:There is good reason to believe that marijuana can boost the efficacy of opioid pain drugs, allowing pain patients to get better relief with smaller doses of narcotic medications. University of California, San Francisco researcher Dr. Donald Abrams is looking for participants to take part in an important pilot study that could lay the groundwork for critical research in this area.

Dr. Abrams is conducting a trial of vaporized medical marijuana in conjunction with opioid medications in chronic pain patients. This is an opportunity for patients to try controlled doses of medical marijuana completely legally — under both state and federal law — for five days and for researchers to collect important data about the safety of medical marijuana.

The study will assess the clinical safety of using marijuana with opioids by monitoring the short-term side effects associated with combined therapy.

Participants in the study must:

Have ongoing chronic pain
Be 18 or older
Be on a stable twice-daily dose of sustained-release oxycodone or morphine medication for at least two weeks before enrollment
Not use marijuana for a month prior to entering the study
Not be a cigarette and/or cigar smoker, or be willing not to smoke for two weeks before starting the study
Meet some additional criteria
Participating patients will:

Spend five days and nights in a clinical research center at San Francisco General Hospital
Attend a screening appointment before the study begins
Have blood tests and other measurements done
Inhale vaporized medicinal marijuana three times a day
You can receive $520 for participating. For more information, call (415) 476-9554, ext. 315, or e-mail pcouey@php.ucsf.edu. The Community Consortium Positive Health Program of the UCSF Medical Service at San Francisco General Hospital is conducting the study.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this on to any chronic pain patients who might be interested in participating in the study.
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Hi Sandel,
Thanks for the article.
Many years ago my Pain Management doctor recommended some medicinal marijuana for me. I had just had my intrathecal inserted and he thought it might compliment its actions.
My problem was where do I get it
As the mother of 6 teenage children I found that it wasn't really that hard to get and consequently tried a joint.
Not being a smoker I couldn't inhale without doing a head spin and vomiting so I never found out if it worked. All I know it was the most expensive headache I have had.
My kids tried to convince me to start smoking normal cigarettes and I would be able to tolerate it but I haven't.
I do have a very close friend in my CRPS support group who does smoke---both types and feels it does help with her pain so am sure that it could indeed be a helpful tool for many-----just make sure you are a smoker first
Tayla

Uhhhhhhh...
They are asking for folks that DO NOT smoke....or that haven't for at least 2 weeks prior to the study starting. It sounds to me like they would prefer folks that DON'T smoke. Probably so that they can see what, if any, affects this has on the lungs. That is just my guess on why....

Maybe I am giving out a little too much information here, smoking isn’t the only way that you can get the pot into your system. That is the most familiar way, but not the only way. LOL, I am sure that I am not the only one that knows about Brownies!! I am sure that there are other things that you can put it in to ingest it too...I just haven’t ever seen any.

Yes...it does change how things (Well...brownies, at least!) taste a bit. But, it isn’t all that bad. And, you still get some of the effects of the drug even after it has been cooked/baked. I don’t know that that would still be the case if you, say, used it instead of Oregano (or in addition to it) in your spaghetti sauce or something, as I don’t know if the simmering/boiling of it would change how it works. Maybe someone else has more information on it.

I will say that I DO NOT use it, as it is illegal in my State to use it in any way, shape, form or fashion...and I have never wanted to face the possibility of losing my kids had I been caught. That is to say, that I don’t use it now, or have ever on a regular basis. But I HAVE tried it (both before and since RSD), and can say that it helped to deal with my pain better than any pain med that I have taken yet. Not only that, but at the time that I DID try it after RSD, I was having stomach problems (ulcers, and one or more of the meds that I was on at the time was bothering and causing my stomach ot be upset and sick feeling a lot) and it not only helped with my high (SKY High at the time) pain levels, but ALSO settled my stomach. I have since learned that is one of the many benefits of pot, and why there are so many AIDS patients that are able to have it prescribed for them in different states. It helps to keep down other meds, when without it some folks wouldn’t be able to keep them down at all.

I hope to explore the whole Medicinal Marijuana possibility when I move back out West next Summer. I know that there are still problems with it being prescribed in some states who have made it legal themselves, because of the whole Federal issue. But, I figure that it doesn’t hurt to find out what I can.

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Sandel,
Thanks for putting up the info about this clinical trial. If I didn’t live all the way across the country, I would soooooo apply for it! I was fixing to turn this thing off and try to get a little sleep when I saw this post, so I haven’t had time to try to look up anything about it. I was wondering what the whole “Vaporized” thing is? You inhale it...but WHAT are you inhaling? It doesn’t sound like you are smoking the stuff.....but I don’t know? DO you know what/how they are talking about here? What is “Vaporized Marijuana”?

