Refugee
11-26-2007, 12:48 AM
A UCSD study suggests that smoking moderate doses of marijuana helps reduce pain, while smoking large amounts might increase pain.
“This is the first study using different doses of cannabis and a tightly controlled pain stimulus that suggests that cannabis has a therapeutic window of pain relief,” lead researcher Mark S. Wallace, director of the Center for Clinical Pain Research, said in a statement.
Researchers used a group of 15 healthy people to smoke low, moderate and high doses of pot. Pain was then induced by injecting capsaicin, the spicy chemical found in chili peppers.
There was no effect on pain within five minutes of smoking the drug, but pain was significantly reduced 45 minutes after lighting up a moderate dose.
When smoking a larger dose in the same time frame, the subjects felt more high, as well as more pain.
The study appears in the November issue of Anesthesiology. –K.D.
“This is the first study using different doses of cannabis and a tightly controlled pain stimulus that suggests that cannabis has a therapeutic window of pain relief,” lead researcher Mark S. Wallace, director of the Center for Clinical Pain Research, said in a statement.
Researchers used a group of 15 healthy people to smoke low, moderate and high doses of pot. Pain was then induced by injecting capsaicin, the spicy chemical found in chili peppers.
There was no effect on pain within five minutes of smoking the drug, but pain was significantly reduced 45 minutes after lighting up a moderate dose.
When smoking a larger dose in the same time frame, the subjects felt more high, as well as more pain.
The study appears in the November issue of Anesthesiology. –K.D.