The probability of cognitive damage may dissuade patients from using medicines that are marijuana-based. Although smoking is greatly effective in getting the live chemicals in marijuana into the bloodstream, the long-term effect of smoking makes it a very poor system of drug delivery, particularly to patients having chronic illnesses. Orally prepared cannabinoid like Marinol are not only difficult to dose properly but are also slow acting which means that there is a need to seek for alternative to both routes.
There is a safe alternative to both marijuana smoking and oral cannabinoid preparations which is smokeless inhaler which transports cannabinoids in an effortlessly absorbed aerosol spray. These kinds of devices, which are used by patients to manage asthma or to take antihistamines, would basically allow AIDS patients and other patients with chronic illnesses to benefit from marijuana’s active and live ingredients.
Anecdotal evidence as well as scientific research appears to suggest that cannabinoids could calm a wide range of symptoms suffered by people with AIDS, including nausea, loss of appetite, anxiety, and pain. Although there are already existing medicines that could be more effective than marijuana in addressing these situations, they are not as effective for all people with such conditions nor do they give the great spectrum of ease that may be achieved from cannabinoid drugs. However, although very promising, the reality is that these drugs will only be obtainable if there is enough financial motivation among pharmaceutical companies to create medicines that are marijuana-based and if there would be support from public funding for this kind of research endeavor.
It is very important to consider patients with AIDS and their immediate needs, particularly those who have not found relief ease apart from marijuana smoking. For this reason, the IOM team has recommended that people who suffer from conditions that are chronic (including AIDS wasting) may be seen as participants in clinical single-patient trials who need to be cautiously monitored and carried out with institutional approval.
Once patients have been admitted to these trials, they would be allowed to smoke the drug only under medical supervision. They are to do so only after being totally knowledgeable of their standing as subjects on the experiment as well as being informed on the dangers that are innate in considering smoking as a form of delivery system. As long as the patient continues to use marijuana, his state would be monitored closely and documented carefully. Through this, not only would patients with AIDS be guaranteed of receiving the most satisfactory treatment possible, but also their experiences would contribute to the furtherance of medical knowledge on marijuana’s benefits and risks.
At present, conducting clinical studies that are more comprehensive and in-depth have been a struggle for most medical marijuana scientists and advocates mainly because there are not enough fund allocations for these purposes. In addition, wide set of federal and state regulations usually impede these kinds of endeavours. With the documented and undocumented testimonies of AIDS patients who have experienced relief from AIDS wasting syndrome and pain, it becomes important to take into consideration these facts that warrant more liberated and extensive clinical research on medical marijuana and its benefits, not only for AIDS patients but also for patients with a great array of medical conditions.