The Victoria-based society, which provides medicinal cannabis to people suffering from various illnesses, recently completed the study that examines the therapeutic potential of medicinal cannabis for nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy. The study argues that cannabis is an effective method to deal with nausea and vomiting with pregnant women.

"It's an area that without a doubt is going to be a bit more controversial as an area of research," said Phillipe Lucas, director of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society. Provincial Health Officer Dr.  Perry Kendall said that cannabis likely is an effective treatment for dealing with nausea and vomiting with pregnant women. "But I don't think I'd recommend smoking marijuana in pregnancy," he said.

There are concerns among some in the medical profession that cannabis could cause difficulty in terms of the development of the baby's brain, Kendall said. As well, it's possible that a low birth weight could result from a pregnant woman smoking the substances found in cannabis leaves, he said. "So I wouldn't recommend smoking anything during pregnancy," Kendall said. Lucas conducted the research with B.C.  Compassion Club Society researcher Rielle Capler, University of B.C. professor Patricia A.  Janssen and University of Victoria sociologist Rachel Westfall.

The study was prompted by a request from Westfall who approached the Vancouver Island Compassion
Society to find out how she could gain access to cannabis to conduct a study on how it might address nausea with pregnant women, Lucas said. "I knew right away that, that was simply going to be an impossibility," he said. There's no way, Lucas said, that the federal government would allow a clinical trial on determining if marijuana could effectively treat nausea and vomiting with pregnant women.

That said, Lucas decided to move forward with a survey/study to determine if women who smoked cannabis while they were pregnant found that it dealt with the nausea and vomiting. The survey shows that 92% of respondents considered cannabis to be either "extremely effective" or "effective" as a therapy for nausea and vomiting (or morning sickness). The study also focused on a particularly severe form of nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy called hyperenesisgragidarum.

"It's characterized as extremely severe nausea that affects two per cent of women who go through
pregnancy," Lucas said. As it currently stands, there aren't any effective pharmaceutical treatments available to treat that condition, he said.

The study also focused on how effective cannabis is in treating nausea in general. The vast majority of respondents indicated that cannabis is an effective therapy for nausea (93%), vomiting (75%) and as an appetite stimulant (95%). At the same time, the suggestion that cannabis is an effective treatment for nausea is apparent from talking to clients at the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, Lucas said.

"It's something that we see - everyday."

Source: Goldstream Gazette (CN BC), Fri, 07 Oct 2005
Author: Mark Browne, Victoria News
http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/

Survey in .pdf format: http://safeaccess.ca/research/cannabis_nausea2006.pdf