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Cannabis drug 'fights pain without high'
BBC On Line ^ | Wednesday, 21 August, 2002 | Unsigned

Posted on 08/21/2002 11:54:00 AM PDT by aculeus

Scientists have developed a cannabis-based medicine which relieves chronic pain without any of the "high" normally associated with the drug.

They believe the discovery could pave the way for cannabis-based medication to become available by prescription within two years.

Much of the controversy surrounding the medicinal use of cannabis has centred on fears that it would be used solely for its mood-altering effects.

However, scientists at the University of Massachusetts in the United States say their discovery should help authorities to overcome these fears.

Dr Sumner Burstein and colleagues say early trials of the medication in animals and healthy patients have been promising.

The medication, called ajulemic acid or CT3, has been manufactured in laboratories.

It maximises the medicinal effects of tertrahydrocannabinol - the key ingredient of cannabis - without any of the mind-altering effects.

'More effective'

In animal tests, this compound was found to be between 10 to 50 times more effective at reducing pain than tetrahydrocannabinol.

Those tests showed that ajulemic acid was very effective at preventing the joint damage associated with arthritis and relieving the muscle stiffness associated with multiple sclerosis.

The compound was tested last year in 15 healthy volunteers in France. That study reported no side effects or mood changes in those participants.

A further trial on 21 patients with chronic severe pain is currently underway in Germany.

Dr Bernstein said the results of each study had been promising.

"The indications so far are that it is safe and effective," he said.

Dr Bernstein added that the compound could replace a wide variety of current medicines used to fight pain.

"We believe that [the compound] will replace aspirin and similar drugs in most applications primarily because of a lack of toxic side effects."

Dr Bernstein acknowledged that some patients may wish to experience the mood-altering effects of cannabis by taking this compound.

But speaking at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, he added: "The medical community wants efficacy without this effect."

A spokeswoman for the UK's Medicinal Cannabis Research Foundation said: "We believe it would be premature to comment on the merits of ajulemic acid before more rigorous testing in patients has been carried out, but look forward to seeing the results after further study."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News
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To: A CA Guy
Your point makes my case against Libertarians and illegal drugs then.

If you're drunk, perhaps.

Russians overcame their supression,

Either you're saying that that means Stalin wasn't so bad, or you're pointing out that many Russians were as drunk as American drug warriors, I'm not sure which.

whereas the public at large in the USA approves of enforcement against those using illegal drugs and only the few Libertarian folks feel supressed.

So if the public is so overwhelmingly in favor of drug fascism, why not let the States decide for themselves? With 99% of the people <snicker> approving of the status quo, you should have no problem.

161 posted on 08/21/2002 6:57:13 PM PDT by Physicist
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To: Physicist
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/737120/posts

So much for your 99% BS. You and your ilk are going down!! bwahahahahahaha

tick tock, tick tock, tick tock

162 posted on 08/21/2002 7:07:49 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: A CA Guy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/737120/posts

So much for your 99% BS. You and your ilk are going down!! bwahahahahahaha

tick tock, tick tock, tick tock

163 posted on 08/21/2002 7:09:44 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: Physicist
Sorry 'bout that. It was meant for A CA Guy, not you, although you may get a kick out of reading the article.
164 posted on 08/21/2002 7:10:41 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: serinde
Don't ever expect a reply to a question from them. ALL they know is invective and demonizing and "it's for the childruns" and nothing more. Strawmen and ad hominems. Sad but they haven't one brain between them.
165 posted on 08/21/2002 7:13:07 PM PDT by dcwusmc
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To: bat-boy
Link
166 posted on 08/21/2002 7:14:19 PM PDT by Physicist
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To: Physicist
I'm pointing out that Russia's people had good reason to change the way it was.
Americans in the great majority are against illegal drugs though.

What is drug fascism, or your definition of facism? Any law you disagree with?
Or perhaps drug fascism is trying to push the evils of illegal drugs on the community at large.
167 posted on 08/21/2002 7:16:21 PM PDT by A CA Guy
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To: bat-boy
The only way we'll go down will be by the taxes required and the lawsuits paid over costs of the ills of illegal drug users.
168 posted on 08/21/2002 7:19:25 PM PDT by A CA Guy
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To: A CA Guy
Yeah right. The same things were said about re-legalizing alcohol.

By the way, who died and left you in charge of what is and is not evil? There is not a single word about smoking pot being evil in the bible. Even one of the most dangerous drugs, alcohol, is not depicted as such, although the Lord warns of its abuse. He does not ban the use though.

The anti-gun nuts think guns are evil. Should we then make firearms illegal? If the fact that a group of people think something is evil is the criteria you use to make something illegal, then, by following your so-called logic, it's only fair to make firearms illegal, right?

169 posted on 08/21/2002 7:28:12 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: Malcolm
You claim to have a political science degree. Do they not study the Constitution these days, or did you miss that class?

There is no specified right to possess nor smoke pot, and no specified right to referenda.

Really? How about the power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by the States, are reserved to the States, or to the People.

I've yet to see an amendment giving the power to the government to enforce any drug law. I've yet to see an amendment giving the government the power to decide what a citizen can or cannot put into his/her body. The Constitution restricts the power of the government, not the freedom of the individual.

If you have a polysci degree and worked for a congresscritter, it's no durned wonder the US is in the shape it's in.

170 posted on 08/21/2002 7:38:44 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: A CA Guy
Neither are republicrats.
171 posted on 08/21/2002 7:41:27 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: Dakmar
The enumerated powers in the Constitution restrict the power of government, not the liberty of the individual. Youwould think a supposed polysci major would know that wouldn't you (i.e., Malcom per his webpage).

Even a broken down old grunt like me knows that much.

172 posted on 08/21/2002 7:45:43 PM PDT by bat-boy
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To: Don Joe
Sounds like another name for Phrenilin, which I've used for tension headaches that resisted milder remedy, and very early stage migraines, but I never noticed any problems from having a drink afterwards.

My doctor at the time I first got it was also a good friend, and something of a joker. I asked her if there was anything I shouldn't take with the Fiorinal, any interactions I should watch out for, and she told me something like "it would be a bad idea to take a big handful of them and wash it down with a fifth of Jack, but other than that, don't worry about it." ;)

Anyway, I'd never heard of Phrenilin, so I looked it up, and it is very similar to Fiorinal - Phrenilin is 50 mg of butalbital and 325 mg of acetaminophen, and Fiorinal is 50 mg of butalbital, 325 mg of aspirin, and 40 mg of caffeine. There's also a version of Fiorinal that has all the same stuff as the other, but also has 30 mg of codeine.

It's nice, because it stops it when I catch it early, and it doesn't knock me on my ass the way the codeine always did. It's also supposed to be fairly safe - my wife gets migraines, but very rarely, and she got a bad string back a few years ago when she was pregnant with our daughter, and the doctor felt that the Fiorinal was safe enough for her to use occasionally during the second trimester. And the girl came out with all fingers and toes and organs intact, so he must have been right.

On the other hand, she's three now, and a holy terror - maybe I should sue anyway ;)

173 posted on 08/21/2002 7:53:08 PM PDT by general_re
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To: Don Joe
We have dealt with each other on another thread recently, you have issues dude, let's not go there. I am sorry about your ex-wife, I tried to be supportive to you even after you attacked me, but don't take your anger out on me. You have no idea what MY life is all about, quit judging me based on YOUR predjudices. My hubby is 5 years in remission, I treasure every day with him and whatever works for him works for me. My inserting suppositories for him was humiliating for him. I have feelings, unlike your ex and wanted him not to suffer that on top of the chemo. I am sorry if I don't fit your construed vision of the man-hating wife. When I say he could not keep the pills down, I am telling the truth, deal with it, you are NOT him, you were NOT there, you did not have to watch him suffer. Although it is not PC to say this...bite me.
174 posted on 08/21/2002 7:59:44 PM PDT by ravingnutter
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To: Don Joe
Sorry about being so blunt, but that is just me...I am always honest, sometimes to a fault. Since my last post, I have said a prayer for you that you will find peace in your life. God Bless you and yours...
175 posted on 08/21/2002 8:27:41 PM PDT by ravingnutter
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To: All
The issue really isn't medical pot; it's legalization for healthy losers so that they can have their little fix. Truth is, it might be legal for medicinal uses today, were it not for the stoners using that issue to hide behind, blatantly transparent to any honest observer, when their real aim is just to legalize it for themselves, not for the diseased who really need it. The fact that children will more easily be able to get pot if it is legalized, is a fact that the pro-pot lobby cannot bring themselves to discuss, or if they do, dishonestly state that this will "never" happen. When I was a teen, all my buddies always had beer, wine, liquor, you name it. How did they get it if it was illegal? Someone bought it for them, and it wasn't their parents. But being able to smoke a J is the altar at which all these losers worship. Hey, if they come up with cannabis that can be taken orally for these needy patients, what will you hippies use for an argument then? More leftist interpretations of the Constitution to conveniently support your "rights?" Libertarians are losers, and I don't mean just at the ballot box either.....
176 posted on 08/21/2002 8:32:04 PM PDT by Malcolm
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To: Don Joe
Some of us don't live our lives like caged monkeys in search of "altered moods". We'd simply like to get rid of the damned pain. "Getting buzzed" ain't part of the plan. Maybe some day you'll be unfortunate enough to learn this on your own.

OUCH...again...temper, temper...but this does prove that we DO agree on something after all...getting buzzed ain't part of the plan, it is relief we are looking for...

177 posted on 08/21/2002 8:38:04 PM PDT by ravingnutter
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To: ravingnutter
"We have dealt with each other on another thread recently, you have issues dude, let's not go there. I am sorry about your ex-wife, I tried to be supportive to you even after you attacked me, but don't take your anger out on me. You have no idea what MY life is all about, quit judging me based on YOUR predjudices. My hubby is 5 years in remission, I treasure every day with him and whatever works for him works for me. My inserting suppositories for him was humiliating for him. I have feelings, unlike your ex and wanted him not to suffer that on top of the chemo. I am sorry if I don't fit your construed vision of the man-hating wife. When I say he could not keep the pills down, I am telling the truth, deal with it, you are NOT him, you were NOT there, you did not have to watch him suffer. Although it is not PC to say this...bite me."

Bite yourself. You haven't walked a mile in my shoes either. You weren't there when I was in the hospital 2 hours from death either, nor were you there when I was bent over with my wife helping me deal with a certain part of my anatomy, nor were you...

Aw, screw it. Go bite yourself.

Bye.

178 posted on 08/21/2002 8:41:12 PM PDT by Don Joe
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To: ravingnutter
Fine, likewise.
179 posted on 08/21/2002 8:44:13 PM PDT by Don Joe
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To: aculeus
No high?

BUMMER!

180 posted on 08/21/2002 8:45:12 PM PDT by Bullish
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