Researchers Seek Marijuana, AIDS Link

Scientists are stepping up investigations into a possible link between AIDS and smoking marijuana, government officials testified Monday at a House subcommittee hearing.

Marijuana is being studied because “it’s known that cannabis in and of itself” suppresses the immune system, as does AIDS, said Dr. James O. Mason, acting assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Thus, the question of whether a connection exists “is being looked at very carefully,” Mason said. “Maybe the interaction of the two has an effect,” he said.

Mason faced tough questioning by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who has charged that the Reagan Administration has not put enough money into AIDS research. After prodding by Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health and the environment, the Administration has proposed a 47% budget increase in AIDS research for fiscal 1986.

‘No Stone Unturned’

Moreover, Mason told the subcommittee that “everything that can be done is being done. No stone is being left unturned.”

After the hearing, other government officials gave details of the marijuana studies, which are being conducted on both animals and humans. They called the studies “preliminary” and defended them as worthwhile in the face of the epidemic of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).

For example, a study on guinea pigs at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond showed that marijuana suppresses the animals’ immune systems and makes them more susceptible to herpes, according to Dr. Marvin Snyder, director of the division of pre-clinical research at the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

But, although herpes and AIDS are both viral diseases, they differ in many of their symptoms, Snyder acknowledged.

Raises Question

Nevertheless, Snyder said, the Virginia research “raises the issue of whether, because (suppression of the immune system) happens with one virus, it can happen with another.”

The drug studies are part of investigations of what scientists call a patient’s “co-factors,” such as nutrition, general health and the number of previous infections. Many of those who are AIDS victims smoke marijuana, he added.

Dr. Harold M. Ginzburg, associate director for clinical medicine at the federal drug institute, said that data is being compiled on drug users in New York and New Jersey to see if “any unique patterns” could link AIDS to drug use.

Nationwide, about 12,000 persons have contracted AIDS, which is spread through body fluids. Half the victims have died, and there is no known cure.