Pubdate: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 Source: San Luis Obispo County Tribune (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Tribune Contact: P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112 Fax: 805.781.7905 Website: http://www.thetribunenews.com/ Author: Alan Gathright, San Jose Mercury News COUNTY LOOKS FOR FEDERAL FUNDS FOR MARIJUANA TRIAL San Mateo County officials are increasingly hopeful of gaining federal approval for the nations first locally funded medicinal marijuana trial in January. Last month, a bipartisan group of 34 members of Congress sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala urging her to support such projects. "Medicinal marijuana research should proceed as expeditiously as possible," the letter said. Shalala's support could be critical in the county's application to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which would approve the study protocol and supply "research-grade" marijuana. County health researchers are "confident that the protocol has a good chance of being approved," county Supervisor Mike Nevin said in a recent report to fellow board members. For two years, the former San Francisco cop has been a leading advocate for compassionate distribution of medicinal marijuana to people suffering from AIDS, glaucoma, chronic pain and other serious ailments. County public health doctors and consulting researchers had NIDA officials critique a draft of the study protocol before submitting the final application earlier this month. "We strongly believe that we've done everything we've been asked to do," Nevin said. He's also buoyed by congressional lobbying for medicinal studies. "We've gotten a positive response out of Congress that we've never had before," Nevin said, crediting local Representative Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, for spearheading support. "(Eshoo) agrees with the San Mateo County leadership that medicinal marijuana, when used in a responsible and appropriate manner, has an important role in helping people," said her chief of staff, John Flaherty. If approved, the county-funded $350,000 study on safety and benefits of medicinal marijuana could begin almost immediately with an initial 60-patient clinical trial. Participants would be AIDS, or cancer patients in the last six months of life who suffer from dramatic weight loss, nausea and vomiting. The marijuana used in the 12-week trial would be carefully monitored by county doctors, with each patient receiving a seven-day, 21-cigarette supply. To ensure scientific consistency, participants would be shown how to meticulously smoke three daily cigarettes ("inhale for three seconds, then hold their breath for five seconds and then exhale"), according to the study protocol. They'll keep diaries of the marijuana's impact on their appetites and moods and return leftover "cigarette ends" to confirm their participation. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D