For years, the DEA has been demanding controlled, FDA-approved studies showing efficacy of medical marijuana. This week, Dr. Donald Abrams of UCSF published the first study of this type in two decades, in the journal Neurology. The study shows that marijuana is effective in reducing pain from HIV-related neuropathy, as patients have long reported. Researchers reported that inhaling (smoking) low-grade cannabis (3.56 percent THC) three times daily reduced patients' pain by 34 percent. Dr. Abrams had initially sought federal approval to assess the potential medical efficacy of cannabis in HIV patients in 1994, but was repeatedly denied access to the US government's supply of research-grade marijuana. Previous clinical trials assessing the use of cannabinoids as analgesics have demonstrated that they can significantly reduce the neuropathy associated with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The study is the first of a dozen clinical studies sponsored by California's Center for Medical Cannabis Research to reach publication. Others are in the final stages of completion. The CMCR was founded in 2000, and it has taken 7 years to reach this point. California NORML asks, "how much longer will the federal government keep marijuana illegal in the face of the scientific evidence?" Opponents can rightly contend that the UCSF study was not part of a formal FDA new drug application, and that its results cannot be used for new drug approval. A proposal by Prof. Lyle Craker of U. Mass to establish a research garden to begin new drug development has been blocked by DEA. In another breaking news story, DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner ruled on February 12th that Prof. Crakers' application should be approved. If the application does go through, it would likely still take at least seven more years to approach new drug approval.

NORML's report about the study | California NORML's website