National MS Society doesn’t recommend medmj, but…
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society recommendations are firmly rooted in the basic and clinical information available from studies to date and in their limitations. Although it is clear that cannabinoids have potential both for the management of MS symptoms such as pain and spasticity, as well as for neuroprotection, the Society cannot at this time recommend that medical marijuana be made widely available to people with MS for symptom management. This decision was not only based on existing legal barriers to its use but, even more importantly, because studies to date do not demonstrate a clear benefit compared to existing symptomatic therapies and because issues of side effects, systemic effects, and long-term effects are not yet clear. This situation might change, should better data become available that clearly demonstrate benefit.Key recommendations for research priorities include:
- Better study outcome measures need to be developed.
- A consensus is needed on standards for trial design to test the efficacy of cannabinoids for symptomatic management.
- Because inhaled smoked cannabis has more favorable pharmacokinetics than administration via oral or other routes, research should focus on the development of an inhaled mode of administration that gives results as close to smoked cannabis as possible.
- Longer-term side effect data need to be obtained.
- There are sufficient data available to suggest that cannabinoids may have neuroprotective effects that studies in this area should be aggressively pursued.
(Emphasis mine)
I think it is important to see the positives in this paper. The MS Society seems to be saying that medical marijuana is promising, but because it is illegal and there aren’t definitive studies, they can’t come out and recommend it. They are clearly calling for more research and it is good to see them recognizing the efficacy of inhaled cannabis vs. pills or sprays (can you say “vaporizer”, boys and girls?)
Tags: multiple sclerosis
