[LouAvul]

I'm not in favor of recreational pot, but, goodness, cancer? They should give them whatever drug the patient desires.

[Responsibility2nd]

Does taking synthetic pot give one the synthetic munchies?

[Supernatural]

But the FDA just said marijuana has no medicinal value.

But synthetic marijuana does?

Pretzel logic.

[antiRepublicrat]

They should give them whatever drug the patient desires.

Smoking pot to relieve your symptoms doesn't put money in the pockets of the pharma companies, so it will remain illegal.

[Lexington Green]

Pot has no medicinal value, unless the pharmaceutical companies are the ones who profit by it.

[microgood]

The problem with this is that many patients cannot ingest anything after chemotherapy and that is why the smoke it, so they can then overcome the nauseau and eat. Until they make an inhaler or something, they have not resolved the issue.

[HangnJudge]

Have been prescribing Marinol for some time

Usually for wasting syndromes, CTX nausea, other causes of anorexia

I've seen no unusual complications of this agent, properly used
It is a Schedule III

Cesamet is a Schedule II drug, I don't know why it is more heavily regulated
Than Marinol, which should be functionally identical...

Cesamet Mongraph

[MD_Willington_1976]

"Side effects include euphoria, drowsiness, vertigo and dry mouth."

Feeling stupid-happy instead of feeling like shooting oneself or curling up & dieing is a side affect... okay whatever...

Kudos to those who can seperate the "wheat from the chaff"

If it doesn't put a $ in a pocket in that fancy house in DC, it must be evil... yep darn right.. evil stuff...

[mysterio]

Why not just give cancer victims the real thing and save them a whole lot of money? Because that would make sense.

[philman_36]

Lilly originally received FDA approval for nabilone in 1985 ...
I've learned something today.

[philman_36]

The Medical Value of Marijuana and Related Substances
Several cannabinoids have been tested as antiemetics, including THC (both 9-THC and 8-THC) and the synthetic cannabinoids nabilone and levonantradol. Smoked marijuana has also been examined.
Snip...As in the THC trials, nabilone and levonantradol reduced emesis but not as well as other available agents in moderately to highly emetogenic settings. Neither is commercially available in the United States.
Snip...Neither study showed a clear advantage for smoked marijuana over oral THC, but neither reported data on the time course of antiemetic control, possible advantages of self-titration with the smoked marijuana, or the degree to which patients were able to swallow the pills. Patients with severe vomiting would have been unlikely to be able to swallow or keep the pills down long enough for them to take effect. The onset of drug effect is much faster with inhaled or injected THC than it is for oral delivery.87,112,141
Although many marijuana users have claimed that smoked marijuana is a more effective antiemetic than oral THC, no controlled studies have yet been published that analyze this in sufficient detail to estimate the extent to which this is the case.
An important and unexpected problem encountered in the New York state open trial with marijuana was the inability of nearly one-fourth of the patients to tolerate the administration of marijuana by smoking.188 The intolerance could have been due to inexperience with smoking marijuana and is an important consideration.

And to be "fair"...Although marijuana smoke delivers THC and other cannabinoids to the body, it also delivers harmful substances, including most of those found in tobacco smoke. In addition, plants contain a variable mixture of biologically active compounds and cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.
Guess what! Coffee delivers harmful substances to the body. So does alcohol. So does a myriad number of other things.
They don't even know if those other active compounds cancel out or counter the effects of the "harmful substances" inhaled. They're sooooo sure.

[dljordan]

"I'm not in favor of recreational pot, but, goodness, cancer? They should give them whatever drug the patient desires."

If the drug companies market it, it's OK.

[KoRn]

Funny. If the pharmaceutical companies can make money on it, there's no problem with it?

[monkeyshine]

Interesting that the FDA is giving approval to this drug, when it (or some other federal agency) just a few weeks ago issued a report that said marijuana has absolutely no therapeutic benefits.

The duplicity is astounding. Sure, I'm biased because I am opposed to the War on Drugs, nevertheless if there is nothing therapeutic in marijuana this drug would never have approval.

[Protagoras]

Side effects include euphoria,

OOPS! That rules it out for the warriors. The idea that someone might feel good is outrageous to them.

[newgeezer]

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Whoops, there goes MrLeRoy's excuse.

[I'm ALL Right!]

Ironically, because it is synthetic, it probably causes cancer.

[NetAddicted]

Bookmarked.