The success story of one woman who replaced her pills with plants.
“Clee believes the culture of today’s society is a breeding ground for emotional detachment, leading to an unhappy life and subsequent addictions, either to drugs or an unhealthy lifestyle.”
hightimes.com
By
Sharmila Clee; Photograph by Ceasar Ron
Marijuana is known for delivering a good high. But the plant’s uses go well beyond the recreational. Marijuana contains a trove of medicinal compounds whose uses we are just now discovering.
Source: Marijuana is a lot more than just THC – a pharmacologist looks at the untapped healing compounds
theconversation.com
Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California
Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states as of November 2018. Yet the federal government still insists marijuana has no legal use and is easy to abuse. In the meantime, medical marijuana dispensaries have an increasing array of products available for pain, anxiety, sex and more.
The glass counters and their jars of products in the dispensary resemble an 18th century pharmacy. Many strains for sale have evocative and magical names like Blue Dream, Bubba Kush and Chocolope. But what does it all mean? Are there really differences in the medical qualities of the various strains? Or, are the different strains with the fanciful names all just advertising gimmicks?
I am a professor in the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. I have lived in California a long time and remember the Haight-Ashbury Summer of Love. While in graduate school, I worked with professor Alexander Shulgin, the father of designer drugs, who taught me the chemistry of medicinal plants. Afterwards, while a professor at USC, I learned Chumash healing from a Native American Chumash healer for 14 years from 1998 until 2012. She taught me how to make medicines from Californian plants, but not marijuana, which is not native to the U.S. Currently, I am teaching a course in medical marijuana to pharmacy students.
If there is one thing about marijuana that is certain: In small doses it can boost libido in men and women, leading to more sex. But can marijuana really be used for medical conditions?
New research is revealing that marijuana is more than just a source of cannabinoids, chemicals that may bind to cannabinoid receptors in our brains, which are used to get high. The most well-known is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Marijuana is a particularly rich source of medicinal compounds that we have only begun to explore. In order to harness the full potential of the compounds in this plant, society needs to overcome misconceptions about marijuana and look at what research clearly says about the medical value.
The FDA has already made some moves in this direction by approving prescription drugs that come from marijuana including dronabinol, nabilone, nabiximols and cannabidiol. Dronabinol and nabilone are cannabinoids that are used for nausea. Nabiximols – which contain THC, the compound most responsible for marijuana’s high and cannabidiol, which does not induce a high – are used to treat multiple sclerosis. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is also used to treat some types of epilepsy.
Marijuana, originally from the Altai Mountains in Central and East Asia, contains at least 85 cannabinoids and 27 terpenes, fragrant oils that are produced by many herbs and flowers that may be active, drug-like compounds. THC is the cannabinoid everyone wants in order to get high. It is produced from THC acid – which constitutes up to 25 percent of the plant’s dry weight – by smoking or baking any part of the marijuana plant.
THC mimics a naturally occurring neurotransmitter called anandamide that works as a signaling molecule in the brain. Anandamide attaches to proteins in the brain called cannabinoid receptors, which then send signals related to pleasure, memory, thinking, perception and coordination, to name a few. THC works by hijacking these natural cannabinoid receptors, triggering a profound high.
Tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid, another cannabinoid, can constitute up to 10 percent of the dry weight. It is converted to another compound that probably contributes to a high, tetrahydrocannabivarin, when smoked or ingested in baked goods. Potent varieties like Doug’s Varin and Tangie may contain even higher concentrations.
But not all cannabinoids make you high. Cannabidiol, a cannabinoid similar to THC, and its acid are also present in marijuana, especially in certain varieties. But these do not cause euphoria. The cannabidiol molecule interacts with a variety of receptors – including cannabinoid and serotonin receptors and transient receptor potential cation channels (TRP) – to reduce seizures, combat anxiety and produce other effects.
Marijuana also contains several monoterpenoids – small, aromatic molecules – that have a wide range of activities including pain and anxiety relief and that work by inhibiting TRP channels.
Myrcene is the most abundant monoterpenoid, a type or terpene, in marijuana. It can relax muscles. Other terpenes such as pinene, linalool, limonene and the sesquiterpene, beta-caryophyllene are pain relievers, especially when applied directly to the skin as a liniment. Some of these terpenes may add to the high when marijuana is smoked.
Many different varieties of marijuana are on the market and are alleged to treat a range of diseases. The FDA has no oversight for these claims, since the FDA does not recognize marijuana as a legal product.
Strains of marijuana are grown that produce more THC than cannadidiol or vice versa. Other varieties have abundant monoterpenoids. How do you know that the strain you choose is legitimate with probable medical benefits? Each strain should have a certificate of analysis that shows you how much of each active compound is present in the product you buy. Many states have a bureau of cannabis control that verifies these certificates of analysis. However, many certificates of analysis do not show the monoterpenoids present in the marijuana. The analysis of monoterpenoids is difficult since they evaporate from the plant material. If you are looking for a strain high in myrcene or linalool, ask for proof.
Marijuana can improve several conditions, but it can also make others worse and can have nasty side effects.
As recreational use has become more widespread, marijuana hyperemesis syndrome is becoming more of a problem in our society. Some people vomit uncontrollably after smoking marijuana regularly. It can be treated by rubbing a cream made from capsaicin, from chili peppers, on the abdomen. Capsaicin cream is available in pharmacies.
Also, high THC varieties of marijuana, such as Royal Gorilla and Fat Banana, can cause anxiety and even psychosis in some people.
Researchers have also shown that anxiety can be effectively treated with strains that have more cannabidiol and linalool. It may be best to rub a cannabidiol balm or lotion on your cheeks to relieve anxiety.
Other conditions that studies have shown are improved by marijuana are: cancer induced nausea, Type 2 diabetes, two forms of epilepsy, HIV-induced weight gain, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, pain, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders and traumatic brain injury.
For some of these conditions, studies show that eating or topically applying marijuana products rather than smoking is recommended.
Clearly, more research is needed from the scientific community to help guide the appropriate, safe use of marijuana. However, the FDA does not recognize the use of medical marijuana. This makes funding for research on marijuana difficult to find. Perhaps the cannabis industry should consider funding scientific research on marijuana. But conflicts of interest may become a concern as we have seen with drug company-sponsored studies.
NaturalNews.com
by: Mike Adams
Friday, December 21, 2018
(Natural News) Achieving another breathtaking win for the American people while fighting against a criminal, corrupt establishment, President Donald J. Trump just legalized industrial hemp nationwide by signing the new Farm Bill into law. The hemp legalization provision was spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), further demonstrating that Republicans support hemp legalization and agricultural freedom.
After nearly 50 years of prohibition, industrial hemp will be legal to grow across America beginning January 1, 2019. It’s another huge victory that helps Make America Great Again by unleashing the power of agricultural freedom and natural health.
“This law marks the first change in the federal classification of the cannabis plant since it was initially classified as a schedule I controlled substance by Congress in 1970, and paves the way for the first federally-sanctioned commercial hemp grows since World War II,” said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. NORML also adds:
The hemp-specific provisions of the 2018 Act amend the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 so that hemp plants containing no more than 0.3 percent THC are no longer classified as a schedule I controlled substance under federal law.
“Although hemp will no longer be in the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, prospective growers will have to submit cultivation plans to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), either through the state government or the USDA itself,” reports Marijuana Moment.
CBD and other cannabinoids are essentially “de-scheduled” from the Schedule I controlled substance list, but only if they are produced in accordance with the Farm Bill stipulations, meaning growers must comply with state and federal regulations which are so far not described anywhere. The USDA will reportedly regulate hemp production now, and states that wish to exert more restrictive state controls must coordinate their plans with the USDA. As NORML reports:
The Act (Section 297B) permits those US states that wish to possess “primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp” to submit a plan to the US Secretary of Agriculture. The agency has 60 days to approve, disapprove, or amend the plan. In instances where a state-proposed plan is not approved, “it shall be unlawful to produce hemp in that state … without a license.”
The Brookings Institution further explains:
It explicitly allows the transfer of hemp-derived products across state lines for commercial or other purposes. It also puts no restrictions on the sale, transport, or possession of hemp-derived products, so long as those items are produced in a manner consistent with the law.
Under the leadership of the Trump Administration, the FDA is indicating it may pursue regulatory reforms to legalize CBD in dietary supplement products nationwide. Via a December 20 announcement from the FDA:
Among other things, this new law changes certain federal authorities relating to the production and marketing of hemp… These changes include removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, which means that it will no longer be an illegal substance under federal law.
At first, the FDA reiterates that it maintains total control over CBD and that CBD is currently not allowed to be sold as a dietary supplement for the bizarre reason that certain companies are studying CBD for use as a possible prescription medication:
Additionally, it’s unlawful under the FD&C Act to introduce food containing added CBD or THC into interstate commerce, or to market CBD or THC products as, or in, dietary supplements, regardless of whether the substances are hemp-derived. This is because both CBD and THC are active ingredients in FDA-approved drugs and were the subject of substantial clinical investigations before they were marketed as foods or dietary supplements. Under the FD&C Act, it’s illegal to introduce drug ingredients like these into the food supply, or to market them as dietary supplements.
That said, the FDA signals its willingness to hold conversations with industry leaders with the possible outcome of issuing new regulations that would eliminate its current restrictions on the selling of CBD-based dietary supplements. “[T]he FDA has authority to issue a regulation allowing the use of a pharmaceutical ingredient in a food or dietary supplement,” says the FDA, implying that CBD is a “pharmaceutical ingredient” even when CBD has been around for millions of years, long before pharmaceutical companies even existed. “We are taking new steps to evaluate whether we should pursue such a process.”
The FDA further explains it will hold public meetings to solicit input on further regulatory changes it might pursue:
Given the substantial public interest in this topic and the clear interest of Congress in fostering the development of appropriate hemp products, we intend to hold a public meeting in the near future for stakeholders to share their experiences and challenges with these products, including information and views related to the safety of such products.
We’ll use this meeting to gather additional input relevant to the lawful pathways by which products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds can be marketed, and how we can make these legal pathways more predictable and efficient.
Stay informed on hemp, cannabis and medical marijuana at HempScience.news.
With permission from
dreddymd.com
Aug 11, 2018
There should be no more confusion about whether or not marijuana is effective for cancer patients. Medical marijuana is chemotherapy, natural style, for all cancer patients. The two forms of hemp oil, one with THC and CBD and the other CBD alone (which is pretty much legal everywhere) provide the body with chemo therapeutics without the danger and staggering side effects. There are many essays in this site about cancer patients using marijuana and other items from my protocol, but in this one we present a quick overview of the science that backs up the assertion that every cancer patient and every oncologist should put medical marijuana on their treatment maps.
What you will see in this essay is reference to many scientific studies that are all viewable on governmental sites. The United States government is pathetic in its dishonesty about medical marijuana both believing in it and holding patents for its medical use and claiming at the same time that it has no medical use. The federal government and still many states would rather throw innocent people in jail for using medical marijuana than be honest about how much it can help people recover from cancer and other diseases.
Below are summaries to just some of the scientific research out there that sustains the belief that medical marijuana will help people cure their cancer.
One of the most exciting areas of current research in the cannabinoid field is the study of the potential application of these compounds as antitumor drugs. CBD represents the first nontoxic exogenous agent that can significantly decrease Id-1 expression in metastatic breast cancer cells leading to the down-regulation of tumor aggressiveness.[1],[2] The CBD concentrations effective at inhibiting Id-1 expression correlated with those used to inhibit the proliferative and invasive phenotype of breast cancer cells. Of the five cannabinoids tested: cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannnabichromene; cannabidiol-acid and THC-acid, it was found that cannabidiol is the most potent inhibitor of cancer cell growth. Taken together, these data might set the bases for a cannabinoid therapy for the management of breast cancer.[3]
Results show that Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol reduces tumor growth, tumor number, and the amount/severity of lung metastases in MMTV-neu mice.[4] Cannabinoids induce ICAM-1, thereby conferring TIMP-1 induction and subsequent decreased cancer cell invasiveness thus inhibits lung cancer invasion and metastasis.[5]
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Researchers have observed expression of CB1 (24%) and CB2 (55%) in NSCLC patients. They have also shown that the treatment of NSCLC cell lines (A549 and SW-1573) with CB1/CB2- and CB2-specific agonists Win55,212-2 and JWH-015, respectively, significantly attenuated random as well as growth factor-directed in vitro chemotaxis and chemoinvasion in these cells.[6]
Researchers in lung cancers also reported that they observed significant reduction in focal adhesion complex, which plays an important role in cancer migration. Medical marijuana significantly inhibited in vivo tumor growth and lung metastasis (∼50%).[7]
In research on pancreatic cancer it was found that cannabinoids lead to apoptosis of pancreatic tumor cells via a CB2 receptor and de novo synthesized ceramide-dependent up-regulation of p8 and the endoplasmic reticulum stress–related genes ATF-4 and TRB3. These findings may contribute to set the basis for a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of pancreatic cancer as reported by the National Cancer Institute.
Prostate cancer cells possess increased expression of both cannabinoid 1 and 2 receptors, and stimulation of these results in decrease in cell viability, increased apoptosis, and decreased androgen receptor expression and prostate-specific antigen excretion.[8]
In colorectal carcinoma cell lines, cannabidiol protected DNA from oxidative damage, increased endocannabinoid levels and reduced cell proliferation in a CB(1)-, TRPV1- and PPARγ-antagonists sensitive manner. It is concluded that cannabidiol exerts chemopreventive effect in vivo and reduces cell proliferation through multiple mechanisms.[9]
Ovarian cancer represents one of the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for women and is the most common gynecologic malignancy. Results with medical marijuana support a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of ovarian cancer. It is also conceivable that with available cannabinoids as lead compounds, non-habit forming agents that have higher biological effects could be developed.[10]
Examination of a number of human leukaemia and lymphoma cell lines demonstrate that CB2 cannabinoid receptors expressed on malignancies of the immune system may serve as potential targets for the induction of apoptosis. Also, because CB2 agonists lack psychotropic effects, they may serve as novel anticancer agents to selectively target and kill tumors of immune origin.[11] Plant-derived cannabinoids, including Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), induce apoptosis in leukemic cells.[12]
Cannabinoid-treated tumors showed an increased number of apoptotic cells. This was accompanied by impairment of tumor vascularization, as determined by altered blood vessel morphology and decreased expression of proangiogenic factors (VEGF, placental growth factor, and angiopoietin. Abrogation of EGF-R function was also observed in cannabinoid-treated tumors.[13] These results support a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of skin tumors.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third cause of cancer-related death worldwide. When these tumors are in advanced stages, few therapeutic options are available. In this study, the effects of cannabinoids–a novel family of potential anticancer agents–on the growth of HCC was investigated. It was found that Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC, the main active component of Cannabis sativa) and JWH-015 (a cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB(2)) cannabinoid receptor-selective agonist) reduced the viability of the human HCC cell lines Cannabinoids were able to inhibit tumor growth and ascites in an orthotopic model of HCC xenograft.[14] These findings may contribute to the design of new therapeutic strategies for the management of HCC.
Both cholangiocarcinoma cell lines and surgical specimens from cholangiocarcinoma patients expressed cannabinoid receptors. THC inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced cell apoptosis. THC also decreased actin polymerization and reduced tumor cell survival in anoikis assay. pMEK1/2 and pAkt demonstrated the lower extent than untreated cells. Consequently, THC is potentially used to retard cholangiocarcinoma cell growth and metastasis.[15]
Smoking marijuana might decrease the smoker’s risk for bladder cancer, a new study shows. Retrospectively analyzing a large database of patients, researchers at Kaiser Permanente in California found that patients who reported cannabis use were 45% less likely to be diagnosed with bladder cancer than patients who did not smoke at all.
