National Institute of Health (NIH) officials dealt a significant blow to medical marijuana research this month by rejecting a scientific protocol to examine the use of marijuana in acute migraine treatment.
“This rejection was not unexpected though it is deeply disappointing,” explained MAPS President and NORML board member Rick Doblin, whose organization donated $3,500 for the preparation of migraine-treatment study. Doblin said he remains hopeful that NIH will eventually approve a version of the study, but conceded that this month’s rejection delays the project “at least a year.”
Lead researcher Dr. Ethan Russo, a neurologist with The Western Montana Clinic in Missoula, called the NIH rejection discouraging, but announced that he will redesign and resubmit a follow-up protocol shortly. This project “is not down and out,” he said. Dr. Russo expects to receive a formal critique from the NIH in mid-to-late December.
Russo and a team of researchers originally submitted their proposal to NIH in May. They set out to compare the use of inhaled marijuana, oral THC, and an injected narcotic painkiller in the treatment of migraine sufferers who do not respond to standard medication. The proposed in-patient study had prior approval from the St. Patrick Hospital/Community Medical Center Joint Investigational Review Board, whose ruling was also accepted by the IRB of the University of Montana.
Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation, said that NIH’s denial of Russo’s study is representative of the federal government’s attitude toward medical marijuana research. “It is a remarkable testimony to the failure of our national drug policy leadership that one-full year after the passage of medical marijuana initiatives in California and Arizona, not a single research study of medical marijuana is taking place,” he said. “Despite statements from NIH Director Harold Varmus that the NIH is ‘open’ to medical marijuana research, it appears business as usual in Washington.” St. Pierre noted that as recently as this past August, an Expert Committee of NIH researchers recommended the federal government to play an active role in facilitating clinical evaluations of medical marijuana.”
“Presently, it appears that NIH is choosing to ignore those recommendations,” he said.
Throughout the mid 1990’s, many medical marijuana proponents have criticized the NIH for impeding research to better determine marijuana’s medical value. A 1992 proposal comparing the effectiveness of inhaled marijuana with that of synthetic THC as a treatment for the weight loss associated with the AIDS wasting syndrome was rejected on three separate occasions by federal officials. NIH finally approved a revised version of the protocol in 1997, but only after researchers agreed to focus on determining the potential short-term harmful effects of marijuana on HIV-positive patients. Similarly, two recent state proposals submitted by the Massachusetts’ and Washington state boards of health regarding medical marijuana research have been delayed indefinitely while awaiting federal approval.
“In 1982, the National Academy of Sciences strongly recommended the federal government to undertake definitive scientific studies to determine marijuana’s therapeutic value,” St. Pierre said. “It is morally unconscionable that 15 years later, we are still battling to allow this research to take place.”
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751 or Rick Doblin of MAPS at (704) 334-1798. Dr. Ethan Russo of The Western Montana Clinic may be contacted at (406) 329-7453. For more information on medical marijuana research, please contact Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation.