People have used it as treatment for nausea caused by chemotherapy, appetite loss arising from AIDS, the painful spasms of multiple sclerosis, the pain of migraine headache, the sight-threatening condition known as glaucoma and the memory loss of Alzheimer's disease. Reliable data on the drug's benefits, however, have been hard to get. This has made research on patients unusually difficult. One cannabinoid drug, dronabinol, is licensed in the United States for use in appetite stimulation in AIDS patients, and to prevent nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. There is far less convincing data about actual medical benefits.
Most studies suggest there are existing drugs that do what marijuana is reputed to do, but better.
This was especially true in the case of glaucoma treatment and nausea prevention, the panel found. Nevertheless, a few patients who do not respond to those pharmaceuticals are helped by marijuana. The panel advocated research aimed at isolating marijuana's ingredients and testing them in randomized controlled trials. An inhalation device is a high priority because it will allow patients to take in the drug as quickly as when it's smoked, without delivering tar and other unwanted substances. In the meantime, studies of smoked marijuana are warranted, the panel said.