T
The420Guy
Guest
Feb 21, 00
Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)
Copyright: 2000 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Author: Mark Hummels, The New Mexican
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FATE OF MEDICAL-MARIJUANA PROGRAM COULD REST WITH PUBLIC New Mexico's success at reviving its therapeutic marijuana program could depend on public perceptions of the quality of government-issue weed. "Would people be enthusiastic about enrolling if they felt - and word got out - that it was not very potent?" asked Dr. Steve Jenison, physician administrator of the state Health Department's infectious diseases bureau, who is working to reactivate the long-lapsed marijuana program. Gov. Gary Johnson has ordered health officials to resurrect the distribution of marijuana to patients for whom it might alleviate symptoms. The pot program - the first of its kind in the nation - has not been funded since 1986. But the only way to legally distribute marijuana is under a federal research waiver, available only for controlled experiments. And the studies must use "research grade" marijuana from a farm in Mississippi. Bryan Krumm of New Mexicans for Compassionate Use has said the federal pot is about five to six times less potent than some of the high-grade marijuana sold on the street today. That's a concern, Krumm said, because a patient would need to smoke more - and risk more smoking-related health dangers - to get the same relief. Such considerations could discourage potential participants from a state-run study, Jenison said. "Before we undertake to make application to the federal government, I think we should have a fairly good idea whether these people who take marijuana for relief of symptoms would be interested in big-enough numbers that you could actually do a research protocol," he said. The University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Center has declined to participate, saying synthetic pills of marijuana's main active ingredient, THC, make tests with crude marijuana unnecessary. A number of doctors surveyed by Jenison say they think some of their AIDS or chemotherapy patients might get better relief from smoking pot than from taking synthetic THC pills, Jenison said. "But then people get a little more circumspect when you ask whether they think a research protocol is feasible, simply because of the number you would have to enroll in order to answer a research question," Jenison added. New Mexico's first marijuana-research program compared smoked marijuana vs. THC capsules for easing nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy. The research concluded that smoking pot worked better for many patients. In recent years, interest has surged in marijuana's potential benefit for treating chronic nausea and anorexia related to AIDS and AIDS treatments. Jenison said an experiment in San Francisco is now looking into whether smoking pot affects a patient's blood levels of certain AIDS medications. Late last year, an Albuquerque cancer patient named Tony Cognetto petitioned the state Supreme Court to enforce New Mexico's 1978 medical-marijuana law and immediately revive the dormant distribution program. The court refused to hear the case. Cognetto, an electronics technician and father of two, died Sunday at his South Valley home. He was 46. Jenison said the Health Department is committed to reviving the marijuana program. He said a patient-review board of physicians has been chosen, and Jenison is working to develop a research protocol, but he would not guess how soon the state will apply for the federal research waiver. "Implementation is not going to be a simple matter. I think it needs to be done very thoughtfully, and that's what we're trying to do," he said. Since 1996, voters in nine states have approved some type of medical-marijuana initiative designed to circumvent federal law and permit therapeutic use of marijuana - from any source - for certain patients. In those states where the votes have been allowed to stand, the initiatives have opened the doors far wider to legal weed than New Mexico's law allows. Those initiatives run contrary to federal law - something the New Mexico therapeutic-marijuana statute explicitly forbids
Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)
Copyright: 2000 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Author: Mark Hummels, The New Mexican
****
FATE OF MEDICAL-MARIJUANA PROGRAM COULD REST WITH PUBLIC New Mexico's success at reviving its therapeutic marijuana program could depend on public perceptions of the quality of government-issue weed. "Would people be enthusiastic about enrolling if they felt - and word got out - that it was not very potent?" asked Dr. Steve Jenison, physician administrator of the state Health Department's infectious diseases bureau, who is working to reactivate the long-lapsed marijuana program. Gov. Gary Johnson has ordered health officials to resurrect the distribution of marijuana to patients for whom it might alleviate symptoms. The pot program - the first of its kind in the nation - has not been funded since 1986. But the only way to legally distribute marijuana is under a federal research waiver, available only for controlled experiments. And the studies must use "research grade" marijuana from a farm in Mississippi. Bryan Krumm of New Mexicans for Compassionate Use has said the federal pot is about five to six times less potent than some of the high-grade marijuana sold on the street today. That's a concern, Krumm said, because a patient would need to smoke more - and risk more smoking-related health dangers - to get the same relief. Such considerations could discourage potential participants from a state-run study, Jenison said. "Before we undertake to make application to the federal government, I think we should have a fairly good idea whether these people who take marijuana for relief of symptoms would be interested in big-enough numbers that you could actually do a research protocol," he said. The University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Center has declined to participate, saying synthetic pills of marijuana's main active ingredient, THC, make tests with crude marijuana unnecessary. A number of doctors surveyed by Jenison say they think some of their AIDS or chemotherapy patients might get better relief from smoking pot than from taking synthetic THC pills, Jenison said. "But then people get a little more circumspect when you ask whether they think a research protocol is feasible, simply because of the number you would have to enroll in order to answer a research question," Jenison added. New Mexico's first marijuana-research program compared smoked marijuana vs. THC capsules for easing nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy. The research concluded that smoking pot worked better for many patients. In recent years, interest has surged in marijuana's potential benefit for treating chronic nausea and anorexia related to AIDS and AIDS treatments. Jenison said an experiment in San Francisco is now looking into whether smoking pot affects a patient's blood levels of certain AIDS medications. Late last year, an Albuquerque cancer patient named Tony Cognetto petitioned the state Supreme Court to enforce New Mexico's 1978 medical-marijuana law and immediately revive the dormant distribution program. The court refused to hear the case. Cognetto, an electronics technician and father of two, died Sunday at his South Valley home. He was 46. Jenison said the Health Department is committed to reviving the marijuana program. He said a patient-review board of physicians has been chosen, and Jenison is working to develop a research protocol, but he would not guess how soon the state will apply for the federal research waiver. "Implementation is not going to be a simple matter. I think it needs to be done very thoughtfully, and that's what we're trying to do," he said. Since 1996, voters in nine states have approved some type of medical-marijuana initiative designed to circumvent federal law and permit therapeutic use of marijuana - from any source - for certain patients. In those states where the votes have been allowed to stand, the initiatives have opened the doors far wider to legal weed than New Mexico's law allows. Those initiatives run contrary to federal law - something the New Mexico therapeutic-marijuana statute explicitly forbids
