatoid arthritis and other bone diseases were inconvenient to take
and can be associated with various undesirable side-effects.

He added: "There is a real need to identify new drugs that can inhibit
bone loss, and it looks like blockers of cannabinoid receptors may fit
the bill as a new class of drugs for the treatment of bone disease."

Prof Ralston is now leading further research into the effects of
cannabis on bone disease.

This month Jeanie Rae, of Stirlingshire, who has breast cancer, was
the first person in Scotland to be prescribed a purified version of
cannabis for medical reasons.

But campaigners said the recent findings add to the increasing
evidence showing the dangers of the drug. Alistair Ramsay, the
director of Scotland Against Drugs, said cannabis on the street is no
longer a "soft, decent" drug.

He said: "There is gathering evidence of a growing range of conditions
caused by cannabis. Emphysema and early onset of lung cancer are now
joined by possible osteoporosis and mental illness.

"Clearly, this is a drug for which, although under very controlled
circumstances by a GP may have some benefit, the uncontrolled
unsupervised use carries many dangers."

Cannabis was reduced from a Class B to Class C drug last year, but
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, has asked the government's
advisory council on drugs to consider reversing the classification
following evidence linking the drug to mental illness.

The drug has been linked to a number of criminal cases, including the
Jodi Jones trial - where schoolboy murderer Luke Mitchell was shown to
have smoked cannabis.

Mr Ramsay said drug laws in the UK need to be revisited in the light
of new research on the dangers of the prolonged use of drugs like
cannabis and ecstasy.

He added: "The time has come to have a long, hard look at drug law in
the UK influenced directly by a range of experts, from international
treaties right through to the latest research."

However, Don Barnard, of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, was sceptical
of the new findings, saying: "Research on cannabis is usually
orchestrated to show the government's point of view."

But he welcomed further research. "That's the only way we are going to
get rid of a law which leads to people being jailed for using and
growing cannabis." 
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