Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 Source: Expositor, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2014 Brantford Expositor Contact: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/letters Website: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1130 Author: Tim Philp Page: A8 HIGH TIME FOR A SCIENTIFIC LOOK AT MARIJUANA It has been said that if you can remember the ' 60s, you weren't there, referring to the drug counter culture that became mainstream at that time. I guess I lived a dull life back then because I remember the decade well. There has been a tremendous change in the public attitude toward the use of certain drugs and the supposed medical benefits to be gained by their use. Nowhere has this been truer than the debate around medical marijuana. The debates that have been raging about marijuana have, not to put too fine a point on it, generated a lot more smoke than light. What is most often missing from the discussion is a scientific viewpoint. While there are always issues of personal freedom and a lot of misinformation about the supposed benefits of marijuana, that is not the view that is likely to provide some understanding of the drug and its possible benefits to pain relief for serious illnesses. The active ingredient in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC). This is the chemical that is responsible for the "high" that users experience. It has been demonized for decades as a gateway drug and, most amusingly, a drug that will make you insane. For a good laugh, go on YouTube and have a look at an old film called Reefer Madness. What is new, however, are recent scientific discoveries about the properties of THC in fighting disease and the mechanisms by which this occurs. Marijuana is currently prescribed, and successfully used to fight the nausea and vomiting that can occur with certain types of cancer treatments. It can also be used to counteract the effects of the wasting syndrome that is experienced by some AIDS patients. It is also prescribed to combat the chronic pain that cannot be controlled by the more conventional treatments of strong painkiller drugs like morphine. The prescription can take the form of actual plant material that is smoked, or a spray containing the active ingredient that is taken orally. Recently, scientists at The University of South Carolina have discovered a new way in which THC can suppress the body's immune functions. While it may seem to be counterintuitive that a medication that can suppress the immune system could be useful, but it is of great utility in cases where the human body's immune system has run amok. Illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, colitis, and lupus are all diseases where the body attacks healthy tissue in error. The suppression ability of THC on the immune system has been shown in clinical studies to help relieve the symptoms of these illnesses and to improve the quality of life for these patients. What the new studies have shown is that there is another pathway for controlling disease. Most people are aware that DNA, expressed as genes, can affect how the body functions. It seems that it is also possible for outside chemical influences to cause alterations in the functions of these genes. The study showed that THC was able to use these gene pathways to reduce inflammation in ways that more conventional treatments cannot. With such clinically proven benefits, it is interesting that THC is not more widely available as a treatment for disease. There appears to be two reasons for this. The first is that THC is an illegal drug in most of the world and that attaches a stigma to research into the chemical and biological characteristics of the drug. Because of the intoxicating effects, marijuana is the most abused drug in the world. This provides the potential that THC that is prescribed for a medical condition could be abused for recreational rather than medicinal purposes. Second, there have been a growing number of people who have claimed miraculous properties for THC as a cure- all for almost anything that ails you. The suspicion is that the real purpose behind these testimonial "cures" is simply to provide some legitimate basis to use the drug to get high. While there may indeed be wonderful medicinal properties to marijuana, it does not help anyone to make claims without scientific studies, such as the ones being done at The University of South Carolina, to back up these extraordinary claims. Health care and the drugs used to treat illness should be a matter for the scientific and medical community to decide - all the rest is just noise. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt