Marijuana Policy Project

Refutes Misleading FDA Claims About "Smoked Marijuana"

Refutes Misleading FDA Claims About "Smoked Marijuana"

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new study just published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences demonstrates that a safe, efficient, non-smoked means of using whole marijuana for medical purposes exists now. Officials of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C. noted that this new research answers disingenuous statements by the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Czar's office about risks of "smoked marijuana," and fulfills the requirements laid out in the 1999 Institute of Medicine report for use of marijuana as medicine.

In the new study, researchers form Leiden University in the Netherlands tested the Volcano vaporizer with both natural marijuana and liquid THC dissolved in alcohol. The researchers concluded that the device can safely and reliably deliver THC and other cannabinoids (marijuana's unique, active components) for inhalation without the tars and other potentially harmful contaminants contained in smoke.

In its 1999 White House-commissioned study of medical marijuana, the Institute of Medicine acknowledged that marijuana's active components can relieve nausea, vomiting, pain, and other symptoms. The report also recognized that inhalation is preferable to orally administered cannabinoids such as the THC pill Marinol, because inhalation allows easier and more reliable dose adjustment and much faster action than the pill. But the Institute expressed concern about the hazards of smoking, calling for development of "a nonsmoked, rapid-onset cannabinoid delivery system," such as an inhaler.

The new vaporizer study concludes, "What is currently needed for optimal use of medicinal cannabinoids is a feasible, nonsmoked rapid-onset delivery system. With the Volcano, a safe and effective delivery system appears to be available to patients."

The researchers also noted that whole marijuana provides medical benefits not seen with pure THC: "In several medical studies, the effect of THC or dronabinol alone could not match the effect of a total cannabis preparation."

"This landmark study cuts the legs out from under the misleading claims about medical marijuana regularly made by Drug Czar John Walters and joined last week by the FDA," said MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia. "For years the federal government has pretended that medical marijuana can only be smoked, in an effort to tarnish medical marijuana with smoking's bad reputation. But smoking was always a red herring, and it's time for government officials to acknowledge what science has now proven: Medical marijuana in its natural form can be used safely and effectively without smoking."

The FDA's April 20 statement condemning medical marijuana, which received worldwide news coverage, echoed the emphasis on smoking used by Walters and other political opponents of medical marijuana, using the phrase "smoked marijuana" seven times in just 486 words. In response to the statement, Dr. John Benson, one of three lead authors of the Institute of Medicine report, told the New York Times that the government "loves to ignore our report. ... They would rather it never happened."

With more than 20,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

REFERENCE: Hazenkamp A, Ruhaak R, Zuurman L, Van Gerven J and Verpoorte R. Evaluation of a Vaporizing Device (Volcano(r)) for the Pulmonary Administration of Tetrahydrocannabinol. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Vol. 95, 1308-1317 (June 2006).