MEDICAL MARIJUANA Research: Compound helps to reduce pain

CT-3 helped relieve pain without emotional or hallucinatory side effects.
By JANE E. ALLEN
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Marijuana can ease pain even for longtime sufferers of disease, but the illegal herb's mind-altering properties make it less than ideal as a medication.
German researchers now have found that a synthetic version of one of many marijuana compounds safely reduced chronic nerve pain without impairing thinking and behavior. If the preliminary findings hold up in larger trials, capsules containing this compound might one day be prescribed for hard-to-treat pain.
The principal active ingredient in cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. That compound has been the most studied, but researchers around the world are also looking more closely at the plant's other chemical compounds for potential health benefits. Scores of them belong to a group called cannabinoids; others include flavonoids, which are thought to have antioxidant properties.
"It's not a surprise that these cannabinoids have medical benefit," said Dr. Donald I. Abrams, an AIDS specialist conducting clinical trials of marijuana at San Francisco General Hospital.
Medicinal effects
People with cancer, AIDS and other chronic diseases have long attested to the plant's ability to provide relief from nausea and pain. "That's why we're investigating marijuana," Abrams said.
Previous studies have shown some cannabinoids have limited ability to blunt acute nerve pain, typically associated with an injury. But the German study found that a cannabinoid called CT-3 could help sufferers of chronic neuropathy, who often don't respond to standard medications.
CT-3 is related to THC. But the problem with THC is that even at low doses, it can impair thinking and coordination, and create anxiety, panic attacks, psychosis and paranoia, as well as dry mouth, blurred vision, and a drop in blood pressure upon standing.
Despite these effects, scientists have remained interested in cannabinoids, because the body has natural cannabinoid receptors that offer potential drug targets.