Pubdate: 13 Nov 1998
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1998 Associated Press.

MARIJUANA TREATMENT CALLED FALLACY

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- A person with glaucoma would have to smoke a marijuana
cigarette every two hours -- about 4,000 a year -- to experience any
medical benefits from the drug, according to new research.

In a study published Thursday in the Archives of Ophthalmology,
ophthalmologist Keith Green, a Medical College of Georgia researcher,
attacks ``the fallacy that marijuana is of any value at all in the
treatment of glaucoma.''

Voters in Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada and Washington last week approved
measures allowing use of marijuana for medical reasons. Those reasons
include reducing side effects of cancer chemotherapy to treating glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a degenerative eye disease that affects between 2 percent and 3
percent of people and is more likely in those with a family history of the
disease.

The normal eye maintains a constant pressure of fluid, but glaucoma causes
a chemical change that blocks the outflow, Green said. That leads to
increased pressure that can lead to blindness.

Chemicals in marijuana called cannabinoids do seem to help improve the
outflow in about 60 percent of the people who try it. But the pressure
builds back up within four hours, Green said.

In order to keep the pressure down, a person would have to smoke a joint
every two hours, he said.

``Smoking a joint a week is not going to cure glaucoma,'' said Green.

Advocates for medical marijuana say even temporarily alleviating the
pressure is better than doing nothing.

``Should these patients suffer so?'' asked Allen St. Pierre, executive
director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws Foundation.

AP-NY-11-13-98 0606EST

- ---
Checked-by: Mike Gogulski