ROFL..I am getting pictures of them blasting it with something, and ....well...vaporizing it....and nothing being left. You know, kinda like a Jetsons or Star Trek type of vaporizing? I AM SURE that is wrong....and I will have to look up more. But, if anyone knows....it would be cool to have a bit of an explanation about what they do to it. Maybe I am not the only one that has that type of pic going through their brain?

Anyways..Thank you Sandel for posting about this. You always have such interesting posts.

Love and
Jose

oops...I wonder how that happened?

Oddly enough, I happened to run across this abstract in my files. The author admits no post-graduate education nor any affiliation with a college or university, but insists he was wearing a white lab coat with a rectal thermometer in his pocket throughout the experiment.

The author prefers to remain anonymous as this experiment was NOT approved by the National Institutes of Health or the Food and Drug Administration, and probably violates a few minor DEA rules.

The Effects of Tetrahydrocannabinol Delta 9 on pain sensitivity and perceptions of fun. Anonymous: unpublished, date uncertain but possibly within the past 6 hours.

This is a single-subject study, but the subject is in pain and did graciously consent to imbibe to stuff. You work with the materials at hand.

The subject was administered 1.5gm of ground pot orally (washing it down with a swig of club soda), claiming he hates brownies. Subject noticed no change in pain or cognitive function during the first hour, but then began to smile more.

At the end of the second hour, subject reported pain level had not diminished at all, but Jimi Hendrix sounded better.

By the end of the third hour, subject had interrupted narrative in order to replay “Rhiannon” (live version), 3 times, at full volume and was heard to mumble something that sounded like “If I could still get elections, she’s be in real trouble’. (He may have gotten Stevie and Hillary a little mixed up here)

After four hours, this researcher had heard “You don’t have to call me Darlin’” (David Allen Coe), so many times that he agreed it probably would sound better after a joint. The text becomes a bit unintelligible at this point, so I’ll just skip to the conclusion:

Subject reports absolutely no pain relief whatsoever from a single, oral dose, but says “So what? It was fun; and you haven’t heard “Freebird” until you’ve heard it while wearing a white lab coat”.

I should point out that this was not the first time this experiment was performed, the actual number is closer to 357; and this is only the oral dosage study. Inhalation experiments were much more common when the researcher was younger and probably numbered in excess of 2,000 (althought pain relief was not part of these studies).

My Doc put me on the "pot" pills first to help me gain weight. I lost so much wieght on the methadone he thought it would give me the munchies. It made me so sick so I stopped taking them. 2 years later another doc put me on to help with the pain. Once again I got sick. I couldn't breath. It was 8 below zero and I had my head sticking out the window trying to breath. Sometimes I wish I could just smoke a joint. Its illegal here in MA and I would have no touble getting it. I do know people that smoke it for medical reasons and they say it does help with pain. But I'd rather breath and pass the drug test at the pain clinic.

Sue K.

Like Jose said, I wonder how they vaporize it. Sounds interesting.

I was given a paper to grow marijuana and smoke it 2 years ago by my Neurologist for MS.

I had never tried it before in my life. Daddy was probably turning over in his grave because he would have killed us kids if he just caught us smoking a cigarette.

I laughed when Tayla mentioned getting a hold of it. When Bill told everyone I could smoke some, they came out of the woodwork to give me some.

The paper said I could raise 3 plants but owning our own place just kept me from doing anything to lose it.

I did try it and like Vicc said in that info he put up, all I knew is that I was floating on air. My thought was, what good is not having the pain if you don't know what the heck you are doing. I tried it several times and it did nothing but as I said, make me feel like I was floating. I wonder if that is the ideal, if you are high then you aren't going to feel the pain. LOL

About a year ago some guy was caught, I think here in Co., raising over 300 plants. He claimed for medical purposes and they did nothing with him when it went to court. He probably didn't own any land for them to take and too sick to take to jail.

Co. had passed the law back in 04 that people could use marijuana for medical purposes and someone way higher up said no. If the law went into effect Co. wouldn't get any federal funding. I think eventually though it will pass once that person gets out of office.

There are a few Drs. here in Co. that can give out the paperwork to grow the plants and use them but it is only on the state level. If a person gets caught with it on the federal level they could lose everything.

I think though if it would help a person then they should be able to use it. I just wouldn't be one of those people to use it.

Ada

California NORML Press Release - Jan 8, 2001 -
NORML -MAPS Study Shows Vaporizers Reduce Toxins in Marijuana Smoke
Medical marijuana patients may protect themselves from harmful toxins in marijuana smoke by inhaling their medicine using an electric vaporizer, according to results of a study by California NORML and MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies).

The study showed that it is possible to vaporize medically active THC by heating marijuana to a temperature short of the point of combustion, thereby eliminating or substantially reducing harmful smoke toxins that are normally present in marijuana smoke. Vaporizers may therefore substantially reduce what is widely regarded as the leading health hazard of marijuana, namely respiratory harm due to smoking.

Details of the study are published in D. Gieringer, "Cannabis Vaporization: A Promising Strategy for Smoke Harm Reduction," Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics Vol. 1#3-4: 153-70 (2001). Reprints available for $5 from California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114.

NORML and MAPS sponsored the study in the hopes of helping medical marijuana patients and others reduce the health risks of smoking. The hazards of smoking were cited as a major obstacle to approval of natural cannabis by the Institute of Medicine in its 1999 report, Marijuana and Medicine. However, the IOM report failed to note the possibility of vaporization.

The NORML-MAPS study tested a device called the M1 Volatizer®, an aromatherapy vaporizer developed by Alternative Delivery Systems, Inc.( www.volatizer.com). It consisted of an electric heating element in a chamber that radiates heat downwards over a sample of marijuana sitting in a standard pipe or "bong" bowl. Output from the vaporizer was analyzed and compared to smoke produced by combusting the sample with a flame.

The vaporizer produced THC at a temperature of 185° C. (365° F.) while completely eliminating three measured toxins - benzene, a known carcinogen, plus toluene and naphthalene. Carbon monoxide and smoke tars were both qualitatively reduced by the vaporizer, but additional testing is needed to quantify the extent of the decrease.

Although the study was not designed to detect the highly carcinogenic tars known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are thought to be a leading culprit in smoking-related cancers, there was good reason to believe that they were suppressed, since they normally form at much higher temperatures of combustion.

When vaporized, the marijuana emitted a thin gray vapor and was left with a green to greenish-brown "toasted" appearance, whereas the combusted sample produced thick smoke and turned to ash.

Significant amounts of benzene began to appear at temperatures of 200° C. (392° F), while combustion occurred around 230° (446°F) or above. Traces of THC were in evidence as low as 140° C. (284° F).

Further details of the study will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics.

The vaporizer study was undertaken as a follow-up to a previous NORML-MAPS marijuana smoking device study, which concluded that vaporizers offered the best prospects for smoke harm reduction. The study found that neither waterpipes nor solid filters were effective at reducing exposure to smoke tars, due to the fact that they filtered out even more THC, thus forcing patients to inhale more to achieve the same effective dose. A recent Australian study also found that waterpipes failed to reduce tars or carbon monoxide (Linda Gowing et al., "Respiratory Harms of Smoked Cannabis," Research Monograph No. 8. Adelaide: Drug and Alcohol Services Council of South Australia, 2000).

Other methods of marijuana smoke harm reduction include oral ingestion and potential new delivery systems, such as inhalers and patches, that are still under development. Smokers may also reduce their respiratory risks by using higher-potency marijuana, allowing them to inhale less smoke to obtain a given effective dose of THC. The medical marijuana popularly used in cannabis patients' clubs is several times more potent than that commonly provided to researchers by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, according to a potency survey by NORML and MAPS. However, the Australian study found that higher potency marijuana does not always deliver more THC, apparently because THC output is highly sensitive to variations in the burning properties of different samples.

A wide variety of vaporizers are presently available on the underground market. Many medical marijuana patients say they prefer vaporizers because they deliver smoother, less irritating medication. However, there have been no published scientific studies of their effectiveness heretofore.

NORML and MAPS are currently seeking support for further research and development of vaporizers. Tax-deductible donations to the vaporizer research project can be made through the NORML Foundation c/o California NORML, 2215-R Market St #278, San Francisco CA 94114 (415) 563-5858.

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http://www.canorml.org/healthfacts/vaporizers.html for a list of resources and further information (I found information above in a link at this site)

For that info on the vaporizers.

What I am wondering is once they get this figured out how they are going to help the public with them until the states pass the law for the use of it. I know there are some states that it is ok to use for medical purposes but most of them so far haven't passed the law.

I guess they are planning ahead though. In the next couple of years after the next election it might be a possibility that the law will change in more states for people to use it. Hopefully so.

Ada

I am an OMMP patient in Oregon. I went from 18 pills, 3 times a day, down to 4 a day. My Drs are amazed at my progress. I feel like a human again, the burning, itching, stabbing pains are greatly dimished by MMJ. I would never smoke it, we have a vaporizer. It has worked so well for us that we have a web site for the last 2 years selling Vaporizers. We have sold them to college professors all over the USA and they have been used in clinical studies. I get calls every day asking me about the medical effects of MMJ in a vaporizer. We have so many testimonials from very sick patients that I wonder why it is not an accepted form of treatment in all hospitals. My intent is to show you some different Vaporizers, not to sell you anything. Our site is called http://www.GreatVape.com. You can see some different ones there. I am still working on the site, so it is not complete yet. Deb and I designed it, and please remember I am very disabled. So, it takes me awhile to get some of the back end work done on the site. My health has improved dramatically, and I have more movement in my arms. I am a firm believer in MMJ and Vaporizers. If my post is violating any rules, please delete it.
Stephen
AKA Condor

PS Hope my post is not a thread killer!