Category Archives: News Stories

Mother Gives Son Marijuana to Treat His Autism – ABCNews

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“Given the many challenges involved in raising an autistic child, parents are willing to try a variety of potential remedies, many of which are controversial and unproven.

But one potential treatment that has gained attention recently is one that was controversial well before its first mention in connection with autism.

“At first I did some research, and I found a doctor who actually had a protocol for medical marijuana in children diagnosed with autism,” Mieko Hester-Perez of Fountain Valley, Calif., told “Good Morning America.”

Hester-Perez made her decision to try giving her 10-year-old son, Joey Perez, medical marijuana after his weight had become dangerously low due to his unwillingness to eat. She said that at the time she began the approach, he weighed only 46 pounds.

“You could see the bones in his chest. He was going to die,” she said.

“The marijuana balanced my son,” said Hester-Perez, noting that she has never used marijuana herself. “My son had self-injurious behaviors. He was extremely aggressive, he would run out of our house… he was a danger to himself and others.”

But just hours after she gave him one of the pot-infused brownies, she said she could see a change — both in his appetite and demeanor.”

Mother Gives Son Marijuana To Treat His Autism
ABC News
 

“”Within hours, he requested foods we had never seen him eat before,” said Hester-Perez.

She added that her son used to take a cocktail of medications, three times every day, for his condition. He now takes only three, and he has a marijuana brownie once every two or three days. He still cannot communicate verbally.

“I saved my son’s life, and marijuana saved my son’s life… When a mother hears that her son is knocking on death’s door, you will do anything to save his life,” said Hester-Perez.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AutismNews/mother-son-marijuana-treat-autism/story?id=9153881

Cannabis Science And The Unconventional Foundation For Autism (UF4A) Partner To Advance Successful Cannabis-Based Autism Treatments

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  “Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CBIS), a pioneering US biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis products, is pleased to announce the partnership with The Unconventional Foundation for Autism (UF4A) to build on the Foundation’s success with its proprietary cannabinoid formulations for Autism treatment. The partnership will focus on advancing the medical cannabis treatments for Autism in conjunction with the successful cannabis treatments of Joey and 10 other families that are now being documented by The University of California Irvine Medical Center (UCI) for the Foundation.

These successful Autism treatments and pioneering efforts of Joey’s Mom, Mieko Hester Perez, can be fully reviewed here.

Mieko and the successful treatment of her son has garnered wide-spread media interest including television appearances and interviews with KABC 7 – Los Angeles & San Francisco, 20/20 ABC, Good Morning America, Fox Morning News, Fox News Rhode Island, CBS Early Show, KCAL 9 & CBS 2 Los Angeles, The Doctor’s TV Show, KABC 790 w/ Peter Tilden, Montel Williams, The Tom Joyner Show, The Kim Frasier Show w/ Dr. Lester Grinspoon, The Bill Press Show, NORML’s Podcast w/ Russ Belville, Thomasina Tafur radio show. Featured interviews: Autism Spectrum Magazine, Treating yourself Magazine, Huffington Post, Autism Spot, Celebstoner, disability scoop, Autism Support Network, Kush Magazine August 2010 Issue Cover, High Times Medical Marijuana Magazine Winter 2011 Issue, Treating yourself Magazine (Joey’s sibling interviewed Issue #23, Weed World UK Issue #89, Now Magazine UK Publications, Medical Cannabis Journal Issue, LA JEMM – Ethical Use of Medical Marijuana in the Treatment of Children with Autism, Orange County Register, California, The Revolution – Argentina publication. 2010 Recognized by the National Organization to Reform Marijauna Laws Woman’s Alliance as one of the woman making history in the medical marijuana movement.

Mieko Hester Perez, Founder and Executive Director of The Unconventional Foundation for Autism (UF4A) stated, “We believe that this new partnership with Cannabis Science will give us additional push and resources required to advance our Autism research. To date, we have already partnered with the University of California Irvine Medical Center to oversee our cannabis-based Autism research. Included in this group of advisors is the Dean of Medicine at UCI, and child psychiatrist Dr. Rebecca Hedrick M.D. Dr. Melamede of Cannabis Science will be an outstanding addition to the Board of the Foundation. His extensive knowledge of cannabinoid science should prove invaluable in our mission.”

As part of the new partnership, Dr. Robert Melamede, CEO of Cannabis Science, will be joining the board of UF4A as a scientific advisor. Dr. Melamede will work with UF4A to further assist in documenting the case studies and oversee the deployment of the Company’s proprietary cannabinoid treatments on Autism patients alongside UF4A and medical professionals. He will also work with UF4A’s legal advisors to progress the legalization of medical marijuana initiatives.

