 | NORML News: Study says smoked cannabis more effective |
 NORML NEWS SUMMER 2008
A new study has shown what patients have said all along: smoked cannabis is more effective than pills containing synthetic THC.
Researchers at Columbia
University in New York
said “Smoked marijuana …
has a clear medical benefi t
in HIV-positive [patients]
by increasing food intake
and improving mood and
objective and subjective sleep
measures.”
In a first for HIV/AIDS
clinical research, scientists
not only compared the
efficacy of smoked
cannabis to a placebo lacking
THC, they also tested it against
Marinol, synthetic THC that
is approved by the US Food
and Drug Administration
to treat HIV/AIDS-related
weight and appetite loss.
Patients needed to take “eight
times” the recommended
daily dose of Marinol to equal
the same therapeutic relief
they achieved by smoking
some low-strength cannabis.
The government-grown pot
contained only 2 percent or
3.9 percent THC, yet a few
tokes were as effective as a
super-dose of the synthetic
pot pill - which costs nearly
US$1,000 per month!
Patients also made far fewer
requests for over-the-counter
‘rescue’ medications while
using cannabis.
Source: Haney et al, J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2007 Jun 21
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