Research Reaps Reefer Madness
October 23, 2010 - New University
Advancement in pain research was
recently made by American and Italian scientists at the University of
California, Irvine.
The research team was headed by Daniele Piomelli, director of the
center for drug discovery and professor of pharmacology. The research
team says the drug, URB937, allows a marijuana-like substance to
control pain at target sites in the body. Research shows that
cannabinoid compounds could be used in new pain medications. The new
medication, although similar to marijuana’s effect, would be neither
addictive nor sedative and would not be as harmful as opiates.
The drug functions by blocking an enzyme that degrades a compound
called anandamide, which naturally exists in humans and is similar to
THC, the active component in marijuana.
Several years ago, after molecular biologists discovered the brain
receptor where marijuana’s active ingredient THC did its work,
researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem identified the body’s own
form of THC, which sticks to the same receptors. The engineered
substance was given the name “anandamide,” which derives from the
Sanskrit “ananda,” or bliss.
Anandamide was thought to only function within the brain, however with
URB937, anandamide works in peripheral tissues as well. Researchers at
the university gave the drug to lab rats and mice, discovering that the
drug suppresses an enzyme called FAAH, boosting the amount of
anandamide and lessening pain at the site of an injury.
“These findings are significant because they show for the first time
how FAAH inhibitors may enable the body to harness its own analgesic
and anti-inflammatory powers right where the pain relief is needed and
avoid side effects often seen in other painkillers,” Piomelli said in a
recent article in Nature Neuroscience. “This has great potential to
give patients more treatment options to relieve a wide spectrum of
pain, such as rheumatoid arthritis and peripheral neuropathic pain.”
Anandamide, as part of the endocannabinoid system, moderates appetite,
pain, mood and memory. The controversial positive effects of marijuana
includes anxiety relief, appetite enhancement suppression of nausea,
relief from the symptoms of glaucoma and amelioration of certain kinds
of pain. By blocking FAAH, URB937 can create similar pain relief
effects as marijuana without generating a pseudo-marijuana high,
according to a UCI news release.
Currently, only a handful of states allow marijuana to be used for
medicinal purposes, so this advancement at the university could
possibly be helpful to millions of patients who do not have access to
medicinal marijuana.
However, in light of such strong opposition to Proposition 19, (a
voting effort to de-criminalize and tax cannibus), advancements in
anything related to medical marijuana certainly raises the question of
what the political implications of URB937 will be if released to
patients. On the Nov. 2 ballot, Californians will vote for the first
time in four decades on an initiative that would legalize possession
and cultivation of marijuana. The measure would legally allow anyone 21
or older to possess, share or transport up to an ounce of marijuana for
personal use and to grow up to 25 square feet per residence or parcel.
Additionally, cities and counties would be authorized to regulate and
tax commercial marijuana production and sales.
Science is taking large strides through a field of weed, so how will
politics be affected? Many of those opposing the legalization are
resting on the argument that marijuana is a dangerous mind-altering,
addictive substance that impairs the development of young brains,
leading to “drugged driving” accidents, etc.
For others, URB937 may be the closing argument that they’ve been
searching for. The drug’s pain relief capabilities, without any risky
side-effects, could be the answer to the opposition’s argument that
marijuana has very little medicinal purpose.
Despite it all, the fact that legalizing marijuana could possibly pull
California out of its financial crises, minimize violence in drug
cartels and redirect enforcement resources to other more serious crimes
makes Prop 19 more tantalizing than ever.
Questions of whether or not the law will actually pass are still being
contested. According to Lauren Lee, third-year Southwest regional
director for the college Democrats of America, Prop 19 has all the
makings of a legitimate law, but it has little chance of being put into
place.
“I don’t think it’s going to pass because it would be political suicide
for any politician to endorse,” Lee said. “Additionally, there are too
many logistics preventing an effective legalization of marijuana if
through a proposition. To effectively end the prohibition, it will have
to be a constitutional amendment or no longer considered a ‘controlled
substance’ by the federal government.”
As research continues to move forward, it is uncertain whether more
people will be swayed toward voting yes on 19. However, the comparison
in defense of using URB937 instead of marijuana most likely won’t be
drawn until after URB937’s release. As with every new drug, the
side-effects of substance use still needs to be tested. URB937 has more
research to be done and the drug will not be available to the public
just yet, at least not before Nov. 2.
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