Source: New Zealand Herald (Auckland)
Contact:  6 July 1998

CANNABIS CUTS BRAIN DAMAGE

LONDON - Extracts of the marijuana plant might one day be prescribed to
stroke victims to prevent brain damage, if new findings by United States
scientists are converted into medical practice.

The US National Institute for Mental Health in Maryland has discovered that
active components in cannabis act to prevent damage to brain tissue placed
in laboratory dishes.

Results of the experiments, to be published this week in the proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, reveal an unexpected potential use for a
drug long believed to have medicinal properties.

Stroke victims suffer a blood clot which starves brain cells of glucose and
oxygen and sets off a cascade of chemical reactions which destroy cells.

The US study, led by biologist Dr Aidan Hampson, found that marijuana
compounds THC and cannabidiol blocked this destructive process.

The results suggest that cannabidiol could also become a treatment for
other neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

"We have something that passes the brain barrier easily, has low toxicity
and appears to be working in animal trials - so I think we have a good
chance," Dr Hampson said.

Cannabis is already known to suppress nausea during chemotherapy, relieve
pain and muscle spasms for multiple sclerosis sufferers and reduce pressure
on the eye in cases of glaucoma. - AAP

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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski