Treating Pain With Medical Marijuana Research s
Post# of 1040
Research suggests cannabis has promise for easing arthritis-related pain, inflammation and more – but some doctors caution that’s only part of the picture.
By Camille Noe Pagán
“Joints for Joints.” That was the title of a lighthearted yet science-based debate at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals in 2011. The topic: whether medical marijuana – that is, the medicinal use of the cannabis plant – was a safe and effective arthritis treatment.
Taking the “con” view, Stuart L. Silverman, MD, attending physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, Calif., argued that although some cannabis research was compelling, inconsistent dosing and quality-control issues, as well as a lack of well-controlled research, meant marijuana was not “ready for prime time,” particularly where arthritis was concerned.
Taking the “pro” position, Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego (who declined to be interviewed for this article), argued that the type of carefully controlled trials Dr. Silverman called for had not been conducted on aspirin, either, and that cannabis – used medicinally for nearly 5,000 years – had few side effects, eased pain from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and might reduce inflammation as well ................>>>>>>>
http://www.arthritistoday.org/arthritis-treat...ijuana.php