Panel Avows Marijuana's Ability To Ease Pain And Nausea; Backs Testing

Jet, April 5, 1999

The active ingredients in marijuana can help fight pain and nausea, so it deserves to be tested in scientific trials, an advisory panel to the federal government said.

The Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences, said that marijuana's active ingredients can ease the pain, nausea and vomiting caused by cancer and AIDS.

The new analysis, which bolsters similar conclusions by the National Institutes of Health, urged scientific trials and the development of a standard way to safely use the drug, such as an inhaler.

The Institute of Medicine also said there was no conclusive evidence that marijuana use leads to harder drugs. However, the panel did warn that smoking marijuana can cause respiratory disease and called for the development of standardized forms of the drugs, called cannabinoids, that can be taken, for example, by inhaler.

Because it might take years to develop an inhaler, the panel said there may be cases where patients may get relief from smoked marijuana.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said it would carefully study the recommendations.

Voters in Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have approved use of medical marijuana.