13/05/2007 00:00:00
Vapourising cannabis leaves can prevent side effects
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New York, May 13. (PTI): Vapourising cannabis leaves instead of burning
them can release the drug's active ingredient just as effectively while
avoiding the harmful toxins inhaled through smoking, according to a study.
The result of the study could be good news for those who choose to use
marijuana medicinally, Nature magazine, which reported the study, said.
The potential benefits of marijuana include pain relief for
multiple-sclerosis sufferers, a treatment for glaucoma, as an appetite
stimulant for AIDS patients and an anti-nausea agent for people on
chemotherapy.
Rather than smoking, some use the leaves to make tea or cakes for
consumption. But this means that the active agents are metabolised by
the liver rather than entering the bloodstream unaltered. Others have
focused on extracting active ingredients such as tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) and delivering them alone in a pill or oral spray.
However, many think that the isolated ingredients are not as effective
as the whole plant, and it is more difficult to customise the dose for
each individual with a pill, Nature noted.
Donald Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco, and his
team decided to investigate the benefits of the 'Volcano', a
commercially available vapouriser.
The device heats marijuana leaves to a temperature between 180 and 200
degree C so that THC is released from oils on the surface of the leaf
but no actual combustion takes place.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200705130310.htm
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12547
Author:
The Hindu via UKCIA
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