SAN MATEO -- A groundbreaking medical marijuana experiment by San Mateo County doctors got a second life Wednesday after the federal government agreed to open up eligibility on who may participate in the testing. The County hospital's chief of AIDS research, Dr. Dennis Israelski, launched a study two years ago with AIDS patients on the use of marijuana in alleviating painful symptoms of AIDS. However, narrow standards on who could join the study hamstrung researchers and some subjects dropped out, complaining the federally-supplied pot was too harsh. [continues 381 words]
SAN MATEO -- Nearly two years after its launch here, doctors conducting a groundbreaking medical marijuana study want better quality weed from the federal government. The study leaders also want to allow more sick people to participate, but are stymied by stringent eligibility requirements. "The study continues but it is going slowly for a variety of factors," said Dr. Dennis Israelski, director of medical research in San Mateo County and chief of staff at San Mateo Medical Center. The County has waited at least six months for a response from federal agencies, officials said. [continues 409 words]
Since Last July, County Has Sent One Person To Treatment Every Day Most of them come in kicking and screaming and by the end they've come to realize there is another life besides using drugs. Feeling awful is part of being an addict, said Nancy Contreras, 40, who is now walking the talk of recovery under the eight-month-old Proposition 36 measure that kept her out of jail and in treatment for the past four months. Since California voters overwhelmingly approved the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 -- putting Proposition 36 into effect last July - -- San Mateo County has sent an average of one person a day into treatment for addiction, instead of to jail. The majority of those were men. Thirty percent were women. [continues 1586 words]
SAN MATEO COUNTY -- The first shipment of marijuana arrived in the county from the federal government Wednesday for use in a ground-breaking medical study at the San Mateo County Health Center. "We are ready to start now," said Jonathan Mesinger, a hospital management analyst for the county's medicinal marijuana study. Doctors and researchers will tap 60 AIDS patients for the landmark clinical trials that will test the process of dispensing marijuana for treatment of disease symptoms, including lack of appetite, limb pain and nausea from other medical treatments. A secondary phase of the study will examine marijuana's effect on chronic diseases. [continues 406 words]
San Mateo Leader Says Study Goes On REDWOOD CITY-- Clinical trials with medicinal marijuana by San Mateo County doctors would not be affected by Monday's 8-0 U.S. Supreme Court decision to outlaw Oakland's cannabis club, according to county officials. "It makes our efforts even more valuable," said San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President Mike Nevin, who spearheaded a county hospital study that distributes federal-government-grown marijuana to AIDS patients for medical treatment of symptoms. "It proves to me that until we scientifically prove that the substance in marijuana works to relieve pain and suffering for patients, the federal government will never accept Proposition 215," said Nevin. [continues 264 words]
Drug To Be Dispensed To 60 Aids Patients With approvals from federal and state agencies, San Mateo County launched a medical marijuana experiment Tuesday that will dispense pot to 60 AIDS patients for pain management over the next two years. Doctors at the San Mateo County Health Center will head up the investigation and identify patients in other county treatment programs for the study. Only those who have used marijuana in the past will be eligible. The $500,000 study is said to be the first of its kind in the nation that allows a government agency to distribute the controlled substance for medical study purposes. The pot is grown under federal government supervision at the University of Mississippi. The study also has been approved by both the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. [continues 356 words]
