Evening star., 1940-03-16
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field. Laboratory
And Study
BY Thomas r. Henry.

bellum, or little brain, which controls
coordination Of movement and balance.
The results of the first controlled ex-
pertinent on one Of the most publicized
Of narcotics have just been reported to
the Bureau Of Narcotics of the Treasury
by DR.. s. Loewe of Cornell University.
He is one Of group of chemists, phar-
macologists and other scientists scat
tered over the country which is engaged
in project sponsored by the Treasury
Of tearing marijuana apart to find what
Is responsible for its effects and whether
1t contains anything of medical value.
DR.. Loewe also reported finding that
a derivative of one Of the discarded frag-
ments of marijuana, which has been
appropriately called "afirmin," has
single weird eftect-that of causing a
dog to nod its head vigorously as If
agreeing with something. Dictators, 1t
was suggested, might give shots of the
stuff to entire populations to make sure
of universal agreement with everything
they said.
For the past two decades marijuana
has been one Of the most feared of drugs,
both because OF its supposed character
deteriorating effects and because it has
been so easy to obtain. It is contained
In the hemp plant, which furnished fiber
for ropes and which can grow almost
anywhere in the United States. The
drug has been made use of chiefly by
smoking dried leaves as cigarettes. So
far as known 1t has no legitimate value.
Altogether more than 500 different
substances have been found by tearing
une plant apart. The great mass of
these, containing almost SO per cent Of
the plant, have no narcotic effect The
remainder, an oil, shows the complete
drug potency of the whole hemp. Re-
Gently 1t was split into four fractions by
DR.. Roger Adams of the University of
Illinois, one of the cooperating chemists.
The greater part of the potency was
found in one of these fractions consti-
tuting about l5/l00 of one per cent of the
whole plant. The other three fractions
were discarded, but by combining one of
them with another chemical DR.. Adams
obtained the dextrahydrocannabidi or
afilrmin, with which DR.. Loewe has OBJ
tanned the weird effects. This particular
drug, so far as known, does not exist In
nature. Straight marijuana appears to
have no such effect. If it does, the head
nodding movements are masked.
DR.. Loewe's job was to test out various
fractions on dogs. He found that with
minute injections of the most potent ex-
tract-about the amounts man would
get out Of cigarette-the animals
showed in an exaggerated degree some
OF the physical effects which have been
reported from human marijuana addicts.
They were Unable to coordinate their
limb movements. They swayed and
staggered in curious fashion and their
movements in some ways were like those
of person who is very drunk. The ami
mails would walk around making exag-
gerated efforts to balance themselves on
their four legs, but, after about an hour
and half with the minimum dose, such
a dog would topple over on the floor and
remain there for an extended period.
The animals, however, were not uncon-
scious nor drowsy. They would respond
quickly to anything which startled them.
DR.. Loewe has not been able to find
any mental effects at all. Human beings
report that they take marijuana purely
for the pickup" it gives them and the
visions 1t brings about. They may even
deny that 1t causes them to walk un-
steadily.
"Of course" said DR.. Loewe, "the dogs
couldn't tell me whether they saw any
beautiful visions, or how they felt, but
so far as observing them went there was
no change at all"
After a heavy dose, he says, the ami
mails were neither more nor less alert.
Friendly dogs remained friendly and un-
friendly ones just as unfriendly as ever.
There was no particular exhilaration or
drowsiness. The actual symptoms, he
says. are almost precisely those which
have been observed in dogs whose "little
brains" have been removed entirely, or
in humans suffering from tumors of the
cerebellum. There Is nothing discern
able which can be traced to the think
ing" part of the brain.
This does not mean, DR.. Loewe said,
that the doping" effects claimed for
marijuana do not exist. Somehow or
other they are not present in the potent
fraction. They may depend on a subtle
combination with something which has
been discarded, but which alone has no
effect whatever. They may even de-
pend in part on some subtle difference
between the human and dog brains, on
the heating Of the marijuana in the
cigarette. or on something which hap
pens in the human body. A great deal,
1t is known, depends on the personality
Of the person taking the dope.
So many diverse reports of the actual
effects Of marijuana have been given
that the Government seeks to reduce
the reactions to minimum which can
be effectively recognized and measured.
Deplores Ickes' Attack
On Dewey.
To the Editor Of The Star:
Oscar Wilde once said, There is only