[Semper911]

Just for the record, last year I finished 5 months of grueling chemo and 6 weeks of radiation, and smoking weed was the ONLY thing that helped me get through it. I resisted at first, but one or two puffs was all it took for instant relief.

I told my doctor it was helping me, and she prescribed Marinol. All it did was make me high but did nothing for the nausea and vomiting. Marinol is not plant extract -- it is synthetic -- and although it may be chemically similar to the active ingredient in weed, it does not do the same job.

There is something in the smoke that is not in the Marinol. And that "something" saved my life by allowing me to drink fluids and eat a little during that horrible few months.

(The chemo/rad treatment worked, btw, and I am cancer free since October.)

If anyone has a loved one suffering through chemo, forget Marinol and get your hands on some weed and a pipe.

[TigersEye]

I told my doctor it was helping me, and she prescribed Marinol. All it did was make me high but did nothing for the nausea and vomiting. Marinol is not plant extract -- it is synthetic -- and although it may be chemically similar to the active ingredient in weed, it does not do the same job.

You and hundreds of other patients on chemo, radiation and other nausea inducing treatments say the same thing. Cannabis has over 60 alkaloids in it. Only two are considered to be psycho-active and only one is duplicated in Marinol which is, as you say, synthetically derived.

But it may not even be the psycho-active components that combat nausea and instill hunger. Probably but it has not been established and neither has the efficacy or non-efficacy of the other sixty plus phytochemicals.

Swallowing a pill and keeping it down until it works is also a problem for many who have extreme drug-induced nausea.

[TigersEye]

I am very glad you are still with us and got through the ordeal of the illness and its treatment.