Medical MJ safety study in Canada

[Spurious]

MONTREAL, 8 December 2004 -- A first-of-its-kind study of safety issues surrounding the medical use of cannabis has just been launched. Known as the COMPASS study (Cannabis for the management of pain: assessment of safety study), the research initiative will follow 1400 chronic pain patients, 350 of whom use cannabis as part of their pain management strategy, for a one-year period. Seven participating pain clinics across Canada are now enrolling patients for this study.

 

"Patients in COMPASS will typically have pain resulting from spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, arthritis or other kinds of hard-to-treat neuropathic or muscle pain," explains Dr. Mark Ware, principal investigator and pain physician at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Pain Centre. "We are not recruiting cancer patients for this study."

 

"COMPASS participants will be given access to research-grade herbal cannabis and followed for one year," adds Dr. Jean-Paul Collet, also a principal investigator and Professor of Epidemiology at McGill University.

 

"We'll be looking at a range of safety issues, including adverse events, kidney, liver, heart and lung function and hormone levels," he says. "Patients will also do tests at the start and end of the study, to help determine whether medical use of cannabis affects cognitive function."

 

Since 1999, Canadian patients have been able to use cannabis for medical reasons, under specific circumstances, with a physician's recommendation and Health Canada authorization. However, until now, the safety of cannabis used for medical purposes has not been scientifically studied.

 

"Other studies are looking at whether cannabis relieves pain and other symptoms," says Dr. Ware. "These studies are important, but we also need to know how safe cannabis used for medical purposes actually is. The experience of recreational users gives us some information, but we must understand safety issues in patients who are taking multiple medications and who may have diseases like high blood pressure or diabetes which complicate the picture."

 

The herbal cannabis to be used in the COMPASS study is produced by Prairie Plant Systems Inc under contract to Health Canada. The strain used in this study contains about 12 percent THC (the active ingredient). Government-supplied cannabis will be sent to pharmacies at each site and dispensed to patients there.

 

"Right now, thousands of Canadians are using cannabis to treat their pain," says Dr. Ware. "We need much more information on the safety issues facing these patients. COMPASS is the first-ever attempt to collect this information over an extended period, under a wide range of conditions and in real-world settings."

 

Patients wishing to participate in the COMPASS study should call 1-866-302-4636 (toll-free) and leave their names and telephone numbers. A study coordinator will contact prospective patients to assess whether they meet study requirements. All patient information will be held in strict confidence. Further information is available from www.gereq.net/compass.

 

 

Sites enrolling patients are the Arthritis Research Center of Canada in Vancouver, the Meadowlark Place Professional Centre in Edmonton, the London Health Sciences Centre, the MUHC and the Centre hospitalier de l'UniversitÈ de MontrÈal (CHUM) in Montreal, the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation in Fredericton and the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. This study is financially supported by a $1.8million grant from Health Canada through the Marijuana Open Label Safety Initiative (MOLSI), a grant partnership program with Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

 

For more information please contact: Ian Popple

Communications Coordinator (research)

MUHC Public Relations and Communications

514-843-1560

 

Media contacts for other participating centres can be found at www.gereq.net/compass.

Contact: Ian Popple

ian.popple@muhc.mcgill.ca

514 843 1560

McGill University

[WantDaChronic]

IMO they are doing great work over in canada but with 1400 patients in the trail, 700 not 350 people should have taken weed.....dont want the others feeling left out do we ::

 

i wonder if they are going to test ALL kinds of consumption....wether it be joints, bongs, eat, vapour, etc....thats the only way they can truely say 1 way of taking weed is healthier than another and help med patients out....

 

smoking it can be really bad for your health...especially if u use a bong but it hits u 10x harder than a joint would...althouth joints IMO are extremely relaxing and very good for muscle pain...

 

injesting is the healthiest way i have heard of..in the usa, they have made weed pills which are extracts of thc and all chemicals in the plant...not just thc like in the past and that has produced better results than just thc pills....saw that on techTV on foxtel as an ad but as techTV finishes tomorrow i dont think i or any1 else will see that ad again....

 

it will be interesting to see the results of this study and i hope that more studies around the use of marijuana as a medicine continue world wide :thumbsup

 

FARRRRK just remembered that i was watching cops the other night and this poor man was screaming his guts out in the back of this shit box ford but anyways he slipped a disc and was trying to get relief by smokin a joint....cops put him in jail for posession and said even though he has a letter from his doctor, mj can only be used medicinally for glaucoma fuckin usa pigs are stupid as.....mean too :thumbdown

[wilderbud]

Before someone jumps on the bandwagon (the Prairie Fire weed sucks one) - 12% THC is stronger than the average Skunk and Skunk helps me cope with pain relief (posibly analgaesically as well as emotionally *something forte wont do while you get hooked on it*).

 

If bongs are less healthy than joints Id love to know about it - I think bongs are second best (next to eating it).

Edited December 30, 2004 by wilderbud

[Guest niall]

Also the cannabis they're using is from Prairie Plant Systems - notoriously bad quality, contains heavy metals and other nasties (grown in a toxic, contaminated underground mine), previously it's been of very low THC%, patients have complained about it bitterly. It's a blender mix of stems, leaves, buds, everything. 1/3 of patients who have received it have returned it.

 

Apparently it's getting better, but while the study is testing cannabis' efficacy it's also going to prove that PPS cannabis does the job and then Canadian patients will be stuck with it. Compassion Clubs and licenced cultivators will most probably be shut down.

 

It's good and bad. The bad is that Canada is moving back towards banning personal cultivation and having only a single licenced supplier of legal cannabis for the whole country. The good is that they're finally testing it for a variety of conditions, and you can use the cannabis however you want (I believe). Also, PPS is being taken over by Cannasat which has a handful of good people on board now like Hilary Black from BCCS.

[Luke Skywalker]

Goddamn it, unless we form our own foundation and medical research group it looks like we're gonna get gypped again... *sighs*

 

I have never understood the argument put forward by some prohibitionists that the pot around today is soooo much stronger than it was back in the "safe" 60's and 70's, and so therefore it's more dangerous and can make you psycho or such rot. :rollseyes:

 

The fact is, you have to injest spastic amounts of pure thc before you'll come even close to o/d, and besides which, the stronger the pot, the less of it you'll need to smoke to get the same effect. As vapourising hasn't become a "standard" yet, (although it's certainly becoming tremendously popular) it is a cold hard fact that the less you have to smoke of plant matter before getting the same effect the less shite you'll have in your lungs, clogging it up.

 

So stronger pot is actually safer, if anything. Try telling that to a prohibitionist nutbar though.

 

I won't be surprised if the findings of said research are "inconclusive" or aren't released honestly, focusing on minor points in favour of the status quo, (no matter how awful and how many lives are being destroyed in the process ) and using methodology such as niall has outlined, with crappy, possibly even dangerous and unrepresentative material being tested and used on patients and used as justification.

 

It's just soooo... wrong.

 

On another note, vaugely related as it's about med MJ, I was wondering how much interest there is out there for an australian Medical MJ dispensary? Perhaps only extremely localised, and obviously with lots of security precautions and anonymity, but if there's any members out there who think they'd either be interested in such a thing, or donating buds to such a project, then yeah, go ahead and post... Sorry to hijack there spurious... :embarrassed

 

And back on topic, does anyone know if there is still to be medical legislation proposed for after the next election? I have serious doubts that Geoff will win, as he's been a total wanker and really screwed up a lot in his tenure, and been quite far from the idea of a "labor" leader. I know it was supposed to have been done in this term, but it appears to have been a "non-core" promise. Bastard. Any info on that'd be appreciated.

[Chromius]

I think a medical MJ dispensary would be a great idea. Kind of like Treating Yourself?

[wilderbud]

Goddamn it...I have never understood the argument put forward by some prohibitionists that the pot around today is soooo much stronger than it was back in the "safe" 60's and 70's, and so therefore it's more dangerous and can make you psycho or such rot. :rollseyes:

 

 

I may be harsh with these words but 'You are ignorant'.

 

Luke, I HAVE HAD PSYCHOTIC EPISODES!!!

[Pickle]

I may be harsh with these words but 'You are ignorant'.

 

Luke, I HAVE HAD PSYCHOTIC EPISODES!!!

 

You oversimplify the issue. Don't blame the grass, it's your brain, your bio chemistry, your genes.

 

Epileptics avoid certain flashing light patterns, stress and tiredness, you should avoid pot if it affects you so. Don't you dare willingly, knowingly expose yourself to things that trigger your problems and blame the thing you exposed yourself to rather than your own stupidity.

 

Let me ask you this: Knowing that pot can trigger a psychotic episode in you, if you got stoned and someone was pushing your buttons and you had a psychotic episode and assaulted them, who would you blame? Is it the persons fault for pushing your buttons, is the pot to blame or is it your fault?

 

If you have mental health issues and know you have problems with drugs you should stop taking them.

[Spurious]

Let me ask you this: Knowing that pot can trigger a psychotic episode in you, if you got stoned and someone was pushing your buttons and you had a psychotic episode and assaulted them, who would you blame? Is it the persons fault for pushing your buttons, is the pot to blame or is it your fault?

 

If you have mental health issues and know you have problems with drugs you should stop taking them.

 

 

 

It's not hard to understand when it's put to one's perception like this, surely. :smoke