Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 Source: Dominion, The (New Zealand) Copyright: 2000 The Dominion Contact: P O Box 1297, Wellington, New Zealand Fax: +64 4 474-0350 Website: http://www.inl.co.nz/wnl/dominion/index.html POT SMOKERS WANTED FOR STUDY Wellington Medical School needs cannabis smokers. The school's asthma research centre is planning to study cancer risks and respiratory effects of smoking cannabis. But the first challenge could be finding cannabis smokers, researcher Alexandra Goldkorn said yesterday. "It is going to be quite tricky because we are going to have to find cannabis users who do not smoke tobacco, which is quite a rare breed," Dr Goldkorn said. With politicians now debating a law change on cannabis use, research into the drug's effects was needed before decisions were made, she said. "Very little has been done in New Zealand and internationally. There is a gap in the market." For the respiratory study, volunteers would be subjected to objective tests like X-rays, scans and lung function tests. In the cancer study, cancer patients treated at Wellington Hospital would be asked about cannabis use. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake