Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jun 2014
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2014 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Jeremy Warren
Page: A3

ARTHRITIS PAIN RELIEF FOCUS OF NEW MEDICAL POT CLINICAL TRIAL

SASKATOON - An upcoming clinical trial from Saskatoon's CanniMed Ltd.
will test the safety and efficacy of using medical marijuana to manage
arthritic pain, the first study of its kind.

Health Canada recently approved an application from Prairie Plant
Systems, CanniMed's parent company, to test the use of cannabis in
patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. With scant medical evidence
to back up anecdotal evidence, doctors are looking for reliable proof
cannabis can help pain management, said company president and CEO
Brent Zettl.

"There are clues, but they are not conclusive," Zettl said. "Medical
cannabis has been used for more than 4,000 years by human beings, but
we've never really put our minds and effort toward proper, disciplined
scientific study. We really want to look at the hard evidence that can
hold up to scientific scrutiny."

The randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial run by a
third-party contractor will involve at least 60 patients and could
last up to two years. It will use "vaporized" marijuana, and will test
different strains with varying levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), two common active ingredients in cannabis.

Testing different strains - in this trial and others - could help
researchers understand what ratios of THC and CBD work best for
individuals and different ailments, Zettl said. Previous studies show
pain receptors in the joint and nervoussystem tissue, immune cells and
bones respond to cannabinoids in medical marijuana, he added.

Research such as this could lead to cheaper and more effective medical
marijuana treatment, Zettl said.

"The only way to get there is to start at square one and prove it
out," he said. "Otherwise, what do the doctors have to go on?"

Zettl estimates one-third of Canada's 38,000 licensed medical
marijuana patients are using cannabis to treat arthritis, an ailment
affecting up to 4.3 million Canadians. The use of marijuana to treat
arthritis has never been tested in clinical trials, says Health
Canada's website.

Clinical trials are needed because doctors are reluctant to prescribe
a medication without fully understanding its safety and efficacy, said
Bryan Salte, College of Physicians and Surgeons associate registrar
and legal counsel.

"One of our concerns is that (medical marijuana) hasn't been
effectively studied and to the extent that there are appropriate
studies it's very helpful to add to the body of evidence that would
support or refute the use of marijuana for certain medical
conditions," Salte said.

He couldn't comment on the specifics of the CanniMed study, but Salte
said it could be helpful, whatever researchers find.

"If hypothetically it was found there is no benefit, or more risk than
benefit, then we would have the basis to say to physicians this is bad
medicine," he said.

"If the evidence does come out that supports the use of medical
marijuana, that's an additional piece of information that should cause
physicians to think seriously about using that as a possible treatment
for arthritic pain in the knees."
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MAP posted-by: Matt