THC is a potent inducer of apoptosis, even at 1 x IC(50) (inhibitory concentration 50%) concentrations and as early as 6 hours after exposure to the drug. These effects were seen in leukemic cell lines (CEM, HEL-92, and HL60) as well as in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.[16] Cannabinoids represent a novel class of drugs active in increasing the life span in mice carrying Lewis lung tumors and decreasing primary tumor size.[17]
Research has also found a cannabidiol-driven impaired invasion of human cervical cancer (HeLa, C33A) and human lung cancer cells (A549) that was reversed by antagonists to both CB(1) and CB(2) receptorrs as well as to transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1). The decrease of invasion by cannabidiol appeared concomitantly with up regulation of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP the findings provide a novel mechanism underlying the anti-invasive action of cannabidiol and imply its use as a therapeutic option for the treatment of highly invasive cancers.[18]
A new anticancer quinone (HU-331) was synthesized from cannabidiol. It shows significant high efficacy against human cancer cell lines in vitro and against in vivo tumor grafts in nude mice. Two non-psychotropic cannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabidiol-dimethylheptyl (CBD-DMH), induced apoptosis in a human acute myeloid leukemia[19]
Other studies show a synthetic and potent cannabinoid receptor agonist, investigated in hepatoma HepG2 cells and a possible signal transduction pathway that is proposed, indicates a potential positive role in liver cancer.[20]Cannabinoids have been found to counteract intestinal inflammation and colon cancer.[21]
The control of the cellular proliferation has become a focus of major attention as opening new therapeutic possibilities for the use of cannabinoids as potential antitumor agents.[22] Cannabinoid treatment inhibits angiogenesis of gliomas in vivo.[23] Remarkably, cannabinoids kill glioma cells selectively and can protect non-transformed glial cells from death. These and other findings reviewed here might set the basis for a potential use of cannabinoids in the management of gliomas. Other confirming studies may provide the basis for a new therapeutic approach for the[24]
Cannabinoids are found to exert their anti-cancer effects in a number of ways and in a variety of tissues.
All these effects are thought to be caused by cannabinoids locking onto the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. Almost daily we are seeing new or confirming evidence that Cannibinoids can be used to great benefit in cancer treatment of many types.
Buy the new Medical Marijuana 2nd Edition eBook!
Cannabis, better known as marijuana, has been used for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. It’s been heralded as a “cure-all,” revered for its healing properties, particularly for pain but also as a potential anticancer treatment. Marijuana was a popular botanical medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, common in U.S. pharmacies of the time.
It wasn’t until 1970 that the herb was declared a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the U.S., a classification reserved for drugs with “high potential for abuse” and “no accepted medical use.” Three years later the Drug Enforcement Agency was formed to enforce the newly created drug schedules, and the fight against marijuana use began. In light of its history as a global panacea for all sorts of ills, it’s classification as a controlled substance is particularly unjustified.
As noted in the documentary “Cannabis: A Lost History,” written, directed and narrated by Chris Rice, marijuana has been “an integral part of human civilization,” featuring in ancient Japanese cave paintings, as well as Chinese and Siberian burial rites dating back to 3000 B.C. Based on the evidence — especially the discovery that the human body is equipped with a cannabinoid system — it appears our relationship with cannabis goes back to the very dawn of the human species.
Historical remnants from all around the world also reveal the importance of cannabis in medicine and spirituality. For example, Taoist monks in ancient China burned cannabis as incense, and consumed it with ginseng — a combination thought to open your psychic centers, allowing you to see the future. Cannabis was also revered as sacred in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.
The marijuana plant contains more than 60 different cannabinoids; chemical compounds the human body is uniquely equipped to respond to. The two primary ones are cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the latter of which is the psychoactive component. Cannabinoids interact with your body by way of naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors embedded in cell membranes throughout your body.
There are cannabinoid receptors in your brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, immune system and more; the therapeutic (and psychoactive) properties of marijuana occur when a cannabinoid activates a cannabinoid receptor. Your body also has naturally occurring endocannabinoids similar to THC that stimulate your cannabinoid receptors and produce a variety of important physiologic processes.
So, your body is actually hard-wired to respond to cannabinoids through this unique cannabinoid receptor system. We still don’t know exactly how far its impact on your health reaches, but to date it’s known that cannabinoid receptors play an important role in many body processes, including metabolic regulation, pain, anxiety, bone growth and immune function.1
According to the featured video, the earliest written references to cannabis are found in the Chinese Materia Medica, said to be written by Shen Nung around 2800 B.C. The oldest known copy of this book dates back to 50 B.C. Nung is one of three “celestial emperors” revered in the Chinese culture. “Half emperor, half deity, he is said to have ruled over China long before written history,” Rice says.
Nung is credited with inventing agriculture — including the hoe, plow and irrigation — as well as acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Often depicted draped in leaves and chewing on various plants, Nung was the first pharmacologist, experimenting with and recording the health effects of plants. Nung documented around 100 different conditions that responded well to cannabis, including gout, rheumatism, malaria and absentmindedness.
Before Nung declared its medicinal attributes, the cannabis plant, called “ma” in Chinese, had been used for centuries in the production of textiles, paper, rope and pottery. Around 200 A.D., a Chinese physician named Hua Tuo performed the first surgery using an anesthetic — a formula called Ma Fei San, which translates to “cannabis boiling powder.”
For thousands of years, cannabis remained one of the 50 essential plants used in TCM. It was only removed from widespread use in recent times due to its controversial legal status. The film also reviews the history of cannabis in Indian culture. In the Vedas, the sacred text of India, cannabis (bhang) is listed as one of five sacred plants, and the Hindu god Shiva is referred to as “Lord of the bhang,” meaning the Lord of cannabis.
According to the Mahanirvana, “bhang is consumed in order to liberate oneself,” and liberation is the path to immortality. The ancient Egyptians, Persians and Greeks also used cannabis in a variety of ways, including medicinally and for spiritual upliftment. References to cannabis are even found in Islamic, Judaic and Christian texts, although an error in translation appears to have crept into the Bible along the way. The original Hebrew term “kaneh bosm,” or cannabis, is found several times in the Old Testament.
In Exodus, chapter 30, God instructs Moses on how to make a holy anointing oil: “Take for yourself choice spices: 500 shekels of pure myrrh, half as much fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of kaneh bosm and 500 shekels of cassia and mix these with olive oil.” In more modern Bibles, kaneh bosm has been translated as sweet calamus. The problem is this plant does not have the properties that the Bible ascribes to kaneh bosm.
According to the film, a 12th century painting found in a Sicilian basilica also “appears to show Jesus near a pot leaf.” The painting is titled “Jesus healing the blind.” Interestingly enough, “modern scientific studies have since proven that cannabis delays retinal degeneration,” Rice says.
In the U.S., the prohibition of marijuana began to turn in 1996 when California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. Since then, many others have followed. In 2012, Colorado and Washington state became the first states to legalize its recreational use. Today, the majority of Americans support cannabis either as a medicine, for recreational use, or both. Surveys show at least 4 in 10 Americans have tried marijuana, while nearly 60 percent support full legalization.
A 2013 survey found a majority of physicians — 76 percent — also approve of the use of medical marijuana.2 CNN’s chief medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta also made a highly publicized reversal on his marijuana stance after the production of his two-part series “Weed,” which aired in 2014.3
The American history of cannabis goes back to our Founding Fathers, who cultivated the plant for industrial purposes. George Washington, for example, is said to have grown more than 100 hemp plants at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.4 Cannabis is called hemp when being used for its fibers, which are extracted from the stem and constructed into rope, clothing and paper.
Hemp plants are low in tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) levels and therefore do not get you high. During the 17th century, hemp was viewed as an important cash crop. It was used for rope by navies around the world, and as a thick durable linen ideal for clothing and packaging heavy materials. Hemp seed oil was used in soaps, paints and varnishes.
The battle that has raged over marijuana is a long and arduous one. You can read a brief history of marijuana prohibition in the Huffington Post.5 Still, movements to legalize marijuana have persisted throughout, starting as early as 1973, when Oregon became the first state to decriminalize cannabis. The most successful movement to date, and the one that produced the first legal marijuana market in decades, is the medical marijuana movement.
Medical cannabis is now legal in 30 U.S. states,6,7 the majority of which allow limited use of medical marijuana under certain medical circumstances, although some limit medical cannabis to oils or pills only. Eight states have legalized it for recreational use.
As mentioned, your body makes its own cannabinoids, similar to those found in marijuana, but in much smaller amounts. These endocannabinoids appear to perform signaling operations similar to your body’s neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin. Cannabinoid receptors can be found on cell membranes throughout your body. In fact, scientists now believe they may represent the most widespread receptor system.8
The fact that your body is replete with cannabinoid receptors, key to so many biological functions, is why there’s such enormous medical potential for cannabis. Even though research has been limited by its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, its list of medicinal benefits is still quite long. For example, cannabis has been found useful in the treatment of:9,10,11,12,13
| Mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders and Tourette’s syndrome | Seizure disorders such as epilepsy |
| Pain (in one study,14 three puffs of marijuana a day for five days decreased chronic nerve pain) | Rheumatoid arthritis |
| Spasticity, dystonia and tremors | Heart disease |
| Multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune issues | Autism |
| Parkinson’s disease | Chronic fatigue syndrome |
| Cancer, including melanoma, leukemia and cancers of the brain, breast, prostate, lung, head and neck,15thyroid, colon and pituitary | Nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite16 |
| Insomnia | Glaucoma |
| HIV/AIDS | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |
| Crohn’s disease | Anorexia |
| Alzheimer’s disease (the U.S. government, through the Department of Health and Human Services, holds a patent on CBD as a neuroprotectant) | Hepatitis-C |
| Cachexia (wasting syndrome) | Asthma |
| Drug dependency and withdrawal | High blood pressure |
Among the most exciting research is that on cancer. Not only does cannabis help with the unpleasant side effects of traditional chemotherapy (including pain, nausea and insomnia), but the cannabis itself appears to be a natural chemotherapy agent.17
Researchers have found cannabis is pro-apoptotic, meaning it triggers cellular suicide of cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched, and anti-angiogenic, meaning it cuts off a tumor’s blood supply. Dozens of studies point to marijuana’s effectiveness against many different types of cancer. For example, Harvard researchers found THC cuts tumor growth in lung cancer while significantly reducing its ability to spread.18
Another area where cannabis offers great hope is in the treatment of pain. Overdoses from narcotic pain killers are now the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 50, and pharmaceuticals in general have for decades been among the leading causes of death in the U.S. According to Dr. Margaret Gedde, owner and founder of Gedde Whole Health and the Clinicians’ Institute of Cannabis Medicine, research clearly confirms that cannabis is safer and less toxic than many prescription drugs.
This includes liver and kidney toxicity, gastrointestinal damage, nerve damage and death. Moreover, cannabinoids often work when pharmaceutical drugs fail, so not only is cannabis safer but it’s typically more effective. Besides treating intractable seizures, one of the strongest areas of research regarding marijuana’s health benefits is pain control.
In 2010, the Center for Medical Cannabis Research released a report19 on 14 clinical studies about the use of marijuana for pain, most of which were FDA-approved, double-blind and placebo-controlled. The report revealed that marijuana not only controls pain but in many cases, it does so better than pharmaceutical alternatives.
If you compare opioids to marijuana, marijuana is unquestionably safer. Contrary to opioids, a cannabis overdose cannot kill you because there are no cannabinoid receptors in your brain stem, the region of your brain that controls your heartbeat and respiration.
What’s more, marijuana has been shown to ease withdrawal symptoms in those trying to wean off opioids, which are extremely addictive. In states where medical marijuana is legal, overdose deaths from opioids decreased by an average of 20 percent after one year, 25 percent after two years and up to 33 percent by years five and six.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the drug industry is now trying to turn CBD oil into a drug, and hence illegal for sale as a supplement.20 Showing promise for a wide range of ailments, the drug industry sees cannabis as major competition, and rightfully so. June 25, 2018, GW Pharmaceuticals became the first company to gain FDA approval for a CBD-based drug.21,22
The drug in question, Epidiolex, was approved for the treatment of intractable childhood epilepsy in children aged 2 and older. Another product called Sativex is also awaiting FDA approval. Sativex has already been approved in a number of other countries for the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients. In a June 25 statement,23 FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb stated:
“This product approval demonstrates that advancing sound scientific research to investigate ingredients derived from marijuana can lead to important therapies … This is an important medical advance. But it’s also important to note that this is not an approval of marijuana or all of its components. This is the approval of one specific CBD medication for a specific use. And it was based on well-controlled clinical trials evaluating the use of this compound in the treatment of a specific condition.
Moreover, this is a purified form of CBD. It’s being delivered to patients in a reliable dosage form and through a reproducible route of delivery to ensure that patients derive the anticipated benefits. This is how sound medical science is advanced. So today, in addition to celebrating this scientific achievement and the medical advance that it represents … we should also reflect on the path that made this possible.
It’s a path that’s available to other product developers who want to bring forth marijuana-derived products through appropriate drug development programs. That pathway includes a robust clinical development program, along with careful review through the FDA’s drug approval process. This is the most appropriate way to bring these treatments to patients. This process also includes a review of the purity of a new drug and manufacturing controls.”
As expected, with its approval of the first CBD drug, the FDA has increased its scrutiny of companies making CBD extracts. In November 2017, four Colorado businesses received FDA warning letters for making “illegally unsubstantiated health claims” on their CBD products.24 In a November 1 press release, the FDA said:25
“[T]he agency today issued warning letters to four companies illegally selling products online that claim to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure cancer without evidence to support these outcomes … The deceptive marketing of unproven treatments may keep some patients from accessing appropriate, recognized therapies to treat serious and even fatal diseases.
The FDA has grown increasingly concerned at the proliferation of products claiming to treat or cure serious diseases like cancer. In this case, the illegally sold products allegedly contain cannabidiol (CBD), a component of the marijuana plant that is not FDA approved in any drug product for any indication.”
The warning letters26 also rejected claims that CBD oil can be classified as dietary supplements since Investigational New Drug (IND) applications have been submitted for the CBD-containing drugs Sativex and Epidiolex. This suggests the agency is not just aiming to clean up the cannabis industry’s propensity to make illegal claims; it also raises concerns that the legality of all CBD products is in question now that at least one CBD-containing drug has been approved.
The FDA scrutiny is not entirely unwarranted, however. A November 2017 study27 in JAMA found only 30 percent of CBD extracts sold online accurately list the amounts of cannabinoids on the label. And, while CBD is very safe, accuracy is still of utmost importance.
The FDA and DEA will also use information like this to push CBD into pharma-only territory. The JAMA study used triplicate tests to analyze the cannabinoid content of 84 CBD products purchased online, along with a 10-point method validation procedure. A 10 percent plus or minus allowable variance was used, which is consistent with herbal product labeling in general in the U.S. According to the authors:
“Observed CBD concentration ranged between 0.10 mg/mL and 655.27 mg/mL (median, 9.45 mg/mL). Median labeled concentration was 15.00 mg/mL … With respect to CBD, 42.85 percent of products were underlabeled, 26.19 percent were overlabeled, and 30.95 percent were accurately labeled.
Accuracy of labeling depended on product type, with vaporization liquid most frequently mislabeled … and oil most frequently labeled accurately … Concentration of unlabeled cannabinoids was generally low; however, THC was detected (up to 6.43 mg/mL) in 18 of the 84 samples tested … Of tested products, 26 percent contained less CBD than labeled, which could negate any potential clinical response.
The overlabeling of CBD products in this study is similar in magnitude to levels that triggered warning letters to 14 businesses in 2015-2016 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (e.g., actual CBD content was negligible or less than 1 percent of the labeled content), suggesting that there is a continued need for federal and state regulatory agencies to take steps to ensure label accuracy of these consumer products.”
If you’re still on the fence when it comes to giving people the right to use medical marijuana, one of the best ways to still your fears is to look at the research, and look at what doctors are doing in clinical practice. To start, I recommend listening to my interviews with Geddeand Dr. Allan Frankel, in which they discuss many of the medical benefits of cannabis. Other helpful resources include:
| The International Association for Cannabis website, which maintains a Clinical Studies and Case Report page.28 |
| Cancer.gov,29 the U.S. government’s cancer website, contains research relating to the use of cannabis |
| PubMed30 is a searchable public resource containing a vast amount of medical literature, including studies involving cannabis |
| The Journal of Pain31 is a publication by the American Pain Society with a long list of studies on the pain-relieving effects of cannabis |
| National Institute on Drug Abuse32 provides information about preclinical and clinical trials underway to test marijuana and various extracts for the treatment of a number of diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease, inflammation, pain and mental disorders |
| ProCon.org lists 60 peer-reviewed studies on medical marijuana and cannabis extracts published between 1990 and 2014, listed by the condition treated33 |
http://www.cannabisreports.com
March 9, 2015
Cannabidiol (CBD) has been the focus of many medical cannabis studies, and continues to prove itself as a powerful anti-inflammatory drug. What makes CBD even more desirable for some patients is that it does not cause the psychoactive effects associated with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
An extremely interesting study (Overcoming the Bell-Shaped Dose-Response of Cannabidiol by using Cannabis Extract Enriched in Cannabidiol) was just published out of the Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology in Jerusalem. The study examines the effectiveness of administering isolated cannabinoid extracts (a CBD-only formula) versus whole plant extracts (which contain the full range of the plant’s cannabinoid content).
Cannabis Testing at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (source)
The Hadassah Medical School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sought to compare the effectiveness of a completely purified CBD extract versus a full-spectrum extract of cannabis flowers containing large quantities of CBD. The conclusion of the study was that the whole plant extract, which contained a large percentage of CBD but also contained traces of the other cannabinoids, proved far more effective than CBD-only solutions in alleviating inflammation and pain sensation. The study demonstrated that a whole plant extract, containing the entire range of cannabinoids present in raw cannabis, will continue to provide relief for inflammation as the dose is increased. When supplied as an isolated cannabinoid extract, CBD on its own yielded a bell-curve of effectiveness, which is not desirable for medical treatments seeking effective relief that corresponds with the dosage.
The purified CBD was acquired from THC Pharm. GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany) to act as the pharmaceutical grade isolated extract. For the whole plant extract, flowers from the clone 202 (proprietary strain: Avidekel) were supplied by the government-approved growers Tikun Olam Company. Bred to be rich in CBD, the raw flowers of this whole plant extract were ground up and cannabinoids were extracted using the solvent ethanol. The pure CBD extract and the full-spectrum extract were formulated for both injection and oral administration. The tests were performed on ethically-approved lab mice from Hadassah Medical School. In addition to a control group, the commercial drugs aspirin and tramadol were used on separate sets of mice to further compare the effectiveness of synthetic isolations versus whole plant extracts. The study was represented by 10-12 mice per treatment group, using known laboratory methods for measuring reductions in inflammation and pain sensation (described at length in the study). The results clearly show the medical benefit of extracting all the different compounds from the entirety of the raw cannabis flower, rather than extraction of a single cannabinoid.
Cannabis Testing on Mice (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The data graphs below compare isolated cannabidiol (CBD) against a full-spectrum cannabis extract (from a CBD-rich strain). In all of the tests, the isolated CBD was ineffective both before and after a certain dosage, while the effectiveness of the full-spectrum solution continued to increase as higher doses were administered. The results all indicate that CBD is only effective against swelling and pain at a certain dose, and that cannabis solutions containing a full range of cannabinoids will continue to provide corresponding effects as the dosage is increased.
Injections: The isolated CBD injection was moderately effective at 5 mg/kg, but became less effective when the dose was higher. The shape of the graph resembles a bell-curve, indicating that the CBD-only formula lost effectiveness after a certain dose. The results from the cannabis flower extract showed that the synergy between the cannabinoids yielded greater relief as the dosage was increased, which is desirable in medicine.
In 2017, some Americans could buy legal marijuana almost as easily as they could order a pizza. Pot shops outnumber Starbucks stores in states like Colorado and Oregon, and medical marijuana delivery services drop the drug off at people’s doors in California and Massachusetts.
With marijuana now more accessible – legally – than ever, more researchers are weighing in on its health effects. But that doesn’t mean we fully understand the plant or its impacts.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a massive report in January that gives one of the most comprehensive looks – and certainly the most up-to-date – at exactly what we know about the science of cannabis. The committee behind the report, representing top universities around the country, considered more than 10,000 studies for its analysis and drew nearly 100 conclusions. Many of those findings are summarized below.
David Ramos/GettyWithin a few minutes of inhaling marijuana, your heart rate can increase by between 20 and 50 beats a minute. This can last anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The report from the National Academies found insufficient evidence to support or refute the idea that cannabis might increase the overall risk of a heart attack. The same report, however, also found some limited evidence that smoking could be a trigger for a heart attack.
In August, a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology appeared to suggest that marijuana smokers face a threefold higher risk of dying from high blood pressure than people who have never smoked. But the study came with an important caveat: it defined a “marijuana user” as anyone who’d ever tried the drug.
Research suggests this is a poor assumption – and one that could have interfered with the study’s results. According to a recent survey, about 52% of Americans have tried cannabis at some point, yet only 14% used the drug at least once a month.
Other studies have come to the opposite conclusion. According to the Mayo Clinic, using cannabis could result in decreased – not increased – blood pressure.
People who smoke marijuana regularly are more likely to experience chronic bronchitis, according to the report from the National Academies. There’s also evidence that stopping smoking relieves these symptoms.
Perhaps surprisingly, the report’s authors found moderate evidence that cannabis was not connected to an increased risk of the lung cancers or head and neck cancers associated with smoking cigarettes.
Marijuana contains cannabidiol, or CBD, a chemical that is not responsible for getting you high but is thought to be responsible for many of marijuana’s therapeutic effects. Those benefits can include pain relief or potential treatment for certain kinds of childhood epilepsy.The report from the National Academies also found conclusive or substantial evidence – the most definitive levels – that cannabis can be an effective treatment for chronic pain, which could have to do with both CBD and THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Pain is “by far the most common” reason people request medical marijuana, according to the report.
Wikimedia CommonsIn September, a study published in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association seemed to suggest that marijuana might actually prevent people from graduating to “hard” drugs. The five-year-long study involved 125 participants, all of whom endured chronic pain.
Cannabis significantly reduced ratings of depression, anxiety, and stress.
Women reported larger reductions in anxiety as a function of cannabis than did men.
Low THC/high CBD cannabis was best for reducing perceived symptoms of depression.
High THC/high CBD cannabis was best for reducing perceived symptoms of stress.
Use of cannabis to treat depression appears to exacerbate depression over time.
Cannabis is commonly used to alleviate symptoms of negative affect. However, a paucity of research has examined the acute effects of cannabis on negative affect in everyday life. The current study provides a naturalistic account of perceived changes in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress as a function of dose and concentration of Δ9tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
Data from the app StrainprintTM (which provides medical cannabis users a means of tracking changes in symptoms as a function of different doses and chemotypes of cannabis) were analyzed using multilevel modeling. In total, 11,953 tracked sessions were analyzed (3,151 for depression, 5,085 for anxiety, and 3,717 for stress).
Medical cannabis users perceived a 50% reduction in depression and a 58% reduction in anxiety and stress following cannabis use. Two puffs were sufficient to reduce ratings of depression and anxiety, while 10+ puffs produced the greatest perceived reductions in stress. High CBD (>9.5%)/low THC (<5.5%) cannabis was associated with the largest changes in depression ratings, while high CBD (>11%)/high THC (>26.5%) cannabis produced the largest perceived changes in stress. No changes in the perceived efficacy of cannabis were detected across time. However, baseline symptoms of depression (but not anxiety or stress) appeared to be exacerbated across time/tracked sessions.
The primary limitations are the self-selected nature of the sample and the inability to control for expectancy effects.
Cannabis reduces perceived symptoms of negative affect in the short-term, but continued use may exacerbate baseline symptoms of depression over time.
Scientists are continuously discovering new ways that cannabis can benefit human health. Typically, researchers publish these discoveries in peer-reviewed journals. Yet, most cannabis research never makes its way into mainstream news. In the public eye, these studies go unnoticed.
Here are five examples of cannabis research that warrant our attention.
Opioids have recently received a fair share of scrutiny, and for a good reason. Thomas Gilson, the medical examiner for Cuyahoga County, Ohio, stated:
“If you look at how many people die in the country from opiate overdose, we’re looking at the same number of casualties as the entire Vietnam conflict.”
Could cannabis be a safer treatment for pain, without the high risk of overdose?
New cannabis research from Israel examined the safety of cannabis use among the elderly. The researchers administered cannabis treatment to 2,736 patients, with a median age of 74.5.
Research participants answered an initial questionnaire. During the study, two-thirds of the participants took cannabis for pain, and another 60.8% for cancer. After six months of cannabis treatment, the researchers administered another questionnaire.
Here are the findings, as published in February 2018 in the European Journal of Internal Medicine:
After six months of treatment, 93.7% of the respondents reported improvement in their condition and the reported pain level was reduced from a median of 8 on a scale of 0-10 to a median of 4. After six months, 18.1% stopped using opioid analgesics or reduced their does.
Our study finds that the therapeutic use of cannabis is safe and efficacious in the elderly population. Cannabis use may decrease the use of other prescription medicines, including opioids.
This research shows that cannabis has promise when it comes to offering an alternative to opioids.
We’ve all heard that drinking too much alcohol compromises liver health. Do the observed anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis also affect the development of liver disease?
A group of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School set out to “determine the effects of cannabis use on the incidence of liver disease in individuals who abuse alcohol.” In their study, they analyzed discharge records from the 2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project – Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS)
They studied four phases of liver disease in 319,000 patients, who had a past or current history of abusive alcohol use. The stages include: alcoholic steatosis (AS) or alcoholic fatty liver; steatohepatitis (AH) or non-alcoholic fatty liver; cirrhosis (AC); and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or essentially liver cancer.
Our study revealed that among alcohol users, individuals who additionally use cannabis (dependent and non-dependent cannabis use) showed significantly lower odds of developing AS, AH, AC and HCC. Further, dependent users had significantly lower odds than non-dependent users for developing liver disease.
Given these findings, one can’t help but wonder why alcohol is legal and cannabis isn’t.
One of the biggest anti-cannabis arguments is that it impairs our cognitive abilities. Yet, is cannabis really all that bad for the brain?
According to recent animal research published in May 2017, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has a beneficial influence on the aging brain. Researchers tested the learning, memory, orientation and recognition skills in laboratory animals. They found that 18-month-old mice given THC demonstrated cognitive skills equal to 2-month-old controls. On the other hand, the placebo group showed cognitive deterioration normal in their age group.
Neurobiologist Andreas Zimmer of the University of Bonn stated:
The treatment completely reversed the loss of performance in the old animals. We repeated these experiments many times. It’s a very robust and profound effect.” Even more remarkable, gene activity and the molecular profile in the brain tissue was that of much younger animals. Specifically, neurons in the hippocampus grew more synaptic spines — points of contact necessary for communication between neurons.
Rather than dulling or impairing cognition, THC appears to reverse the aging process and improve mental processes. This raises the possibility it might be useful for the treatment of dementia.
There is a plethora of anecdotal evidence that cannabinoids have helped patients slow down, control or even reverse cancer disease. Thus, many researchers have set out to understand the exact effect that cannabinoids have on cancer cells.
Specifically, much research surrounds the effects of THC and cannabidiol (CBD) cannabinoids, with many studies concluding that cannabis kills cancer cells.
For example, Dr. Christina Sanchez from the Complutense University of Madrid was involved in several studies that indicated THC is a cancer killer. One of her studies entailed the application of THC compounds to brain cancer cell cultures.
Sanchez and her team discovered that after being treated with THC, cancer cells were committing suicide. Sanchez explains why cannabis treatment is preferred over conventional treatments:
One of the advantages of cannabinoids, or cannabinoid based medicines, would be that they target a specifically, tumor cells. They don’t have any toxic effect on normal, non-tumoral cells. This is an advantage with respect to standard chemotherapy that target basically everything.
In another study, a synthetic form of THC called Dronabinol was just as effective. Researchers from University Hospital Tübingen in Germany evaluated the anti-leukemic efficacy of THC. They administered this cannabinoid to several types of leukemia cells ex vivo.
They published the following conclusion in BMC Cancer:
Our study provides rigorous data to support clinical evaluation of THC as a low-toxic therapy option in a well-defined subset of acute leukemia patients.
Mounting cannabis research indicates that cannabinoids may become the most promising cancer treatments yet available. Dr. Allen Herman, Chief Medical Officer at Cannabis Science, states:
Cannabis Science believes that cannabis extracts are critical instruments in cancer treatment and that we have an obligation to produce and make available the most effective and efficient cannabis products to our anti-cancer modalities.
There is some speculation that cannabis use may increase your risk of hypertension. But how much do we really know about the link between cardiovascular health and cannabis?
A group of researchers in California, Pennsylvania and New York evaluated 24 studies to see if they could identify a clear correlation. All the studies enrolled adults using some form of cannabis.
Some of the evaluated studies examined associations between cannabis use and vascular risk factors. These risk factors include hyperglycemia, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity. The remainder of the studies examined the link between cannabis use and outcomes such as stroke, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality.
In the end, the researchers concluded that all of the evaluated studies were insufficient in offering sound evidence.
Evidence examining the effect of marijuana on diabetes, dyslipidemia, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular and all-cause mortality was insufficient. Although the current literature includes several long-term prospective studies, they are limited by recall bias, inadequate exposure assessment, minimal marijuana exposure, and a predominance of low-risk cohorts.
The lack of mainstream reporting on cannabis research results from persistent opposition to the medical cannabis movement. Federal drug laws have stigmatized cannabis use, equating it to heroine and crack cocaine. As well, the mainstream medical industry aligns with the belief that cannabis is a dangerous drug. Therefore, it will take some time for the mainstream to recognize and publicize discoveries of the many health benefits of cannabis.
Regardless, it is important to remember that potential downsides to cannabis use do exist. As with all substances that affect the body, adverse effects may surface. With cannabis, for example, these effects include dizziness and increased anxiety. All the researchers involved in the studies mentioned herein have concluded that more cannabis research is imperative to fully understand the benefits and potential dangers of this plant.
Anna Hunt is writer, yoga instructor, mother of three, and lover of healthy food. She’s the founder of Awareness Junkie, an online community paving the way for better health and personal transformation. She’s also the co-editor at Waking Times, where she writes about optimal health and wellness. Anna spent 6 years in Costa Rica as a teacher of Hatha and therapeutic yoga. She now teaches at Asheville Yoga Center and is pursuing her Yoga Therapy certification. During her free time, you’ll find her on the mat or in the kitchen, creating new kid-friendly superfood recipes.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Waking Times or its staff.
Source: Big Pharma making moves to monopolize CBD oil market — Health & Wellness — Sott.net
The cannabinoids in cannabis – cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – interact with your body by way of naturally-occurring cannabinoid receptors embedded in cell membranes throughout your body. In fact, scientists now believe the endocannabinoid system may represent the most widespread receptor system in your body.1
There are cannabinoid receptors in your brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, immune system and more, and both the therapeutic and psychoactive properties of marijuana occur when a cannabinoid activates a cannabinoid receptor. Your body actually makes its own cannabinoids, similar to those found in marijuana, albeit in much smaller quantities than you get from the plant.
The fact that your body is replete with cannabinoid receptors, key to so many biological functions, is why there’s such enormous medical potential for cannabis. More often than not, medicinal marijuana is made from plants bred to have high CBD and low THC content. While THC has psychoactive activity that can make you feel “stoned,” CBD has no psychoactive properties.
That doesn’t mean THC is medicinally useless, however. It too has been found to have a number of medicinal benefits, although it does need to be balanced with CBD to lessen its psychoactive effects. For example, recent animal research2 suggests THC has a beneficial influence on the aging brain.3,4 Rather than dulling or impairing cognition, THC appears to reverse the aging process and improve mental processes, raising the possibility it might be useful for the treatment of dementia.5
Drug Company Vies for CBD Monopoly
As reported by Motherboard, the drug industry is now pushing for legislation that would make CBD oil illegal – by turning it into a drug.6 The article discusses a South Dakota Senate bill, SB 95, which would exempt CBD from the definition of cannabis, thereby transferring it from a Schedule I controlled substance to a Schedule IV substance. This would allow CBD products to be sold, legally, in South Dakota, where medicinal marijuana is currently not allowed.
This past summer, lobbyists for GW Pharmaceuticals and its U.S. subsidiary, Greenwich BioSciences, fought for an amendment to the bill that would have limited CBD rescheduling to products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – in other words, they wanted only CBD drugs to be legally obtainable.
“Not surprisingly, GW Pharmaceuticals has just such a drug in the pipeline. Epidiolex, a ‘proprietary oral solution of pure plant-derived cannabidiol,’ has already been given to epileptic children in the U.S. as part of a federal investigative study documented recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.” Motherboard writes. Epidiolex is currently under FDA review for approval.
“Since no other pharmaceutical company has a CBD drug anywhere close to market, and the wide range of CBD products already available in medical marijuana states lack FDA approval, if the bill had passed with that amendment intact, patients in South Dakota would have been subjected to a virtual CBD monopoly …
More ominously, The Great CBD Battle of South Dakota appears to be but the opening salvo in a nationwide war between GW Pharmaceuticals and traditional medical cannabis providers …
[U]nder the amendment, South Dakota would … ban myriad CBD products already available in many other states. Even though they cost far less than Epidiolex, and are potentially more effective for patients, since in addition to CBD those “full spectrum” cannabis extracts also contain small amounts of THC and other medicinal components of the plant.”
Study Confirms CBD Benefits for Drug-Resistant Seizures
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study7 published in The New England Journal of Medicine in May 2017 again confirmed what has long been known: that CBD offers relief for children with drug-resistant seizures, in this case patients diagnosed with Dravet syndrome, a “catastrophic early-onset encephalopathic epilepsy, with a high mortality rate.”
GW Pharmaceuticals funded the study and was responsible for the trial design. The company also supplied the CBD and placebo. The active treatment was an oral solution containing 100 milligrams (mg) of CBD per milliliter, given in addition to the child’s current antiseizure medication regimen. The placebo was identical to the treatment solution, but without CBD.
The dose was gradually increased over the course of 14 days, with a maximum dose of 20 mg per kilogram of body weight, taken twice a day. At the end of the treatment period, the CBD solution was tapered down over the course of 10 days, reducing the dosage by 10 percent each day. Following is a summary of the main findings:
Reported Side Effects
Interestingly, while medical cannabis is typically well-tolerated, with few side effects, a whopping 93 percent of children in the CBD group – as well as 75 percent of those in the placebo group – suffered adverse events in this trial.
Eighty-four percent of adverse events in the treatment group were deemed mild or moderate, and included vomiting, fatigue, fever, upper respiratory tract infection, decreased appetite, convulsions, lethargy, drowsiness and diarrhea. Eight patients in the treatment group withdrew from the study due to side effects.
Of course, these conventional investigators were clueless about the benefit of a ketogenic diet for the treatment of seizures, so that was something that was not evaluated in the study. This is unfortunate, as it would have radically decreased side effects and may even have been more effective than the CBD. According to the authors:
“Elevated levels of liver aminotransferase enzymes (alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase level >3 times the upper limit of the normal range) led to withdrawal from the trial of three patients in the cannabidiol group and one in the placebo group.
Overall, elevated aminotransferase levels occurred in 12 patients in the cannabidiol group and one in the placebo group. All these patients were taking a form of valproate [editor’s note: a type of medication used to treat epilepsy] … There were … no instances of suicidal ideation … There were no deaths.”
As mentioned earlier, full spectrum cannabis extracts will not be pure CBD, as they’re derived from the whole plant. And, as noted by CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, ” … [E]vidence is mounting that these compounds work better together than in isolation.”8
It’s possible that “pharmaceutical strength” CBD might be too pure, hence the high rate of side effects. Regardless, there’s a significant difference in cost between a CBD drug and natural CBD oil, which in and of itself is of great concern for many patients and their families who now worry Big Pharma is trying to take over the cannabis industry.
Monopoly in South Dakota Avoided, for Now
As noted by Motherboard, “parents with children suffering from Dravet’s syndrome and many other serious illnesses have been pushing for access to the “miracle drug” since 2013, when Gupta’s “Weed” documentary debuted on CNN.” The program featured a 6-year-old girl beset by some 300 grand mal seizures each week. A CBD-rich cannabis oil reduced her seizures by 99 percent.
Following the airing of “Weed,” hundreds of families moved to Colorado to obtain the herbal medication for their ailing child. Other positive media attention has also helped to loosen the stigma surrounding medical marijuana. In 1969, only 12 percent of Americans favored marijuana legalization. Today, a majority of Americans favor legalization: 53 percent favor legalizing marijuana across the board and 77 percent support legal medical use.9 Even the new surgeon general has cited data on how helpful medical cannabis can be.
Unfortunately, medical cannabis may just be “too good.” Showing promise for a wide range of ailments, the drug industry sees cannabis as major competition, and rightfully so. In South Dakota, a scaled-back amendment to SB 95 was ultimately signed into law. South Dakotans who want legal access to CBD will still have to wait until Epidiolex gains FDA approval, but GW Pharmaceuticals was not successful in limiting the down-scheduling of CBD to FDA approved CBD drugs only.
As a result, GW Pharmaceuticals will not have a monopoly on the market. Still, GW Pharmaceuticals has reportedly contracted lobbyists in several different states10 to fight for its cause, and their combined efforts may well delay implementation of cannabis reform that could improve access to medicinal marijuana. As noted by Melissa Mentele, chairperson of New Approach South Dakota, a cannabis reform group, who herself found relief from chronic pain when she started taking CBD-rich cannabis oil:
“Cannabis patients and caregivers have organized and fought for decades for the government to look at cannabis as a treatment option. Nobody did until hundreds of patients bravely shared their stories. So, we as a community have done the work for them, and now Big Pharma wants to swoop in and use an unfair monopoly and an inferior product to profit off the backs of catastrophically ill and dying people. It is disgusting.”
Indiana Cracks Down on CBD Products
In related news, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb recently announced CDB oil containing THC, regardless of the amount, will no longer be legal in the state, and has instructed local police to “perform normal, periodic regulatory spot checks of CBD oil products.” Retailers were given 60 days to sell out or remove such products from their stores.
According to Indy Star, “Most of the CBD products being sold in Indiana contain less than 0.3 percent THC, meaning they can’t produce a ‘high,'” adding that “Advocates of CBD oil say those products don’t have as many benefits as full spectrum CBD oil products.” At present, Indiana law only allows CBD products to be used by epileptic patients, who must register with the state’s CBD oil registry.
Republican state Sen. Jim Tomes has vowed to introduce legislation that would expand access to CBD oil under state law. According to Indy Star, “He’s received calls from people who’ve used the product to treat arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and mental illnesses.” Tomes told the paper, “I just don’t understand why is there such a resistance to allow people to get this product here? You can’t abuse it. It either works or it doesn’t.” The answer to Tomes’ question appears to be drug industry pressure. As reported by New Hope:11
“Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill Jr. appears to be relying on a discredited opinion from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency on the legality of the hemp-derived cannabinoid, which must come from industrial hemp that contains less than 0.3 percent THC (the high-inducing cannabinoid).
The Nov. 21 advisory opinion was issued from the state capital of Indianapolis, which also happens to be the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co., which is seeking fast-track approval from the FDA for its non-opioid painkiller drug, tanezumab.12
‘As a matter of legal interpretation, products or substances marketed for human consumption or ingestion, and containing cannabidiol, remain unlawful in Indiana, and under federal law,’ Hill wrote in his opinion. This conclusion does not apply to any product that is approved by the FDA.
There are currently two products that contain cannabidiol undergoing clinical trials; Epidiolex and Sativex. Simply put, cannabidiol is a Schedule I controlled substance because marijuana (Cannabis sativa) is a Schedule I controlled substance.'”
Legal Products Confiscated Amid Confusion
There’s plenty of confusion, however, as the attorney general’s opinion and Holcomb’s seizure instructions contradict a 2014 industrial hemp law that allows CBD products in Indiana as long as they contain less than 0.3 percent THC. The primary confusion appears to center around the fact that state law permits CBD as long as it is sourced from hemp and not marijuana.
In an effort to resolve the problem, the hemp industry, led by CV Sciences, has held educational meetings to explain the differences between marijuana and hemp-derived CBD products. The campaign resulted in Indiana state police issuing a statement saying that CBD products are in fact legal in Indiana as long as they’re sourced from hemp. All of this just goes to show that when it comes to cannabis and its derivatives, there’s plenty of confusion to go around, and it’s not always easy to determine the legal status of a given product in a given state.
FDA Issues Warning Letters to CBD Manufacturers
The FDA is also increasing its scrutiny of companies making CBD products. As reported by The Cannabist,13 four Colorado businesses have received FDA warning letters for making “illegally unsubstantiated health claims” on their CBD products. In a November 1 press release, the FDA said:14
“[T]he agency today issued warning letters to four companies illegally selling products online that claim to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure cancer without evidence to support these outcomes … The deceptive marketing of unproven treatments may keep some patients from accessing appropriate, recognized therapies to treat serious and even fatal diseases.
