Kerry: Get an Herbal Position

John Kerry's acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination ended with a series of "what if's": "What if we find a breakthrough to cure Parkinson's, diabetes, Alzheimer's and AIDS?" he wondered aloud, to the cheers of the crowd.

Innovative treatments for these diseases, and many others, may be closer than Kerry thinks, and it won't take fetal tissue to find them. If Kerry makes good on his promise to review research on medical marijuana when he takes office, he'll be amazed at what has been learned in the last several years.

After the voters of California and Arizona legalized medical marijuana in 1996, then-drug "czar" Barry McCaffrey commissioned a $1 million scientific review of existing studies on marijuana by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. Since the 1999 IOM report was published, hundreds of studies on cannabinoids, the active compounds in marijuana, and their newly developed cognates, have uncovered astonishing results.

"Every one of our body's organized systems makes and responds to marijuana-like compounds: cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, excretory, immunological, nervous, reproductive and respiratory," says Dr. Robert Melamede, head of the biology department at the University of Colorado. Endogenous (natural in the body) cannabinoids and their receptors are popping up everywhere, and showing beneficial effects in animal and clinical studies.

Beyond the traditional symptomatic relief for nausea in cancer and AIDS patients, or pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis sufferers, cannabinoids may actually retard the progression of diseases like MS, Alzheimer's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In addition, compounds in marijuana are showing anti-tumor effects and protective properties in the brain and heart tissue of stroke and heart attack victims, and those exposed to nerve gas.

"When they say marijuana destroys your brain, they have it exactly wrong," says Melamede. "Marijuana protects your brain, from the lack of oxygen and neurotoxins." The U.S. army is investigating the matter, and one research team in Spain is shrinking human brain tumors by injecting them with cannabinoids.

Just a quick literature search on the list of diseases Kerry mentioned brings up scores of studies. Take Parkinson's, a progressive neurological disease impacting brain cells that normally produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that coordinates movement. The IOM report stated, "Theoretically, cannabinoids could be useful for treating Parkinson's disease patients because cannabinoids have been shown to be closely associated with dopaminergic pathways in the body." The following year, a Czech research team wrote, "It seems that cannabinoids could delay or even stop progressive degeneration of brain dopaminergic systems, a process for which there is presently no prevention."

As well as their neurological activities, cannabinoids have various immunosuppressive effects, and studies on autoimmune diseases like diabetes have been promising. In one animal study using an experimental disease model, cannabinoids reduced the severity of diabetes symptoms and extended the time before their onset. In addition, cannabinoids have been shown to promote peripheral circulation, the lack of which can lead to loss of limbs in diabetes patients. And THC (tetrohydrocannabinol) receptors are replete in the retina, where they may protect cells against the loss of sight.

Scientists at the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists' 34th annual meeting held November 2003 in San Antonio, Texas presented Phase II studies showing that THC reduces agitation in patients with Alzheimer's disease. A side effect was reducing the stress experienced by caregivers. Cannabinoids have also been shown to ameliorate food refusal, a common problem in patients who suffer from Alzheimer's-type dementia. As in AIDS wasting syndrome, marijuana's appetite-enhancing properties can mean the difference between life and death.