By Dharshani Dharmawardena and Hemesh
Patel
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In the winter of 1983, a chance encounter with a tree changed
Scott Imler’s life forever.
While skiing, the teen-aged Imler, co-founder of the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource CoOperative, ran into the tree and split his head
open.
Because of the severity of the injury, Imler developed epilepsy,
a condition characterized by seizures and pain.
To ease his suffering, he needed to take specific drugs like
Valium, medicines known as barbiturates or downers that had serious
side effects.
“They kill your blood cells and cause liver damage,”
Imler said. “If you take them in large doses, you can’t
do anything.”
Discouraged with the drugs’ side effects, Imler then
turned to marijuana for medicinal use. Currently, he takes three to
four “puffs” a day for pain relief.
Because extensive clinical trials have not been completed,
scientists must rely on anecdotal situations such as Imler’s
and research trials on animals to understand the relevancy of
marijuana for medicinal purposes.
But use of marijuana is not without negative effects.
“We don’t know if the benefits outweigh the
(costs),” Tashkin said.
The psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which, is a compound that
plays a role in physiological processes such as memory, mood and
appetite, according to Professor of Medicine Donald Tashkin.
“There are a number of potential therapeutic uses of
cannabinoids,” he said. “The scientific basis for
medical applications of cannabinoids comes from animal
studies.”
Tashkin said animal trials have shown that THC reduces pain and
could lessen muscle spasms, symptoms of both multiple sclerosis and
epilepsy.
Because of such results, many patients suffering from terminal
illnesses, such as certain types of cancer and AIDS, have turned to
marijuana for relief.
Recent research conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism found that compounds in the drug increase
appetite.
AIDS and cancer patients often experience a lack of appetite
because of the medicines they take. The substances in marijuana may
be a factor in stimulating a craving for food for some of these
patients.
For Imler, the benefits not only include alleviation of
seizures, but also a new lease on life.
“I don’t sit in front of the TV anymore,” he
said. “The effects of the (other) drugs can be
debilitating.”
Despite the positive side of using marijuana for medicinal use,
Tashkin pointed out the serious health risks associated with
continued use of the drug.
He said previous research at UCLA has shown that smoking
marijuana is a significant risk for head and neck cancer in young
patients.
Other negative effects include abnormalities in the airways of
habitual marijuana smokers.
Researchers believe that THC suppresses the functions of
macrophages in the lungs, which defend against infections, and may
lead to cancerous growths, according to Tashkin.
Imler said most users of medicinal marijuana smoke the drug,
which is one of the major negative effects of using the substance.
But it is the act of smoking that gives immediate relief.
At the same time, patients also have the option of ingesting THC
in pill form.
“Any physician can order that,” Tashkin said.
“But the disadvantage is a delay in the onset of
THC.”
According to Imler, physicians can only give a recommendation
for marijuana, not a prescription. At LACRC, members grow their own
plants for patients with such recommendations.
Michele Pearson, Director of Ancillary Services at the Arthur
Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center said the pharmacy at the
center does not dispense marijuana for medicinal use.
She said because the center provides services paid for by
student fees, it has to cater to the needs of most students, and
the majority of UCLA students don’t come to the center for
severe medical issues like cancer or AIDS.
According to Pearson, if patients are so ill that they need the
pain relief provided by such drugs as marijuana, they would most
likely be unable to maintain an active campus life.
“We don’t see those kinds of patients here, and if
they do, we refer them out,” she said.