San Francisco Chronicle Profiles the Career of UCSF AIDS, Medical Marijuana Researcher Donald Abrams

The San Francisco Chronicle Magazine on Sunday profiled Dr. Donald Abrams, an oncologist with the University of California-San Francisco and co-director of the San Diego-based Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Abrams, who "was there from the very beginning" of the AIDS epidemic, "may be more well-known these days" as a marijuana researcher, as he has undertaken the "seemingly Sisyphean" task of acquiring marijuana through "proper federal channels" to conduct human clinical trials. The Chronicle highlights several of Abrams' experiments on topics such as the interaction between marijuana and protease inhibitors and the effects of marijuana on appetite and weight gain in AIDS patients. Abrams will soon conduct a study on whether marijuana helps relieve nerve pain associated with HIV. "I think it's groundbreaking and I'm frankly relieved that finally we scientists can look at cannabis as a possible therapeutic rather than being limited to searching only for its possible ill effects. I think we're at the beginning of a new era," Abrams said (Marine, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/12).