High Court Case Puts Spotlight on Medical Marijuana ClaimsMarch 29, 2005
Research Summary
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on a pivotal medical-marijuana case, experts say that hard evidence about medical use of the drug remains elusive, the New York Times reported March 29."People subjectively report benefits," said Joseph I. Sirven of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, who last year published an editorial on medical marijuana in the journal Neurology. "There's a whole Internet literature suggesting what a wonderful thing it is. But the reality is, we don't know."
Eleven states have legalized medical marijuana use. The Supreme Court case pits two California medical-marijuana users against the federal government, which seized and destroyed their drug supply in 2002 despite a California medical-marijuana law. The government is appealing a Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the women.
Some studies have shown that marijuana modestly benefits pain patients. And the drug has many vocal supporters. "There's nothing better for nerve pain than marijuana," said Phillip Alden, 41, a writer and AIDS patient in Redwood City, Calif., who spends $400 monthly at a medical-marijuana buyers' club to dull the pain from a back injury and spark his appetite
Medical use of marijuana is fairly common: a study in Neurology, for example, found that 36 percent of multiple-sclerosis patients in Canada had used to drug to treat their symptoms. Another survey, of epilepsy patients, also found widespread use of medical pot.
Canadian doctors are legally permitted to prescribe marijuana for epilepsy and other disorders. But Donald W. Gross, director of the University of Alberta's adult epilepsy program, says he has not done so. "There's not been a randomized, controlled trial demonstrating that marijuana or any cannabinoid is any more effective in controlled seizures than a placebo," said Gross. "It's terribly complicated from a physician's standpoint, and somewhat frustrating. We have a product that has been legitimized without any evidence of efficacy."
Kenneth P. Mackie, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Washington, adds: "There's a whole bunch of theoretical reasons suggesting there would be a benefit for marijuana on a variety of conditions relating to pain and neuroinflammation. But the clinical studies just aren't there."
The dearth of research is partly due to legal restrictions, at least in the U.S. The first medical-marijuana study in the U.S. didn't get under way until 1997.
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: