Pubdate: Wed, 17 Aug 2016 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC) Page: 5 Copyright: 2016 Vancouver 24 hrs. Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837 Author: Michael Mui MICE WILL BE TREATED PROPERLY: RESEARCHER Mice Given Mushed Cannabis Mixed With Milk - They Won't Be Smoking Any Pot Researchers out of the University of B.C. are feeding lab mice pot and comparing the results to standard painkillers to see if cannabis will be more effective than regular medication in treating cancer-related nausea and pain. The project is headed by Dr. Lui Franciosi, Veritas Pharma Inc. CEO and an adjunct professor in pharmacology at UBC, who is funding a team of seven UBC researchers at Cannevert Therapeutics to test different strains of cannabis. Franciosi said the team just got approval from Health Canada this spring to conduct the experiments, and expects the tests to run at least until fall this year. Franciosi said he anticipates this to be the first study in Canada to use animals as a means to compare the effectiveness of marijuana versus traditional painkillers. "You're able to put the standard clinical drug side by side to see how these strains are matching up," he said. "Eventually, once we know which spectrums of chemicals (CBD and THC) produces the best biological effect, we know we got a hit. All we do is create a huge table of all these strains and get a sense of how they rank." Franciosi stressed there's an animal care committee to ensure the mice are properly treated. The mice are given mushed cannabis mixed with milk - the mice won't be smoking any pot. The painkillers that Veritas is trying includes morphine and other narcotics, he said. So far, about six strains have been tested and the company is testing up to another two strains per week. "We've given ourselves an 18-month period. Next year, we're hoping to have the start of some (human) trials. We're targeting the BC Cancer Agency," Franciosi said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom