杏吧原创

鈥淭he idea that some of the molecules in marijuana may help with cancer is not crazy鈥� (Image: Joe Chielli/Church-Street-Studios)

You鈥檝e been on a medical marijuana odyssey of sorts. What inspired it?
It was a patient of mine. She is a retired English professor with advanced cancer and asked whether I thought marijuana might help to relieve her symptoms. At the time I told her: 鈥渁s far as I know it鈥檚 an illegal drug with no benefits whatsoever.鈥� But she kept pushing me and asking about studies, to the point where I had to admit that I really didn鈥檛 know if it would help or not. So I promised her I鈥檇 find out. I found a lot more evidence to support its use than I had ever realised existed.

You experimented on yourself. What was your most striking marijuana remedy?
I have an old back injury that haunts me from time to time. So I self-medicated with a joint I got from a friend of a friend. The results were spectacular, both in terms of pain relief and side effects: I had visual and auditory hallucinations. When I told a friend 鈥� an advocate of medical marijuana 鈥� about the experience, he told me, 鈥淒ude, you overtoked!鈥� And that鈥檚 a lesson for those who are thinking about self-medicating with marijuana but don鈥檛 have experience using it. You can really overdo it if you aren鈥檛 careful.

But many remedies didn鈥檛 work.
That鈥檚 right. One huge fail was a marijuana ointment I tried in Nepal. Getting any compounds through the skin is tough 鈥� it鈥檚 designed to keep stuff out. So while that ointment was supposed to relieve my knee pain after a really, really long hike, it didn鈥檛 work at all. Many people try to make ointments, teas or even salads from cannabis leaves, but you don鈥檛 extract the active ingredients 鈥� tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol 鈥� that way. That shows the importance of understanding the science behind the drug.

A recent review of clinical trials of marijuana found only moderate evidence for some of its claimed benefits. What鈥檚 your take on that?
If you have cancer and you鈥檝e tried multiple anti-nausea drugs but are still throwing up constantly for two days after chemotherapy, will you say: 鈥淲ell, those marijuana trials only offer moderate evidence of nausea control, so I鈥檒l just keep throwing up鈥�? No, you鈥檒l probably accept some uncertainty, and a lower level of evidence, if there鈥檚 a chance you might be able to feel human again.

What therapeutic uses is marijuana likely to be put to next?
The data for treatment of neuropathic pain 鈥� resulting from nerve damage 鈥� is quite compelling. As for the future, the idea that some of the molecules in marijuana may help with cancer is not crazy. There are laboratory studies showing that some of the drug鈥檚 compounds may reduce the cell division rate of tumours and the rate at which those tumours develop new blood vessels. Such findings suggest that these molecules may one day be an important part of a cancer treatment regimen, but it鈥檚 going to take some time for the research to get there.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淢an on a marijuana mission鈥