Marihuana and Alcohol Intolerance in Hodgkin's Disease

To the Editor: Alcohol intolerance is a phenomenon of unknown cause that has been reported to occur with a variety of neoplasms. It is most common in the lymphoproliferative disorders, especially Hodgkin's disease, as indicated by T.B. Bresin (“Alcohol Intolerance in Neoplastic Disease.” Br Med J 2:437–441, 1966). I have encountered two patients with Stage IV Hodgkin's disease, exhibiting alcohol intolerance, who reported identical symptoms after the use of marihuana. The first, a 26-year-old woman, had pain at the site of known disease activity in the abdomen and inguinal lymph nodes. The symptoms caused her to discontinue the use of ….