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UC medical marijuana study shows pot relieves pain

A man holds a placard advertising medical marijuana outside an evaluation clinic on Venice Beach in Los Angeles on October 9, 2009.
A man holds a placard advertising medical marijuana outside an evaluation clinic on Venice Beach in Los Angeles on October 9, 2009.
(
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
)
Listen 24:44
UC medical marijuana study shows pot relieves pain
The verdict is in: medical marijuana is effective at treating neuropathic pain. Well, that’s what a newly released report from researchers at UC San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research suggests anyway. It’s the first major study in two decades, looking into the efficacy of medical marijuana. The research was paid for with nearly $9 million in state funds, authorized by 1999 legislation known as the Medical Research Act. Researchers also found that lower doses can work just as well as higher doses, with less mental confusion. But do users want the high? What impact might the finding have on policy--and California's burgeoning pot business?

The verdict is in: medical marijuana is effective at treating neuropathic pain. Well, that’s what a newly released report from researchers at UC San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research suggests anyway. It’s the first major study in two decades, looking into the efficacy of medical marijuana. The research was paid for with nearly $9 million in state funds, authorized by 1999 legislation known as the Medical Research Act. Researchers also found that lower doses can work just as well as higher doses, with less mental confusion. But do users want the high? What impact might the finding have on policy--and California's burgeoning pot business?

Guest:

Dr. Igor Grant, Professor of Psychiatry, UC San Diego; director of the state-funded research done by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research