Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jan 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Davidson
Page: 2C

POT AS PET REMEDY: DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR RESEARCH

As the subject of medical-marijuana treatment for pets is bandied
about in the veterinary community, Dr. Robin Downing comes down
squarely on the side of orthodoxy. She agrees with the American
Veterinary Medical Association that studies are needed before pot
therapy is practiced.

And Downing, a Windsor veterinarian who is one of the top animal pain
management specialists in the country, isn't afraid to swim against
the tide of veterinary dogma. She has little patience for vets who
settle for euthanasia and don't go the limit for animals. But where
pot is concerned, she goes with the conventional flow.

"There's more we don't know about this therapy than we do know," she
explained recently.

"Marijuana therapy for animals is untried, unproven, unregulated
medicine," Downing says. "Any time you use untested therapy, there are
increased risks. ... We have good (pain) tools already."

Downing says she doesn't rule out eventual use of pot therapy, but she
sees too many troubling knowledge gaps to support it today.

"We know dogs and cats have cannabinoid receptors," she says. So there
is a scientific basis for supposing that marijuana can play a
medicinal role for them. "But we don't really know at this time how we
get to this receptor in pets. We have no knowledge of how pot
metabolizes in them; how many milligrams of pot we need to treat them;
what form we should administer it in; and how long it stays in the
body. Are we going to create new problems to solve?"

Downing says that liability is another issue that her colleagues need
to take seriously. While physicians in states where medical marijuana
is sanctioned are legally allowed to recommend the drug, that's not
true of veterinarians.

Still, some vets- Downing puts it at "a handful"- have come down in
favor of using marijuana medicinally as an alternative to watching
animals wasting away in pain. It's hard to pin down just how many.

Prominent among them was the late Los Angeles veterinarian Doug
Kramer, who died of cancer in August. Kramer developed a special
tincture called Canine Companion, made with marijuana for dogs and
cats, designed to treat pain, inflammation and end-of-life health
issues. Kramer himself said research on pot therapy was still needed.

Another supporter is Darlene Arden, a certified animal-behavior
consultant as well as a noted author lecturer and journalist.

"The AVMA hasn't endorsed it, saying it needs to be studied. But why
should animals suffer in the meantime?"

One thing appears likely: The wait for research could be a long
one.

Leaders at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences
at Colorado State University say such research is not being
contemplated at CSU, one of the top veterinary schools in the country.
And they didn't know of any veterinary school in the country doing
it.

Downing said that the veterinary association, though calling for
studies, is not likely to do them because its role is making policy,
not research.

Meanwhile, Duncan Lascelles, a professor of surgery and pain
management at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary
Medicine, told the website Mother Nature Network that such research
could take a decade to ensure that marijuanabased animal drugs would
be effective and free of side effects.

Note: This article first appeared on The Cannabist, The Denver Post's
marijuana website. Read more of it at cannabist.co
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt