Cannabis and HIV/AIDS

The 1980s were a contentious time in U.S. history. The Reagan administration was preoccupied with Russian aggression and became mired in international arms dealing scandals while the First Lady pressed her ‘Just Say No’ campaign. Newly militarized anti-drug warriors reigned havoc on marijuana users. Gay rights activists fought against discrimination and homophobia for their civil liberties. And then, AIDS happened. First mentioned in a report released by the CDC in mid-1981, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has close ties to the medical cannabis movement. Because the AIDS epidemic hit minority communities like black neighborhoods (which the drug war specifically targeted long before HIV entered the public spotlight) and gay communities, no one was working very hard to come up with a cure. In fact, many healthcare providers were outright hostile to HIV/AIDS patients. But in San Francisco, where white conservatives where in the minority and AIDS sufferers were everywhere, compassionate cannabis activists sought to help those in need by offering ganja to the sick and dying. In 1991 Kenneth and Barbara Jenks became the first AIDS patients to successfully argue medical-necessity in court, qualifying them for the Compassionate IND program started by the Carter administration. They became the first—and last—AIDS patients to receive legal cannabis from the federal government, afterwards hundreds of applications came in from AIDS sufferers, causing the Bush administration to shut down the program altogether.

For many reasons—demographical, practical, emotional—the AIDS epidemic is the reason the fight for medical-marijuana was thrust center-stage. The link between HIV/AIDS and cannabis activism is undeniable. Up until the 80s activist groups focused on ending prohibition and enacting criminal justice reform, but when people started dying because they couldn’t obtain their medicine legally a distinction was drawn. The legalization of recreational cannabis was (and is) largely a matter of cultural acceptance, but medical use was a matter of life and death. In November 1996 California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis with the passage of Prop 215. Initially cannabis was embraced by HIV/AIDS patients for side effects like nausea and pain. One of the biggest problems patients faced was nausea-induced anorexia and weight-loss. Many patients slowly starved to death due from wasting syndrome. Cannabis was already known to be an effective appetite stimulant, so it only made sense to try and see if the one could help the other. Reported success stories drove researchers to look into the science behind the anecdotal evidence. In the mid-1980s Dr. Donald Abrams began designing a study to test the effects of smoked cannabis and the synthetic THC pill Marinol on AIDS patients. After battling with the government for several years, in 1997 Abrams concluded from his research that cannabis improved patients’ appetites without having any negative effects. Another study done by Abrams showed that cannabis not only improves appetite, but also effectively treats AIDS-related peripheral neuropathy. Abrams’s studies helped pave the way for future researchers hoping to study the effects of cannabis on those suffering HIV and AIDS.

Various studies done over the last two and a half decades have shown that cannabis not only treats many of the symptoms caused by HIV/AIDS and its common treatment regimens, but also prevents degeneration caused by the virus that leads to other related illnesses and the spread of the disease. In 2008, for instance, a study done by Harvard and Northeastern University found that stimulation of cannabinoid receptors strengthens the blood-brain barrier—breakdown of the blood-brain barrier has been associated with AIDS-related dementia. In 2012 researchers at Mount Sinai school of medicine showed that CB2 receptor activation leads to the activation of other receptors on immune cells that directly inhibit the HIV-virus in Late-Stage AIDS patients. Another study showed that THC rejuvenates cells that protect the walls of the GI tract, which reduces the amount of virus in the lower intestines and might help prevent spreading the disease to healthy individuals. Cancer studies have shown cannabis to be an effective treatment for Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer common among AIDS sufferers. The list goes on and on, with more new research being published all the time. It is estimated that around 1 in 3 HIV/AIDS patients uses cannabis, and those patients that use cannabis are more likely to adhere to other treatment plans like antiretroviral therapy.