Dr. Robert Melamede Ph.D., Cannabis Science Inc., President & CEO, stated, “Cannabis Science’s partnership with UF4A is another instrumental step in reaching our long-term goal of FDA approval of the Company’s products. The successful results from the Autism patients treated as documented by UF4A are very encouraging and we’re excited to tap into UF4A’s proven track record; providing our scientific expertise to help develop more refined treatment plans with Cannabis Science’s formulations and extracts to achieve scientifically accepted patient outcomes. I’m also extremely excited to be working with the medical professionals at the University of California Irvine. This is a win-win for both our organizations in breaking new ground for medical cannabis treatments. Our partnership will enable both our Company and UF4A to expound upon studies and anecdotal evidence obtained by UF4A in order to catalogue verified case studies and solid science behind the treatment plans. This evidentiary step will help the UF4A and Cannabis Science partnership to move towards formal FDA testing to officially approve UF4A’s successful treatments of Autism using medical cannabinoid extracts and formulations under the direction of physicians. ”

UF4A Case Studies

Mieko Hester-Perez and her son “Joey” have inspired many additional parents with autistic children to step forward. Studies are underway with these children with oversight from Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist Dr. Rebecca M. Hedrick, M.D.

Dr. Hedrick is a child and adolescent emergency attending physician and covers the consult liaison service at UCI Medical. She runs a child and adolescent outpatient psychotherapy and medication management program. She also works with the Regional Center of Orange County in the treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities.”

 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/219569.php

Marijuana Eases Neuropathic Pain

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“Smoking marijuana modestly reduced pain and other symptoms of chronic neuropathic pain, results of a small randomized, placebo-controlled trial showed.

These results are important in light of the fact that patients who hear about pain relief from ongoing publicity about medical marijuana have had only a “trickle” of evidence to prove it, explained Henry J. McQuay, DM, of Oxford University, in an accompanying editorial.

This study does offer hope since few drugs have proven effective in these patients, commented Steven P. Cohen, MD, who as director of pain research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., sees chronic pain in most of his patients with major war injuries.”

Marijuana smoking appeared well tolerated…

Patients rarely got high on the single hit they took through a pipe three times a day as part of the study, Ware’s group noted.”

Read more: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/PainManagement/21939

Smoking Marijuana Eases Chronic Neuropathic Pain.

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“Smoking cannabis reduces chronic neuropathic pain and also improves sleep, according to new research published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

A single inhalation of 25 mg of 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol herbal cannabis 3 times a day for 5 days was sufficient to achieve these outcomes, lead study author Mark A. Ware, MBBS, from McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Canada, told Medscape Medical News in an interview.

“Patients have been reporting that cannabis helps control their pain, and they have been saying so for a long time,” Dr. Ware said. “At the time that we had secured the funding and began the trial, there had been no clinical trials that had established this or investigated it.”

In addition, a large body of scientific knowledge is emerging abound the role of cannabinoid receptors and cannabinoid ligands in the human body, providing a potential scientific explanation as to why cannabinoids would be analgesic, he added. “So the 2 main supports came together, and in Canada at the time, there was an environment where we were able to secure funding sufficient for studies of this.”

Posttraumatic and Postsurgical Neuropathy

The study included 21 individuals older than 18 years (mean age, 45.4 years) with posttraumatic or postsurgical neuropathic pain lasting for at least 3 months. They were randomly assigned to receive cannabis at 4 potencies — 0%, 2.5%, 6%, and 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol — during 4 periods in a crossover design. Each period lasted 14 days and began with 5 days of cannabis use followed by a 9-day washout period.

The cannabis doses were delivered in a single smoked inhalation using a titanium pipe. Patients self-administered the first dose of each period under supervision and were instructed to inhale for 5 seconds while the cannabis was lit, hold the smoke in their lungs for 10 seconds, and then exhale. They self-administered the remaining doses for each period at home.

The participants were allowed to continue their routine medications, and the use of acetaminophen as breakthrough analgesia was also permitted.

Pain intensity was measured using an 11-item numeric rating scale that used “no pain” and “worst pain possible” as anchors.

The study found that the higher dose of cannabis was the most efficient in reducing pain. The average daily pain intensity was 5.4 with the 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol cannabis dose compared with 6.1 with the 0% or placebo dose (95% confidence interval, 0.02 – 1.4; P = .023).

In addition, participants reported significantly more drowsiness and reported getting to sleep more easily, faster, and with fewer periods of wakefulness when taking the 9.4% dose than when taking the 0% dose ( P < .05). The higher dose also improved anxiety and depression compared with the placebo dose.

Blind Held; Studies Feasible

“It was feared that participants would know right away if they were smoking cannabis because of the acute psychoactive effects of the drug, but our results do not support this,” Dr. Ware noted. “They do show that short-term placebo-controlled trials of smoked cannabis are feasible.”

He would like his study to act as a stimulus for other studies on cannabis and pain relief.

“Studies of this kind can be done. Ours was difficult to do because it was the first time we had done anything like this. We were breaking new ground with regard to regulations and so on, but it is possible. Having done it once, it’s not as difficult to do it again. So our results raise the possibility of extending the study for a longer duration, or being able to look at safety issues, and so on. It is possible to do a scientific trial with this compound. Your political views shouldn’t matter. This is just good science,” Dr. Ware said.

In a related commentary, Henry J. McQuay, DM, from Balliol College, Oxford, United Kingdom, writes that the study authors should be congratulated for tackling the question of whether cannabis helps in neuropathic pain, “particularly given that the regulatory hurdles for their trial must have been a nightmare.”

He concludes that the study “adds to the trickle of evidence that cannabis may help some of the patients who are struggling at present.””

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/727702

Research: Marijuana can treat chronic pain – ABC

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“SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) — A program commissioned more than a decade ago by the state Legislature to look into the therapeutic value of medicinal marijuana is expected to release a report on its findings today, a spokeswoman for state Sen. Mark Leno said.

A UC medical marijuana research panel today released the results of a ten year clinical study and according to its report, pot can effectively treat chronic pain.

Volunteers with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries were randomly treated with marijuana or a placebo. Patients given cannabis reported fewer multiple sclerosis muscle spasms, and less spinal injury pain.

In another study, the panel found that pot effectively also treats migraines.

But researchers used marijuana grown by the federal government, not the kinds available to California medical marijuana users.

Medical marijuana has been legal under California law since voters approved Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996.

The state Legislature clarified in 2004 that the Compassionate Use Act allows qualified patients and their primary caregivers to cultivate marijuana for medicinal use.

Medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law, though, leaving patients and providers open to prosecution in federal court.”

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=7283032

Marijuana Relieves HIV Nerve Pain

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“Smoking marijuana effectively relieves chronic HIV-associated nerve pain, including aching, painful numbness, and burning, according to a study published in the February 13, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, 50 people with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy, the most common HIV nerve disorder, were admitted to a California hospital and randomly assigned to smoke either marijuana or identical placebo cigarettes three times a day for five days.

The study found people who smoked marijuana reduced their daily nerve pain by 34 percent compared to 17 percent in the placebo group.

“Smoking marijuana was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic nerve pain from HIV-associated sensory neuropathy,” said study author Donald Abrams, MD, with San Francisco General Hospital in San Francisco, California. “Our findings show the amount of relief from smoking marijuana is comparable to relief provided by oral drugs currently used for chronic nerve pain.”

Abrams says while some HIV patients with chronic nerve pain are able to take anticonvulsant drugs, such as lamotrigine and gabapentin, to ease pain, some patients don’t respond well to these drugs. He says that’s why there’s heightened interest in evaluating marijuana as a treatment for chronic nerve pain.

The study also found the first marijuana cigarette reduced chronic pain by an average of 72 percent versus 15 percent with placebo. And more than half of the people who smoked marijuana reported more than a 30-percent reduction in pain compared to 24 percent in the placebo group.

Participants in the study reported no serious side effects.

Researchers say similar results were reported in two recent placebo-controlled studies of marijuana-related therapies for nerve pain associated with multiple sclerosis.

The study was supported by the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research and conducted at the National Institutes of Health-funded General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/63333.php

Marijuana component could ease pain from chemotherapy drugs

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“A chemical component of the marijuana plant could prevent the onset of pain associated with drugs used in chemo therapy, particularly in breast cancer patients, according to researchers at Temple University’s School of Pharmacy.

“We found that cannabidiol completely prevented the onset of the neuropathic, or caused by the chemo drug Paclitaxel, which is used to treat ,” said Ward, who is also a research associate professor in Temple’s Center for Substance Abuse Research.

Ward said that one of cannabidiol’s major benefits is that, unlike other chemicals found in marijuana such as THC, it does not produce psycho-active effects such as euphoria, increased appetite or cognitive deficits. “Cannabidiol has the therapeutic qualities of marijuana but not the side effects,” she said.”

Read more: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-marijuana-component-ease-pain-chemotherapy.html

Study: Smoking Pot May Ease Chronic Pain

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By Amanda Gardner
smoking pot chronic pain 200x150 Study: Smoking Pot May Ease Chronic Pain

 “People with chronic pain who aren’t getting enough relief from medications may be able to ease their pain by smoking small amounts of marijuana, a new study suggests.

Marijuana also helps pain patients fall asleep more easily and sleep more soundly, according to the report, one of the first real-world studies to look at the medicinal use of smoked marijuana. Most previous research has used extracts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in the cannabis plant.

