The Sacramento Bee, July 12, 2012

University of California medical researchers slipped an ingredient in chili peppers beneath the skin of marijuana smokers to see if pot could relieve acute pain. It could - at certain doses.

They monitored patients with AIDS and HIV as they toked on joints or placebos to determine whether marijuana could quell agonizing pain from nerve damage. It provided relief.

They tested a "Volcano Vaporizer" to see whether inhaling smokeless pot delivered healthier, low-tar cannabis. It did.

Over a dozen years, California's historic experiment in medical marijuana research brought new science to the debate on marijuana's place in medicine. State-funded studies - costing $8.7 million - found pot may offer broad benefits for pain from nerve damage from injuries, HIV, strokes and other conditions.

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UC San Diego Health Science Communications, May 14, 2012

A clinical study of 30 adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has shown that smoked cannabis may be an effective treatment for spasticity – a common and disabling symptom of this neurological disease.

The placebo-controlled trial also resulted in reduced perception of pain, although participants also reported short-term, adverse cognitive effects and increased fatigue.  The study will be published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on May 14.

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In February 2010, the CMCR presented a report to the California legislature summarizing the findings of 10 years of research on cannabis and cannabinoids.

Click here to download the report.