dadinpain
New Member
The 7 Legal U.S. Medical Marijuana Patients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can the government deny the rest of us in the US legal MMJ medicine? Issue: U.S Government & Medical Marijuana
Sub-Issue: The 7 Legal U.S. Medical Marijuana Patients
Q: Who are the 7 patients receiving medical marijuana and how has their health been affected by marijuana use?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
The five known Compassionate IND patients are:
No. Name of Patient Diagnosis Date Entered IND Program Marijuana Dosage* Years in Program
(through 12/31/01) Status
(as of 3/20/06)
1 Douglass, Barbara Multiple Sclerosis August 30, 1991 Nine cured ounces (of MJ) per month 10 Still Receives Med MJ
2 McMahon, George Nail Patella Syndrome March 16, 1990 Eight cured ounces (of MJ) per month 11 Still Receives Med MJ
3 Millet, Corrine Glaucoma November 16, 1990 Four cured ounces (of MJ) per month 12 Still Receives Med MJ
4 Musikka, Elvy Glaucoma October 17, 1988 Eight cured ounces (of MJ) per month 13 Still Receives Med MJ
5 Rosenfeld, Irvin Rare Bone Disorder November 20, 1982 Eleven cured ounces (of MJ) every three weeks 19 Still Receives Med MJ
6 Name Withheld
by Request Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
7 Name Withheld
by Request Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
* One cured ounce is about 40 cigarettes.
Patients Out of Time and its President, Al Byrne, gave ProCon.org the following in a 9/02 email:
"Twelve patients were initially approved for the U.S. Government Food & Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug (IND) Compassionate Access Program.
Five have since died, all from AIDS-related complications.
There are currently seven patients still receiving regular legal Medical Marijuana from the U.S. government; two patients wish to remain anonymous.
The Marijuana distributed to these patients is grown at the University of Mississippi under administration by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
9/02 Patients Out of Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George McMahon, a patient in the Compassionate IND program for medical marijuana, wrote the following in his 2004 book Prescription Pot (NJ: New Horizons Press, co-author Christopher Largen):
"I was up to seventeen different pills, three times a day and I was pretty incapacitated because of the side effects when my application [to the Compassionate IND program for medical marijuana] was finally approved and my doctor received my first shipment of medical marijuana from the federal government....
I feel lucky to be a legal patient. I don't feel guilty about my status, but I can't take for granted what so many other patients need and lack. Nevertheless, my health depends on a steady supply of medicine....
People who have never struggled with a life threatening or disabling illness often do not comprehend how debilitating the resulting depression can be. Long days spent struggling with sickness can wear patients down, suppress their appetites and slowly destroy their wills to live. This psychological damage can result in physiological effects that may be the difference between living and dying....
The elevated mood associated with cannabis definitely affected my health in a positive manner. I was more engaged with life. I took walks and rode my bike, things I never considered doing before in my depressed state, even if I had been physically capable. I ate regular meals and I slept better at night. All of these individual factos contributed to a better overall sense of well-being.
If you feel better, you are better... I accepted the fact that I might not ever be cured of my condition, but at least I had found a way to feel less physical and emotional pain in the meantime."
(10/29/02) George McMahon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics reported on a study by Ethan Russo, M.D., "Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis," published in January 2002:
"Despite the obvious opportunity to generate data on the use of cannabis and its possible sequelae in these patients, neither NIDA, other branches of the National Institutes of Health, nor the FDA has published an analysis of information from this cohort. An examination of the contents of the National Library of Medicine Database (PubMed), and search engines of NIDA employing multiple combinations of key words failed to retrieve a single citation...
The aim of this study is to examine the overall health status of 4 of the 7 surviving patients in the [Compassionate IND] program. This project provides the first opportunity to scrutinize the long-term effects of cannabis on patients who have used a known dosage of a standardized, heat-sterilized quality-controlled supply of low-grade marijuana for 11 to 27 years.
Results demonstrate clinical effectiveness in these patients in treating glaucoma, chronic musculoskeletal pain, spasm and nausea, and spasticity of multiple sclerosis. All 4 patients are stable with respect to their chronic conditions, and are taking many fewer standard pharmaceuticals than previously.
Mild changes in pulmonary function were observed in 2 patients, while no functionally significant attributable sequelae were noted in any other physiological system examined in the study, which included: MRI scans of the brain, pulmonary function tests, chest X-ray, neuropsychological tests, hormone and immunological assays, electroencephalography, P300 testing, history, and neurological clinical examination.
These results would support the provision of clinical cannabis to a greater number of patients in need. We believe that cannabis can be a safe and effective medicine with various suggested improvements in the existing Compassionate IND program."
(01/2002) Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, in his 10/29/02 concurring opinion in the case of Conant v. Walters, wrote on page 25:
"...the medical histories of individuals who have received and continue to receive medical marijuana from the federal government provide compelling support for the view that medical marijuana can make the difference between a relatively normal life and a life marred by suffering."
(10/29/02) Alex Kozinski
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) volunteer Michael A. Greene told ProCon.org in a 1/25/03 email:
"Under this program, administered through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these patients are using a substance, obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which the U.S. Government considers equivalent to heroin, cocaine, ***, or methamphetamine.
Subsequently, there have been no governmental studies to ascertain the long-term effects of marijuana on these patient's overall health or on the conditions they are being treated for. This is absurd considering that it is the only long-term study being undertaken by a government obsessed with finding harm in a relatively benign substance.
I suspect that the U.S. Government recognizes the program's benefits and it is hoping that once these patients eventually die, that this whole affair will be buried along with them.
If any other health care entity were providing substandard pharmaceutical agents to a group of study patients while ignoring the overall effects that this 'investigational new drug' is having on them, they would be prosecuted for criminal neglect and reckless endangerment."