“This is the first time anyone has done a trial of smoked cannabis on an outpatient basis,” says the lead researcher, Mark Ware, MBBS, the director of clinical research at McGill University’s Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, in Montreal.

The study included 21 adults with nervous-system (neuropathic) pain stemming from surgery, accidents, or other trauma. Fourteen of the participants were on short-term disability or permanently disabled. All of them had tried marijuana before, but none were current or habitual smokers.

“They were not experienced marijuana users,” Ware says. “They came because they had severe pain that was not responding to any conventional treatment.”

Each patient in the study smoked four different strengths of marijuana over a period of 56 days. The THC potency ranged from 9.4%—the strongest dose the researchers could obtain legally—to 0%, a “placebo” pot that looked and tasted like the real thing but was stripped of THC. (By comparison, the
strongest marijuana available on the street has a THC potency of about 15%, Ware estimates.)

The participants—who weren’t told which strength they were getting—were instructed to smoke a thimbleful (25 milligrams) from a small pipe three times a day for five days. After a nine-day break, they switched to a different potency.

The highest dose of THC yielded the best results. It lessened pain and improved sleep more effectively than the placebo and the two medium-strength doses (which produced no measurable relief), and it also reduced anxiety and depression. The effects lasted for about 90 minutes to two hours, according to the study.”

Read more: http://news.health.com/2010/08/30/marijuana-chronic-pain/

Cannabis spray found to help relieve cancer pain

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“Cancer patients who used a cannabis mouthspray had their level of pain reduced by 30%, a study has shown.

The cannabis-based spray, like a mouth freshener, was used on 177 patients by researchers from Edinburgh University.

They found it reduced pain levels by 30% in a group of cancer patients, all in the Edinburgh area, who had not been helped by morphine or other medicines.

The spray was developed so that it did not affect the mental state of patients in the way that using cannabis would.

Site of pain

They said the spray worked by activating molecules in the body called cannabinoid receptors which can stop nerve signals being sent to the brain from the site of pain.

Professor Marie Fallon, of the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre at Edinburgh University, said: “These early results are very promising and demonstrate that cannabis-based medicines may deliver effective treatment for people with severe pain.

“Prescription of these drugs can be very useful in combating debilitating pain, but it is important to understand the difference between their medical and recreational use.””

http://www.plymouthwired.co.uk/news.php/2777-Cannabis-spray-found-to-help-relieve-cancer-pain

Cannabis spray blunts pain

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 Erica Klarreich

“Early trials suggest cannabis spritz may give relief to chronic pain sufferers.”

Cannabis: 5,000 years of medicinal use.Cannabis: 5,000 years of medicinal use.© Photodisc

“A spray that delivers the active ingredient of cannabis under the tongue may ease chronic pain, preliminary clinical trials suggest.

Of the 23 patients who participated in the controlled study, only a few failed to respond to the spray, William Nortcutt of James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, UK told the British Association for the Advancement of Science’s Annual Festival of Science on Monday. Seventeen have gone on to use the drug to treat their pain in the long term, he said.

“Some of the patients said it made a huge difference; others just said it lets them sleep,” Nortcutt said. “But when you’re in chronic pain, being able to sleep is one of the most important things.”

Earlier clinical trials have also shown the pain-relieving benefits of cannabis. But researchers have struggled to find a good way to deliver the drug, says Roger Pertwee, a neuropharmacologist and cannabis expert at the University of Aberdeen, UK.

“The study with a spray is very interesting,” he says. “The past clinical trials have been with pills, but absorption by swallowing is very unreliable.”

About half of the trial’s participants had multiple sclerosis; the rest suffered chronic pain from severe nerve damage and spinal-cord injuries. Although a few of the multiple sclerosis patients had been using cannabis to treat pain before the trials, most participants had seldom or never used it.

The most common side-effect appeared to be dry mouth, Nortcutt reports. Several patients experienced panic or a high during tests to find appropriate dosages. Most preferred a drug in which the active substance, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was mixed with another, less psychoactive ingredient of cannabis. Previous clinical studies have involved only pure THC, Pertwee says.

The research comes as many groups are pushing for cannabis to be legalized for therapeutic use in the United Kingdom. If cannabis were to be made legal, Nortcutt says, the path to approval might be much faster than for typical drugs, which take an average of six years.

“There is a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that would help scientists,” Nortcutt told the Glasgow meeting. “We have to recognize that cannabis has been used for 5,000 years.” But much more work is needed to understand how cannabis might be exploited as a pain treatment, Nortcutt warned. “I wouldn’t call for it to be prescribed now.””

http://www.nature.com/news/1998/010906/full/news010906-7.html