On July 17th, Washington state was the 11th state to add Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries into list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. Unfortunately, Colorado state has refused to do the same about a week before Washington’s decision due to lack of scientific evidence to prove its safety and effectiveness. This might be bad news for a lot of veterans.
“A dozen of the veterans who testified said cannabis has saved their lives. Many said drugs legally prescribed to them for PTSD at veterans clinics or by other doctors — antidepressants, antipsychotics, opioids and others — nearly killed them or robbed them of quality of life.”
Others, who could not acquire cannabis or receive suitable treatment, turned to suicide to escape the PTSD torture.
“Pot helped,” said Cammarata, a US Army medic who served in Iraq. He figures it probably kept him from committing suicide during his years living in the Netherlands.
But he didn’t find full relief until he combined the drug with counseling, exercise, meditation, hypnosis and other forms of therapy …
In fact, some PTSD patients usually qualify to get medical marijuana for chronic pain even though they cannot qualify through PTSD. Otherwise, many more are self-managing the condition by paying a higher tax for recreational marijuana or even purchasing it on the black market. This leads to inevitable hardship attempting to keep track of the pros and cons of medical cannabis use specific to PTSD patients. And the consequence will be going back to square 1 where we have not enough scientific evidence if the board is going to review again. The cycle can go on and on.
One of the state-funded medical marijuana investigators, Sue Sisley, who is looking at effects on veterans’ PTSD said, “federal policy on marijuana is a prime reason research is scant.”To change this situation, the federal government should be more open to scientific research on cannabis and its cannabinoids. It seems irrational to restrict cannabis when its potential benefits outweigh its minor psychoactive effects compared to the long list of side effects in the commercials of current drugs on the market.
“But what has generated the renewed interest and excitement are the anecdotal reports that some children with otherwise untreatable severe epilepsies respond well to CBD extracts and oils (please see Porter & Jacobson 2013; Hussain et al. 2015).”
CBD is one of the main therapeutic agents that help treat one of the many symptoms/ diseases, like epilepsy, that are traditionally harder to treat with any current medicines. The other symptoms/ diseases also includes rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, PTSD, schizophrenia, neuropathic pain, seizures, convulsions and the list goes on.
In previous blogs we talked about some benefits of cannabis (find previous blogs cannabis green juice, cannabis-brain, cannabis-sleep), we briefly mentioned about chemicals in cannabis such as cannabidiol or CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. In truth, most of the medicinal value we find in cannabis is greatly related to CBD.
CBD is non-addictive and has great neuro-regulating properties. It can bind to our receptors (such as some G-protein receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS/ PNS), 5-HT serotonin receptors and adenosine receptors) on cells of our body to instruct it to carry out different tasks. Anti-inflammatory, spasticity and epilepsy reduction, neuropathic pain-relieving, anti-depressant and neuro-regulatory functions can all contribute to the CBD medical value. It works also as an antagonist to THC’s exhibitory or anxiety effects on your CNS that helps regulates a lot of unwanted side effects from THC. Although CBD still have some psychoactive effects but it is more a relief type which mainly acts in the body unlike THC.
“Several drug companies have recently developed CBD-based medications, and one of these, called Epidiolex, is now being tested in clinical trials. Epidiolex was developed by GW Pharmaceuticals and has been given to more than 400 children under the FDA’s expanded access (“compassionate use”) program.”
More studies are on the way, including US department National Institute of Health or NIH such as National Cancer Institute, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Institute on Drug Abuse are conducting studies to relate possible use and treatment for different disorders because CBD has a great medicinal value.Unfortunately, CBD rich strains are rare. The reason is because of the cross-breeding for the recreational cannabis which has high THC level and low CBD level. Also, with the reason that cannabis use is still prohibited in some of the states (currently only 23 states legalized medical cannabis). It is very hard for people to obtain quality medicinal CBD. Legalizing medical cannabis would help to open up more funding opportunities for cannabis research. And hopefully in the very near future, we will be able to see more people getting medical relief or even a cure by CBD and medical cannabis.
Roll roll roll, flip flip flip, and an hour later, you are still on your bed with your eyes wide open? Want a good night’s sleep? Cannabis may be able to help.
A study published in June 2015 tried to find out the mechanism of how cannabis improves sleep disorders. Researchers did a correlation study between the type and concentrations of cannabinoids (tetrahydrocannabinol or THC and cannabidiol or CBD) in different strains of cannabis that human subjects consumed and their sleep quality in a dispensary in California.
Subjects who self-reported using cannabis to treat sleep problems have a choice of what strains of cannabis to use such as sativa/sativa varieties, indica/ indica varieties or hybrid of both varieties. These participants from dispensaries are better subjects as they use cannabis straight from the plant. A cannabis plant contains different kinds of cannabinoids with varying effects. Though cannabinoids such as CBD and ∆9-THC have both psychoactive effects, ∆9-THC provides the primary psychoactive effects.
“Studies have examined sleep effects following laboratory administration of cannabinoids, but laboratory-based studies do not necessarily translate to “real world” behaviors as cannabis choice is not afforded within the laboratory context.”
Out of the 163 subjects, 50% of them used cannabis to treat insomnia symptoms and 9% used cannabis for nightmares. Most of the subjects preferred sativa and primary sativa varieties for nightmares while there was not as much preference for insomnia and sleep quality.
What kind of cannabis should you use? According to the study, there seems to be no definite answer. Subjects who had a harder time sleeping (i.e., subjects who have insomnia or longer self-report latency) used cannabis with a higher concentration of CBD. While subjects who often resorted to sleep aids used lower THC cannabis compared to those who were less dependent on sleep aids. There was no association between cannabis use and sleep problems.
It is also worth noting that indica has higher THC than sativa and therefore more likely to develop cannabis dependence or cannabis use disorder (CUD). Therefore, for those who does not want to have major psychoactive effects, THC concentration might be something that you want to pay attention to.Although this is a very primitive study of its kind, it certainly sets a ground for future cannabis use studies because in one cannabis plant there are hundreds other cannabinoids besides THC and CBD. The real value of cannabis would not be discovered unless more extended research can be done.
Now home to more than 500 marijuana stores, Colorado has produced over $50 million in tax revenue and lowered unemployment rates and growth statewide. However, there remain large hurdles for business owners who are pioneers in this burgeoning new segment of the economy.
‘”Marijuana tourism” is creating significant discord between Colorado and its neighboring states. In fact, Nebraska and Oklahoma are suing Colorado in the US Supreme Court, arguing they’ve suffered “direct and significant harm” from pot’s crossing the borders.’
“You might think legalization would have put an end to underground pot sales in Colorado, but actually the opposite is true — the black market is booming. In Colorado, 40 percent of marijuana is still grown and sold illegally, and recent signs suggest the same may be true for Washington State.”
“American marijuana businesses are forced to deal only in cash because banks refuse to bankroll them, in fear of the repercussions from federal drug trafficking laws.”
“You can be fired for testing positive for cannabis, even if medical marijuana is legal in your state … On June 15, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Dish Network was perfectly within its right to fire a call center employee for using medical marijuana (and testing positive on a drug test), because pot remains illegal under federal law.”
‘It can sometimes be challenging finding accurate, science-based information about cannabis … “The reason why it’s difficult is that the preponderance of research funds have been to show harm related to cannabis, as a drug of abuse…” According to Dr. Margaret Gedde, MD, PhD, owner and founder of Gedde Whole Health and the Clinicians’ Institute of Cannabis Medicine ‘ Soon enough, other states will have to face the same challenges regarding policies against medical cannabis. These problems are likely to grow unless Congress takes action by changing the federal and drug-trafficking laws.
“In this large cross-sectional adult survey with high prevalence of both substance use and obesity, cannabis use in the past year was associated with lower BMI, lower percentage fat mass, lower fasting insulin, and HOMA-IR (insulin resistance). As a result, cannabinoids from cannabis may be viewed as an interesting avenue for research on obesity and associated conditions.”
Along with the medical treatments that benefit from medical marijuana, research has shown that obesity and cannabis are positively associated with each other. Studies from the Conference of Quebec University Health Centers, American Journal of Medicine, and the American Journal of Epidemiology reported that cannabis users were less likely to be obese obtaining lower body mass indices (BMI) and lower fasting insulin.
“Specifically, researchers reported that cannabis users possessed an average BMI of 26.8 compared to an index of 28.6 for non-users, after controlling for age, gender and other factors. Those subjects who reported using cannabis but never having used tobacco, or who were former users of tobacco, possessed on average the lowest BMI.”
“Cross-sectional data published in 2011 in the American Journal of Epidemiology similarly reported that the prevalence of obesity in the general population is sharply lower among marijuana consumers than it is among nonusers.”
Cannabis can indeed lower obesity rates and prevent the risk of diabetes among marijuana users.
