Patients Swear by Medicinal Marijuana

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many patients swear by medicinal marijuana despite a lack of medical evidence that proves it benefits epilepsy and multiple sclerosis patients, report researchers publishing in this month's Neurology.

In two separate studies, Canadian investigators found patients who use marijuana to help control the seizures and spasms associated with these diseases believe the drug is beneficial.

The first study involved a telephone survey of 136 epileptic patients being treated at the University of Alberta Epilepsy Clinic. About half reported using marijuana sometime in their lives, and one in five had used it within the past year. Patients with more frequent seizures were eight-times more likely to be marijuana users, and those who had had epilepsy for at least five years were 10-times more likely to be users.

In the second study, 205 MS patients in Halifax, Nova Scotia, filled out a questionnaire about marijuana use. Among the 34 patients who said they used medical marijuana, more than half reported the drug was very effective in treating their MS symptoms, and more than half said they used the drug within the past 24 hours. Multiple daily use was reported by eight patients.

In an editorial accompanying the studies, Mayo Clinic researchers note Canadian law makes it possible for people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, including for the treatment of epilepsy and MS. However, they believe more study is needed before such use is recommended by doctors, and say that will mean laws in the United States will have to change.

Authors write, “To use marijuana effectively and safely for clinical purposes, we need to be able to study its use in appropriately designed and conducted clinical studies. To do that, we must have a legal setting that permits unfettered scientific inquiry into the safety and efficacy of such a treatment.”

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SOURCE: Neurology, 2004;62:2095-2097, 2098-2100, 1925-1925