Pubdate: Mon,  9 Jul 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Medical Writer

CANNABINOIDS COMPARED WITH CODEINE FOR PAIN

Cannabinoids -- the active substances in marijuana -- are no more effective 
than codeine in providing pain relief, but they are the best method 
available for controlling the nausea associated with chemotherapy, 
according to two new studies. In both cases, however, the drug's side 
effects make them unlikely to be widely used.

Dr. Fiona Campbell of the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, England, 
and her colleagues reviewed nine trials, including 200 patients, in which 
cannabinoid capsules or injections were compared with codeine. They 
reported in the July 7 issue of the British Medical Journal that all but 
one of the studies found no major difference in pain control between the 
two drugs. The only area where the cannabinoids might be useful, they 
concluded, was in controlling chronic non-cancer pain.

Dr. Martin Tramer of University Hospital in Geneva and his colleagues 
reviewed 30 trials in which cannabinoids were compared with other drugs for 
controlling nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients. They reported in 
the same journal that the cannabinoids were more effective than each of the 
other drugs and seemed to be preferred by patients.

Both studies, however, found potentially serious side effects associated 
with cannabinoids. These included potentially beneficial ones such as 
euphoria, sedation or drowsiness. But they also included harmful effects 
such as dizziness, depression and hallucinations.
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