Mitigating this concern are data suggesting that tolerance may develop to cardiovascular effects. The mechanism of all IOP-lowering drugs currently used to treat glaucoma is known with the exception of marijuana. The interactive effect of marijuana with currently available IOP-lowering agents is not known but is evaluable. Marijuana is reported to increase food enjoyment and the number of times individuals eat per day. Mechanistic studies of marijuana on taste and satiety have shown that it does not affect taste or produce a collapse of normal satiety mechanisms.
Food intake associated with marijuana use is influenced by the social setting.
Dronabinol has been shown to increase appetite and produce weight gain in AIDS and cancer patients, although the weight gain is not in lean body mass. Dronabinol is approved for the treatment of anorexia in patients with AIDS-associated weight loss. Concerning Question 3, there were varying degrees of enthusiasm to pursue smoked marijuana for several indications. This enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that, for many of these disorders, effective alternative treatments are already available. Given the general consensus among the experts that the number, design and documentation of studies performed to date with smoked marijuana did not provide definitive answers, it was difficult to compare marijuana with products that had received regulatory approval under more rigorous experimental conditions.