Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2006.7.13

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Weekly News in Audio

July 13, 2006

Cannabinoids Curb Brain Tumor Growth, First-Ever Patient Trial Shows

Alaska: Judge Rejects Pot Recriminalization Measure

Madrid, Spain:
Cannabinoids Curb Brain Tumor Growth, First-Ever Patient Trial Shows

THC administration decreases recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor growth in humans, according to the findings of the first-ever clinical trial assessing cannabinoids' anti-tumor action.

Investigators at Complutense University in Spain administered THC intratumorally in nine patients diagnosed with recurrent GBM, an extremely rapid and lethal form of brain tumor. Patients in the study had previously failed standard therapy (surgery and radiotherapy) and had clear evidence of tumor progression. THC treatment was associated with reduced tumor cell proliferation in two subjects, authors reported.

Investigators did not determine whether THC positively impacted patients' survival, though they did conclude that cannabinoid therapy does not facilitate cancer growth or decrease patients' life expectancy. Median survival of the cohort from the beginning of cannabinoid administration was 24 weeks, and two patients survived for approximately one year. Survival for GBM patients following diagnosis is typically six to twelve months.

Researchers speculated that newly diagnosed glioma patients may respond more favorably to cannabinoid-based therapies.

Investigators also reported that THC demonstrated significant anti-proliferative activity on human GBM cells in culture.

"The fair safety profile of THC, together with its possible anti-proliferative action on tumor cells reported here and in other studies, may set the basis for future trials aimed at evaluating the potential antitumoral activity of cannabinoids," investigators concluded.

In 2005, investigators at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco reported that THC selectively decreases the proliferation of malignant cells and induces cell death in human GBM cell lines. Healthy cells in the study were unaffected by THC administration.

Separate preclinical studies indicate that cannabinoids and endocannabinoids can stave off tumor progression and trigger cell death in other cancer cell lines, including breast carcinoma, prostate carcinoma, colectoral carcinoma, skin carcinoma, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Juneau, AK:
Alaska: Judge Rejects Pot Recriminalization Measure

An Alaska Superior Court judge this week struck down provisions of a new state law seeking to criminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis in the privacy of one's home. The law, enacted in June, redefined minor marijuana possession as a criminal offense punishable by jail time, and defined the possession of more than four ounces of cannabis as a felony offense.

The Alaska ACLU filed suit last month to block enforcement of the law, arguing that it violates the privacy clause of the state constitution, which provides that "the right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed." In a 1975 Alaska state Supreme Court ruling (Ravin v State), justices determined that this constitutional provision encompassed the possession and use of small amounts of cannabis in the home.

Superior Court judge Patricia Collins ruled Monday that the Alaska legislature lacks the authority to override the Supreme Court's 1975 decision. "The Alaska Supreme Court has repeatedly and consistently characterized the Ravin decision as announcing a constitutional limitation of the government's authority to enact legislation prohibiting the possession of marijuana in the privacy of one1s home," she determined. "That decision is the law until and unless the Supreme Court takes contrary action."

Collin's ruling strikes down sections of the new law criminalizing the possession of one ounce or less of cannabis, but leaves in place measures prohibiting the possession of greater amounts. Under the 2006 law, possession of one to four ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

"The Alaska Court of Appeals has held that the legislature has the power to set reasonable limits on the amount of marijuana that people can possess for personal use in their homes and that such regulation does not conflict with Ravin," Collins determined.

Lawyers for the Alaska attorney general's office are expected to appeal Collin's ruling.

In 2004, the Alaska Supreme Court rejected a petition by the attorney general's office to reconsider a September 2003 Court of Appeals decision that the possession of marijuana by adults within the home is constitutionally protected activity.

Governor Frank Murkowksi (R), who strongly advocated for the new law, has argued that Ravin should no longer apply in Alaska because cannabis may pose greater health and safety risks today than it did in 1975.

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