London, United Kingdom: Nearly one third of HIV-positive individuals report using cannabis to obtain therapeutic relief, and more than 90 percent of them say that it improves their appetite, muscle pain, and other symptoms, according to the results of an anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire study published in the April issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Of the 523 patients who participated in the study, 143 (27 percent) reported using cannabis for symptom management, including improved appetite (97 percent), muscle pain (94 percent), nausea (93 percent), anxiety (93 percent) and nerve pain (90 percent).
A previous survey of HIV patients in the US found that approximately one in four had reported using medicinal cannabis in the past month, while a similar Canadian survey found that 29 percent of HIV-positive patients used cannabis.
Presently, clinical trials examining the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in HIV patient populations are ongoing at the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.
According to a published study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, use of inhaled marijuana demonstrates “no major, short-term harmful effects and possibly some beneficial effects … in HIV-infected patients taking protease inhibitors.”
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, “Cannabis use in HIV for pain and other medical symptoms,” appears in the April issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.