From 1840 to 1900, more than 100 articles were published in European and American medical journals on the therapeutic use of the drug then known as Cannabis indica (or Indian hemp). It was recommended as an appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant, analgesic, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant. In 1913, Sir William Osler reported it as the most satisfactory remedy for migraine. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of a seemingly infinite range of human conditions and has recently been proven to be the safest and most effective option for people with a variety of illnesses.
As of 1997, over 90 published reports and studies had shown marijuana has medical efficacy. There have been many more since then.
Source: Common Sense for Drug Policy, Compendium of Reports, Research and Articles Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Medical Marijuana, Vol. I & Vol. II, Falls Church, VA: Common Sense for Drug Policy (1997, March).
On September 6, 1988, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Chief Administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young, ruled:
"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. ...[T]he provisions of the [Controlled Substances] Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22] (1988, September 6), p. 57.
Judge Young concluded: "In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22], (1988, September 6), p. 57.
Medical conditions helped by marijuana
Pain - Acute pain, chronic pain, migraine headaches, chemotherapy pain, spinal cord injury pain, peripheral neuropathic pain, central poststroke pain, pain caused by AIDS and AIDS related syndromes, menstrual cramps, labour pains
"Severe chronic pain is usually treated with opioid narcotics and various synthetic analgesics, but these drugs have many limitations. Opioids are addictive and tolerance develops... analgesics... are not addictive, but they are often insufficiently powerful... [and] have serious toxic side effects... may be responsible for... more than 7600 deaths [in the USA] annually... cannabis, while it is not as powerful a pain reliever as the opioids, has fewer serious side effects and creates no risk of dependence." - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine
Pain triggers the release of the brain's natural version of marijuana, researchers said on Monday... The secretion of anandamide eas[es] pain, they reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - Oct 11, 2000 Reuters
Nausea and vomiting (emesis) due, for instance, to acute viral illness, cancer, radiation exposure, cancer chemotherapy, postoperative recovery, pregnancy, motion and poisoning.
"In the spring of 1990 two investigators randomly selected more than two thousand members of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (one-third of the total membership) and mailed them an anonymous questionnaire to learn their views on the use of cannabis in cancer chemotherapy. Almost half of the recipients responded... Only 43 percent said the available legal antiemetic drugs (including synthetic oral THC) provided adequate relief to all or most of their patients, and less than 46 percent said the side effects of these drugs were a serious problem for only a few. Forty-four percent had recommended the illegal use of marihuana to at least one patient, and half would prescribe it to some patients if it were legal. On the average they considered smoked marihuana more effective than oral synthetic THC and roughly as safe. Since this survey was conducted, many more oncologists presumably have learned about the value of cannabis." - Lester Grinspoon M.D. and James B. Bakalaar, Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, January 30, 1997, "The advanced stages of many illnesses and their treatments are often accompanied by intractable nausea, vomiting, or pain. Thousands of these patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report they have obtained striking relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana."
Wasting caused by HIV/AIDS, cancer, anorexia nervosa and Alzheimer's disease.
"Cannabis has become increasingly popular as a treatment not only for nausea, vomiting, and weight loss but for other AIDS symptoms [and side effects of AIDS drugs]... The time has clearly come to integrate cannabis into AIDS treatment." - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine
Neurological Disorders causing muscle spasticity and other abnormal skeletal muscle movements (Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal cord injury, movement disorders such as dystonia, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Tourette's syndrome)
A British study found that Cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive cannabinoid of marijuana, helped patients with Huntington's Disease, epilepsy, Tourette's Syndrome, and was found to be more effective than aspirin as an anti-inflammatory agent.
"Although the anticonvulsant properties of cannabis have been known since ancient times and were explored in the nineteenth century, this therapeutic use of the drug has been largely ignored in the past hundred years... more and more epilepsy sufferers are discovering the usefulness of cannabis... some people are helped by cannabis and nothing else... The use of marihuana in multiple sclerosis is illustrated in this account by Greg Paufler... while I was bedridden, some friends came to visit and we smoked a few marihuana cigarettes. Afterward I felt better, but attributed that effect to the mild 'high.' My spasms also became less severe, but I gave the daily injections of ACTH credit for that... months later... unable to walk, read, or be with my family, I began smoking marihuana to relieve the boredom, four to six joints a day. One evening some old friends came to visit and we smoked several joints. When they rose to leave I stood up to say gooddbye. Everyone in the room suddenly stopped talking and stared at me... I soon discovered that when I did not smoke marihuana my spasms were more frequent and intense. When I smoked it, my condition stabilized, then dramatically improved. I could walk unaided, and my vision was less blurred. But my doctor and my wife remained skeptical... I decided to stop smoking marihuana for six months. When I could no longer sit up, much less walk, I resumed smoking marihuana daily. Within a ew weeks I was able to walk again unaided... I felt reborn... To show myself it was not really the marihuana helping, I decided to stop smoking yet again. At first gradually and then more rapidly, the muscle spasms returned... Eventually I was bedridden again. After four months I decided to start smoking again. My condition immediately stabilized, then began to improve. I was happy but very confused. This pattern continued... For reasons I cannot explain, I found it hard to believe that marihuana was really the cause of these dramatic changes in my health... In 1980 my brother showed me a newspaper article about an MS patient in Washington... I was astonished to learn that I was not the only MS patient getting relief from marihuana. It was even more astonishing that doctors, researchers, and other MS patients had supported Mr. Diana's claim and the court had ruled in his favour... there are hints in this case and others that cannabis not only relieves the symptoms of multiple sclerosis - muslce spasms, tremor, loss of muscle coordination (ataxia) and bladder control, insomnia - but also retards the progression of the disease... [in another case] motor functions and sexual functions improved immediately" - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine
"Marijuana or the use of other cannabinoids as human therapies might be considered for treating spasticity and nocturnal spasms complicating MS and spinal cord injury, for various active epilepsy states, for some forms of dystonia, and perhaps most interestingly, for treating neuropathic pain (Zeltser et al. 1991)...Neuropathic pain complicates many CNS diseases. Few available therapies provide even partial relief... Movement disorders are often transiently exacerbated by stress and activity and improved by factors that reduce stress. This is of particular interest because for many people marijuana reduces anxiety" - Marijuana and Medicine
Glaucoma, the second-leading cause of blindness in the world
Marijuana has been shown to substantially reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) when administered orally, intravenously, or by inhalation. Marijuana has prevented glaucoma sufferers from losing their eyesight.
Muscular dystrophy
Rheumatic diseases such as osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis
Paraplegia or quadriplegia
"Many paraplegics and quadriplegics have now discovered that cannabis not only relieves their pain more safely than opioids but also effectively suppresses their muscle jerks and tremors." - Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine
Hepatitis C
Fibromyalgia
depression and other mood disorders.
"At present we do not know how many patients with bipolar disorder would benefit from cannabis. The promising anecdotal evidence points to the need for more systematic clinical investigation... We are left with the tantalizing possibility that cannabis (or one or more of its constituent cannabinoids) is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder" - Lester Grinspoon M.D. & James B. Bakalar, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Volume 30(2) April-June 1998 p 171-177
Head Injury
Raphael Mechoulam, PhD, of Hebrew University, a natural products chemist and pioneer in the research of medical marijuana, says human studies have shown marijuana prevents brain damage from head injuries and holds promise for treating stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Tourette's syndrome and possibly even Parkinson's disease.
Pruritus,
PMS,
Asthma,
Insomnia,
Dystonias,
Adult ADD,
Schizophrenia,
Systemic sclerosis,
Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis,
High blood pressure / hypertension
diabetic gastroparesis,
pseudotumor cerebri,
tinnitus,
violence,
PTSD,
Phantom limb pain,
Alcoholism and other addictions,
Terminal illness
International Classification of Diseases 9 - CM 1996
Chronic Conditions Treated With Cannabis
Encountered Between 1990-2001
Copyright 2001 Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D.
Epilepsy
AIDS Related Illness 042
Post W.E. Enephalitis 062.1
Chemotherapy Convales V66.2
Shingles (Herpes Zoster) 053.9
Radiation Therapy E929.9
Viral B Hepatitis, chronic 070.52
Viral C Hepatitis, chronic 070.54
Lyme Disease 088.81
Reiters Syndrome 99.3
Post Polio Syndrome 138.0
Testicular Cancer 186.9
Adrenal Cortical Cancer 194.0
Brain malignant tumor 191.
Cancer, site unspecified 199
Lympho & reticular ca 200
Myeloid leukemia 205
Diabetic Gastroparesis 250.6
Porphyria 277.1
Amyloidosis 277.3
Autoimmune disease 279.4
Henoch-Schoelein Purpur*** 287.0
Schizophrenia(s) 295.x
Major Depression, Sgl Epis 296.2
Major Depression, Recurrent 296.3
Bipolar Disorder 296.6
Anxiety Disorder+ 300.00
Panic Disorder+ 300.01
Agoraphobia 300.22
Obsessive Compulsive Dis. 300.3
Dysthymic Disorder 300.4
Neurasthenia 300.5
Writers? Cramp**** 300.89
Impotence, Psychogenic 302.72
Alcoholism+ 303.0
Opiate Dependence+ 304.0
Sedative Dependence+ 304.1
Cocaine Dependence+ 304.2
Amphetamine Dependence 304.4
Alcohol Abuse+ 305.0
Tobacco Dependence 305.1
Psychogenic Hyperhidrosis 306.3
Psychogenic Pylorospasm** 306.4
Psychogenic Dysuria 306.53
Bruxism 306.8
Stuttering* 307.0
Tic disorder unspec 307.20
Tourette's Syndrome 307.23
Persistent Insomnia 307.42
Nightmares 307.47
Bulimia 307.51
Tension Headache 307.81
Psychogenic Pain 307.89
Post Traumatic Stress Dis. 309.81
Org. Mental Dis.hd inj 310.1
Nonpsychotic Org Brain Dis. 310.8
Brain Trauma 310.9
Intermittent Explosive Dis 312.34
Trichotillomania 312.39
ADD w/o hyperactivity 314.00
ADD w hyperactivity 314.01
ADD other 314.8
Pschogenic PAT 316.0
Parkinsons Disease 332.0
Huntingtons Disease+ 333.4
Restless legs syndrome 333.99
Friedreich?s Ataxia 334.0
Cerebellar Ataxia 334.4
Spinal mm atrophy II 335.11
Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis 335.2
Other spinal cord disease 336
Syringomyelia 336.0
Reflex Sympath Dystrophy 337.2
Multiple Sclerosis 340.0
Other CNS demyelinating 341.
Hemiparesis/plegia 342
Cerebral Palsy+ 343.9
Quadriplegia(s) 344.0x
Paraplegia(s) 344.1x
Paralysis, unspecified 344.9
Epilepsy(ies)+ 345.x
Grand Mal Seizures** 345.1
Limbic Rage Syndrome** 345.4
Jacksonian Epilepsy** 345.5
Migraine(s)+ 346.x
Migraine, Classical+ 346.0
Cluster Headaches 346.2
Tic Doloroux+ 350.1
Bell?s palsy 351.0
Thoracic Outlet Synd 353.0
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome 354.0
Mononeuritis lower limb 355
Charcot-Marie-Tooth 356.1
Neuropathy+ 357
Muscular dystrophies 359
Macular Degeneration** 362.5
Glaucoma 365.23
Dyslexic Amblyopia** 368.0
Color Blindness* 368.55
Conjuctivitis 372.9
Drusen of Optic Nerve 377.21
Optic neuritis 377.30
Strabismus & other binoc 378
Nystagmus, Congenital 379.5
Meniere's Disease 386.00
Tinnitus 388.30
Hypertension+ 401.1
Post Cardiotomy Syndrome 429.4
Raynaud?s Disease 443.0
Thromboangiitis Obliterans 443.1
Polyarteritis Nodosa 446.0
Asthma, unspecified 493.9
Cystic Fibrosis 518.89
Dentofacial anomaly pain 524.
T.M.J Sydrome 524.60
Gastritis+ 535.5
Peptic Ulcer/Dyspepsia 536.8
Colitis, Ulcerative 536.9
Pylorospasm Reflux 537.81
Regional Enteritis & Crohns 555.9
Colitis+ 558.9
Colon diverticulitis 562.1
Constipation 564.0
Irritable Bowel Synd. 564.1
Dumping Sydrome Post Sur 564.2
Pancreatitis 577.1
Nephritis/nephropathy 583.81
Ureter spasm calculus 592
Prostatitis 600.0
Epididymitis** 604.xx
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease 614
Endometriosis** 617.9
Premenstrual Syndrome+ 625.3
Pain, Vaginal 625.9
Menopausal syndrome 627.2
Eczema 692.9
Psoriatic Arthritis 696.0
Psoriasis 696.1
Pruritus, pruritic+ 698.9
Alopecia 704.0x
Lupus 710.0
Scleroderma 710.1
Dermatomyositis 710.3
Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syn. 710.5
Arthritis, Rheumatoid+ 714.0
Felty?s Syndrome 714.1
Arthritis, Degenerative 715.0
Arthritis, post traumatic+ 716.1
Arthropathy, Degenerative+ 716.9
Patellar chondromalacia 717.7
Ankylosis 718.5
Multiple joints pain 719.49
L-S disk dis sciatic N irrit 722.1
IVDD Cerv w Myelopathy 722.71
Cervical Disk Disease 722.91
Cervicobrachial Syndrome 723.3
Lumbosacral Back Disease 724.x
Spinal Stenosis 724.02
Lower Back Pain 724.5
Peripheral enthesopathies 726
Tenosynovitis 727.x
Dupuytens Contracture 728.6
Muscle Spasm 728.85
Fibromyagia/Fibrositis 729.1
Melorheostosis 733.99
Scoliosis 754.2
Spina Bifida Occulta 756.17
Osteogenesis imperfecta 756.51
Ehlers Danlos Syndrom 756.83
Nail patella syndrome 756.89
Peutz-Jehgers Syndrome** 756.9
Mastocytosis 757.33
Marfan syndrome 759.82
Sturge-Weber Eye Syn** 759.6
Insomnia+ 780.52
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 780.7
Tremor/Invol Movements 781.0
Myofacial Pain Syndrome** 782.0
Anorexia+ 783.0
Hiccough+ 786.8
Vomiting 787.01
Nausea+ 787.02
Diarrhea 787.91
Pain, Ureter 788.0
Cachexia 799.4
Whiplash 847.0
Back Sprain 847.9
Shoulder Injury Unspec 959.2
Knee, ankle & foot injury 959.7
Motion Sickness 994.6
Anaphylactic or Reaction 995.0
Trachoria Growths
+ Represents citations from pre-1937 medical literature
* From Eugene Schoenfeld, M.D.
** From Dale Gieringer, PhD CA NORML Hotline
*** From Robert Wilson, Hayward Hempery
**** Barry R. McCaffrey 12-30-96 (quote from John Stuart Mill 1867)
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