(1/25/03) Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can the government deny the rest of us in the US legal MMJ medicine? Issue: U.S Government & Medical Marijuana
Sub-Issue: The 7 Legal U.S. Medical Marijuana Patients
Q: Who are the 7 patients receiving medical marijuana and how has their health been affected by marijuana use?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
The five known Compassionate IND patients are:
No. Name of Patient Diagnosis Date Entered IND Program Marijuana Dosage* Years in Program
(through 12/31/01) Status
(as of 3/20/06)
1 Douglass, Barbara Multiple Sclerosis August 30, 1991 Nine cured ounces (of MJ) per month 10 Still Receives Med MJ
2 McMahon, George Nail Patella Syndrome March 16, 1990 Eight cured ounces (of MJ) per month 11 Still Receives Med MJ
3 Millet, Corrine Glaucoma November 16, 1990 Four cured ounces (of MJ) per month 12 Still Receives Med MJ
4 Musikka, Elvy Glaucoma October 17, 1988 Eight cured ounces (of MJ) per month 13 Still Receives Med MJ
5 Rosenfeld, Irvin Rare Bone Disorder November 20, 1982 Eleven cured ounces (of MJ) every three weeks 19 Still Receives Med MJ
6 Name Withheld
by Request Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
7 Name Withheld
by Request Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
* One cured ounce is about 40 cigarettes.
Patients Out of Time and its President, Al Byrne, gave ProCon.org the following in a 9/02 email:
"Twelve patients were initially approved for the U.S. Government Food & Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug (IND) Compassionate Access Program.
Five have since died, all from AIDS-related complications.
There are currently seven patients still receiving regular legal Medical Marijuana from the U.S. government; two patients wish to remain anonymous.
The Marijuana distributed to these patients is grown at the University of Mississippi under administration by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
9/02 Patients Out of Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George McMahon, a patient in the Compassionate IND program for medical marijuana, wrote the following in his 2004 book Prescription Pot (NJ: New Horizons Press, co-author Christopher Largen):
"I was up to seventeen different pills, three times a day and I was pretty incapacitated because of the side effects when my application [to the Compassionate IND program for medical marijuana] was finally approved and my doctor received my first shipment of medical marijuana from the federal government....
I feel lucky to be a legal patient. I don't feel guilty about my status, but I can't take for granted what so many other patients need and lack. Nevertheless, my health depends on a steady supply of medicine....
People who have never struggled with a life threatening or disabling illness often do not comprehend how debilitating the resulting depression can be. Long days spent struggling with sickness can wear patients down, suppress their appetites and slowly destroy their wills to live. This psychological damage can result in physiological effects that may be the difference between living and dying....
The elevated mood associated with cannabis definitely affected my health in a positive manner. I was more engaged with life. I took walks and rode my bike, things I never considered doing before in my depressed state, even if I had been physically capable. I ate regular meals and I slept better at night. All of these individual factos contributed to a better overall sense of well-being.
If you feel better, you are better... I accepted the fact that I might not ever be cured of my condition, but at least I had found a way to feel less physical and emotional pain in the meantime."
(10/29/02) George McMahon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics reported on a study by Ethan Russo, M.D., "Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis," published in January 2002:
"Despite the obvious opportunity to generate data on the use of cannabis and its possible sequelae in these patients, neither NIDA, other branches of the National Institutes of Health, nor the FDA has published an analysis of information from this cohort. An examination of the contents of the National Library of Medicine Database (PubMed), and search engines of NIDA employing multiple combinations of key words failed to retrieve a single citation...
The aim of this study is to examine the overall health status of 4 of the 7 surviving patients in the [Compassionate IND] program. This project provides the first opportunity to scrutinize the long-term effects of cannabis on patients who have used a known dosage of a standardized, heat-sterilized quality-controlled supply of low-grade marijuana for 11 to 27 years.
Results demonstrate clinical effectiveness in these patients in treating glaucoma, chronic musculoskeletal pain, spasm and nausea, and spasticity of multiple sclerosis. All 4 patients are stable with respect to their chronic conditions, and are taking many fewer standard pharmaceuticals than previously.
Mild changes in pulmonary function were observed in 2 patients, while no functionally significant attributable sequelae were noted in any other physiological system examined in the study, which included: MRI scans of the brain, pulmonary function tests, chest X-ray, neuropsychological tests, hormone and immunological assays, electroencephalography, P300 testing, history, and neurological clinical examination.
These results would support the provision of clinical cannabis to a greater number of patients in need. We believe that cannabis can be a safe and effective medicine with various suggested improvements in the existing Compassionate IND program."
(01/2002) Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, in his 10/29/02 concurring opinion in the case of Conant v. Walters, wrote on page 25:
"...the medical histories of individuals who have received and continue to receive medical marijuana from the federal government provide compelling support for the view that medical marijuana can make the difference between a relatively normal life and a life marred by suffering."
(10/29/02) Alex Kozinski
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) volunteer Michael A. Greene told ProCon.org in a 1/25/03 email:
"Under this program, administered through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these patients are using a substance, obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which the U.S. Government considers equivalent to heroin, cocaine, ***, or methamphetamine.
Subsequently, there have been no governmental studies to ascertain the long-term effects of marijuana on these patient's overall health or on the conditions they are being treated for. This is absurd considering that it is the only long-term study being undertaken by a government obsessed with finding harm in a relatively benign substance.
I suspect that the U.S. Government recognizes the program's benefits and it is hoping that once these patients eventually die, that this whole affair will be buried along with them.
If any other health care entity were providing substandard pharmaceutical agents to a group of study patients while ignoring the overall effects that this 'investigational new drug' is having on them, they would be prosecuted for criminal neglect and reckless endangerment."
(1/25/03) Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
