Israeli researchers are set to begin human trials on a synthetic analog derived from marijuana that appears to reduce damage to the brain caused by head trauma, strokes, and spinal cord injuries.
Prior research on animals and a limited number of patients demonstrates that Dexanabinol protects healthy brain cells after trauma by blocking the neurotransmitter, glutamate. Severe head injuries and strokes cause the release of excessive glutamate, often resulting in irreversible damage to brain cells.
Researchers said that they anticipate conducting a Phase III trial on 1,000 patients in the near future and hope to begin marketing the drug by the year 2000.
NORML Foundation Chairman Dr. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School called the preliminary findings “exciting,” but criticized U.S. policies discouraging medical marijuana research. “The kind of studies taking place in Israel should have been going on in the U.S. since the 1940s when scientists first began isolating chemical compounds in marijuana,” he said.
For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
