Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2012
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2012 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: J R. Smith

Learnin' Time

LOOKING FOR LEGITIMATE INFORMATION ON THE SCIENCE BEHIND MMJ? THIS IS A START

Just like many of you, I have struggled with the new onslaught of 
medical information about cannabis.

There's a lot of data out there to parse, and it's hard to get past 
the fusillade of unsourced bloggers and marketing mavens who seem 
like they're giving you information, but are actually just telling 
you what they heard at a NORML meeting or trying to get your $150 for 
a certification.

Frankly, until I had this column, I hadn't thought any more about the 
medical wonders of cannabis than I had about the medical wonders of 
Tylenol or the Walgreens-brand red cough syrup my sister told me 
about. I've used that stuff to great relief, but I have never studied 
the science behind it.

But now that medical marijuana is here, and because people want to 
know (including me), here are a couple of places to get what seems 
like credible info.

The Man

When the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act passed, Will Humble, director 
of the Arizona Department of Health Services, and Laura Nelson, the 
agency's medical director, offered doctors a National Academies of 
Science report, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base" 
as a comprehensive source on medical cannabis. It was produced by the 
nonprofit agency to inform the government about the medical uses of 
cannabis. Interestingly, the report concludes that we need clinical 
trials to sort out the value of cannabis as medicine.

Too bad the government ignored it.

Although the report is from 1999, it lays a good foundation for 
medical cannabis information, to my layman's eye. It offers chapters 
on pain, AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, neurological disorders and muscle 
spasticity. I found it useful, if dated. You can download it free at 
www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=6376.

Doctors

A newer source that keeps coming up-several of you recommended it-is 
The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis, compiled by Julie 
Holland, a psychiatrist who is a widely recognized expert in 
psychoactive drugs, especially street drugs. Holland, who specializes 
in drugs' effects on the brain, collected contributions from several 
cannabis experts for the 2010 book, part of which she wrote herself. 
It includes chapters on psychiatry, HIV, multiple sclerosis and 
spasticity, neuro-protection and sensible cannabis regulation.

I like the book for two reasons: It's an authoritative, recent source 
on medical cannabis, and it doesn't ignore the cultural aspects. 
Holland even quotes Willie Nelson, Brad Pitt and Bill Hicks on the 
virtues of the sticky. In Holland's defense, she includes an 
interview with Andrew Weil, the godlike natural health guru with the 
shining head, smile and disposition.

College

If you're really committed to learning about medical cannabis, you 
could shell out $215 for the seventh National Clinical Conference on 
Cannabis Therapeutics, which will be held at Loews Ventana Canyon 
Resort on April 26-28. The gathering is aimed at doctors (thus the 
accreditation via the University of California at San Francisco 
School of Medicine), but it's open to the public.

The faculty for the gathering includes some of the world's foremost 
cannabis researchers, including Holland and Weil.

Sue Sisley, a Scottsdale physician rejected last year by the Drug 
Enforcement Administration for a clinical trial of cannabis to treat 
PTSD, will speak, as will Donald I. Abrahams, a clinical professor at 
the University of California at San Francisco and a renowned 
researcher into the use of alternative medicines in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Presenters will offer the latest information about the 
endocannabinoid system and the potential for using cannabis to fight 
glaucoma, post-traumatic stress, cancer and schizophrenia, and in the 
prevention of Alzheimer's disease. For more information, see the 
conference website www.medicalcannabis.com/Clinical-Conferences/2012-tucson-az.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart