Thursday, November 1, 2007

1998 - Multiple Sclerosis, and Drug Rescheduling

Britain’s House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee (HOLC)
Cannabis: The Scientific and Medical Evidence
November 1998

I found this article while browsing for definitive research supporting the use of marijuana for medical purposes. I chose to write about it specifically because it represents a variety of themes at once. It serves as an example of where the issue has gone in other countries, it addresses the need to rethink current policy regarding marijuana use, and most importantly it specifically cites the benefits of marijuana for patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease where an individual’s immune system attacks the nervous system resulting in impaired mobility. It is characterized by muscular spasms, tremors, and acute or chronic pain. In the following passage, HOLC presents its recommendation for the use of cannabis by individuals with multiple sclerosis:

We have received enough evidence to convince us that cannabis almost certainly does have genuine medical applications, especially in treating the painful muscular spasms and other symptoms of MS and in the control of other forms of pain...”

The argument that marijuana works well for pain relief is one of the most commonly used in the debate. Almost every favorable report mentions it in one way or another. This is particularly confusing to me because I don’t know how pain relief can be a controversial point. I don’t think anyone can properly deny the therapeutic effects of marijuana for pain relief. How can research adequately disprove the anecdotal evidence of hundreds if not thousands of people with debilitating diseases?

I apparently share the same view as HOLC in that assertion. In their report, HOLC also said the following:

“We therefore recommend that the Government should take steps to transfer cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations to Schedule 2, so as to allow doctors to prescribe an appropriate preparation of cannabis…”

The application for marijuana as pain relief contradicts its Schedule I categorization in the United Kingdom. Essentially, Schedule I drugs cannot have medical benefits and must have a high potential for abuse. I think rescheduling marijuana says a lot about current drug policy. For one, it makes me question the validity of government legislation in such matters. How can something be absolutely bad for you one day and then turn out to have been okay or “not so bad” the whole time? What does that say about how informed the original decision was in the first place?

The question of whether or not marijuana relieves pain for people with Multiple Sclerosis and whether or not is should be rescheduled is clearly a difficult one. At the very least, HOLC has contributed to an environment where one of our most basic assumptions about marijuana is challenged. The idea that marijuana has absolutely no benefit has existed for a long time in the United States. Currently, breaking past that concept and reevaluating ones stance regarding this controversial drug is proving to be very difficult. As this post has shown, it tends to create more questions than solve them.


No comments: