Marijuana Debate - Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine 2011

Addiction Medicine Specialist, Dr. Paul Sobey refereed the marijuana debate between Canadian family physician and marijuana researcher Dr. Mark Ware and Prof. Jag Khalsa.from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.  Good humored laid back Indo American Prof Khalsa should have been the pro marijuana debater if steretypes were true. Dr. Mark Ware in comparison was such a clean cut and measured speaker by comparison. They were both extremely learned and the debate and discussion was one of the best I've heard.
Dr. Sobey did a masterful job of asking questions comparing efficacy of prescription pharmaceutical cannabinoid products, such as cesamet and nabilone,  with smoked marijuana products. Specifically Dr. Ware's research showed that smoked marijuana to date was superior in treatment of neuropathic pain associated with HIV.  Clearly there was benefit from cannabinoids for treatment of spasticity, nausea associated with chemotherapy, neuropathic pain and improving appetite in HIV patient. Other than rare examples the benefit of marijuana or cannabiniods over alternatives was negligible but physicians were generally glad to have as many alternatives as possible in their tool boxes.  . To date there had been no abuse of pharmaceutical cannabinoids noted by Dr. Ware's recent research or Dr. Khalsa's investigation.  There was a lot of 'off label' use of cannabiniods in areas where research had already excluded the benefit.  Such an example was migraines whereas there was need for more research in it's use in multiple sclerosis.
There was clear evidence agreed on by both that 'smoked marijuana' was associated with Chronic Lung Disease. Further there was overwhelming evidence that it caused psychosis and had profoundly negative mental health consequences for many.  The cost/benefit was significantly altered when the drug was now associated with causing or contributing to the development of schizophrenia in adolescents.  Further it was clearly associated with accidents, specifically motor vehicle accidents and fatalities.
Both researchers said that marijuana should not be used by adolescents.  Brain development continues rapidly to age 25 and Dr. Ware was very specific in making clear that he wanted to see more research and perhaps more use of smoked marijuana in chronically medically ill patients of older age. He was very upset that adolescents were quoting him saying it didn't appear to be associated with causing throat cancer as a justification for their using it recreationally.
Both researchers felt there was a strong need for more study of marijuana.  Prof. Khalsa was very pointed in saying that NIDA had not been against marijuana and that there were countless studies done on cannabinoids in the US. The position of NIDA was specifically against 'smoking' as there was no evidence that smoking of any kind was anything but harmful.
Dr. Ware made the telling comment that when the government introduced so called 'medical marijuana' with some 22,000 now smoking marijuana after 5 years in Canada there was no solid research component as part of this politically powered federal legislation.  Obviously any good marijuania program especially one government funded should incorporate an ongoing research component. The University of California was doing just this in the US.
With typical good humor Prof Khalsa responded to Dr. Ware's cry for more research money for the study of smoking marijuana saying that much medical research is done by private funding. There was certainly financially invested interests in the marijuana debate who had not been willing to date to back up their claims of the benefits of marijuana with research funding.  The marijuana industry certainly was making a killing but not as open to research as Dr. Ware was proposing especially in light of increasing evidence of the long term negative consequences for some and the real dangers for children, adolescents and pregnant women.
Dr. Ware's excellent scientific knowledge and reasoned  approach were a pleasant change to the usual paranoid marijuana devotee who bludgeons the medical doctor with phrases like 'organic' and 'herbal'  insisting penicillin is dangerous and marijuana is life's cure.  I
ndeed listening to both these learned men in an excellent discussion was a breath of fresh air given how smokey the discussion has been in past years.
Despite this being Vancouver, and the discussion immensely entertaining, no one lit up a joint during or after the debate.