The FDA has grown increasingly concerned at the proliferation of products claiming to treat or cure serious diseases like cancer. In this case, the illegally sold products allegedly contain cannabidiol (CBD), a component of the marijuana plant that is not FDA approved in any drug product for any indication.”
The warning letters15 also rejected claims that CBD oil can be classified as dietary supplements, as Investigational New Drug (IND) applications have been submitted for the CBD-containing drugs Sativex and Epidiolex (both by GW Pharmaceuticals). This suggests the agency is not just aiming to clean up the cannabis industry’s propensity to make illegal claims; it also raises concerns that the legality of all CBD products is in question now that CBD-containing drugs await FDA approval.
Medical Marijuana Lowers Prescription Drug Use and Abuse
While CBD has now been reclassified to a Schedule IV substance in North Dakota by excluding it from the state’s definition of marijuana,16,17 it still remains a Schedule I (illegal) controlled substance in most other states. This is tragic, considering the evidence showing medical marijuana lowers prescription drug use. One wonders if perhaps that’s one of the reasons why it hasn’t been rescheduled across the nation.
There are no other truly compelling reasons why addictive narcotics like OxyContin are legal, while marijuana – which is extremely unlikely to kill you even if you take very high amounts – is not. The video above features W. David Bradford, Ph.D., whose study was published in the journal Health Affairs in July 2016.18 As reported by The Washington Post:19
“[R]esearchers at the University of Georgia scoured the database of all prescription drugs paid for under Medicare Part D from 2010 to 2013. They found that, in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in place by 2013, prescriptions for painkillers and other classes of drugs fell sharply compared with states that did not have a medical-marijuana law.
The drops were quite significant: In medical-marijuana states, the average doctor prescribed 265 fewer doses of antidepressants each year, 486 fewer doses of seizure medication, 541 fewer anti-nausea doses and 562 fewer doses of anti-anxiety medication. But most strikingly, the typical physician in a medical-marijuana state prescribed 1,826 fewer doses of painkillers in a given year.”
Legalizing Marijuana Could Save Medicare Hundreds of Millions Each Year
According to Bradford, the Medicare program could save $468 million per year if marijuana were legalized in all U.S. states.20,21 Already, $165 million was saved in 2013 in the 18 states where medical marijuana was legal that year. Similarly, a 2015 working paper by The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) states that:22
“If marijuana is used as a substitute for powerful and addictive pain relievers in medical marijuana states, a potential overlooked positive impact of medical marijuana laws may be a reduction in harms associated with opioid pain relievers, a far more addictive and potentially deadly substance.”
Not only did the NBER find that access to state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries resulted in a significant decrease in prescription painkiller overdose deaths, it also led to a 15 to 35 percent drop in substance abuse admissions. So, it would seem medical marijuana – far from being the deadly drug it’s been made out to be – could actually save thousands of lives that would otherwise be destroyed by painkiller addiction and its lethal consequences.
It’s a real travesty that the U.S. Senate is more than willing to shell out taxpayer money to Big Pharma for addictive painkillers and the drugs to treat addiction when a safe and effective answer to the pain and opioid epidemics lies right before our noses.
Both CBD and THC Are Far Safer Than Commonly Used Pain Killers
Polls show older Americans are becoming increasingly converted to marijuana use.23 Between 2006 and 2013, use among 50- to 64-year-olds rose by 60 percent. Among seniors over 65, use jumped by 250 percent.24 Pain and sleep are among the most commonly cited complaints for which medicinal marijuana is taken. Considering the high risk of lethal consequences of opioid painkillers and sleeping pills, medical marijuana is a godsend.
As noted by Dr. Margaret Gedde, an award-winning Stanford-trained pathologist and founder of Gedde Whole Health, there’s enough scientific data to compare the side effects of cannabis against the known toxicities of many drugs currently in use. This includes liver and kidney toxicity, gastrointestinal damage, nerve damage and, of course, death.
Cannabidiol has no toxicity and it’s virtually impossible to die from marijuana. It’s also self-limiting, as excessive doses of THC will provoke anxiety, paranoia and nausea. Such side effects will disappear as the drug dissipates from your system without resulting in permanent harm, but it’ll make you think twice about taking such a high dose again. Make the same mistake with an opioid, and chances are you’ll end up in the morgue.
Gedde also notes that cannabis products often work when other medications fail, so not only are they safer, they also tend to provide greater efficacy. In 2010, the Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR25) released a report26 on 14 clinical studies about the use of marijuana for pain, most of which were FDA-approved, double-blind and placebo-controlled. The report revealed that marijuana not only controls pain, but in many cases, it does so better than pharmaceutical alternatives.
Where to Find Reputable Information About Medical Cannabis, Its Uses and Benefits
While reputable information about cannabis can be hard to come by, it’s not impossible to find. One good source is cancer.gov.27,28 This is the U.S. government’s site on cancer. Simply enter “cannabis” into the search bar. You can also peruse the medical literature through PubMed,29 which is a public resource (again, simply enter “cannabis” or related terms into the search bar).
CMCR also provides a hyperlinked list30 of scientific publications relating to a wide variety of medicinal uses of cannabis, and the Journal of Pain,31 a publication by the American Pain Society, has a long list of studies on the pain-relieving effects of cannabis.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse,32 which also has information relating to the medicinal aspects of marijuana, preclinical and clinical trials are underway to test marijuana and various extracts for the treatment of a number of diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease, inflammation, pain and mental disorders.
To learn more, I also recommend listening to my previous interviews with Gedde and Dr. Allan Frankel, in which they discuss the clinical benefits of cannabis. Frankel is a board-certified internist in California who has treated patients with medical cannabis for the past decade. Awareness is starting to shift, and many are now starting to recognize the medical value of cannabis.
Unfortunately, that also means the drug industry is doing everything it can to secure its place in the market, and in so doing, eliminating the legal use of natural and far less expensive cannabis products. It’s up to us to make sure we stay involved in the political process whenever marijuana-related legislation is brought up. If we don’t, you can be sure the drug industry will become the only game in town.
Sources and References
It’s no secret that life today for most people is incredibly stressful, and where much of the population aren’t happy, aren’t sleeping very well and may even be suffering with extreme nervous system issues. Left untreated, all of this adds up to being a very concerning health problem that may have severe consequences to your quality of life.
Severe stress can literally kill you, as it causes damage to your heart, gut, brain and so forth. There is really no bodily system that does not become negatively affected by stress. The more stress you have, the worse it is for your health. Many of these issues are often treated with pharmaceutical drugs, but is this the safest option? What could these drugs be doing to people long term?
Could taking CBD oil regularly be a credible solution? What does the science say about this?
We love writing about the wonders of CBD oil here at Collective Evolution, and we have published many articles on what CBD oil can do for us. I’m sharing this with you today from both a personal point of view, and I also want to back up what has happened to me with scientific evidence.
Growing up, I personally had an enormous amount of stress. Like many, I didn’t have the ideal childhood, in that I had a very difficult relationship with my parents. While I am not going into details too much, I had sustained severe injuries to my nervous system from how I experienced my youth.
I also had a very unhealthy childhood from eating very bad foods, having many antibiotics, reactions to vaccines, and exposure to lead paint at an early age. It must be said that all of these toxins also affect our nervous systems and of course, general health too.
This has meant that my adrenals took an absolute beating over the years, with adrenaline and cortisol being activated far too often and my body was not able to calm down quickly. I was in a constant flight or fight stage for years. This also affected my mental state, which was very up and down for a long time, where I suffered severe depression and anxiety.
I know I am not alone in feeling like this, as childhood trauma is a huge problem today. I would say in a group of ten people, you’d have the overwhelming response of people saying ‘I’ve suffered childhood trauma too.’ I’d even go so far as to say it’s an epidemic of mammoth proportions, and one that does not get discussed openly enough.
Could regular use of CBD oil help our bodies have a better nervous system?
Sarah Best, nutritionist and writer, has this to say about CBD oil:
I work with two categories of people that CBD oil can really help. The first is highly sensitive women – 15-20% of the population, male and female, are highly sensitive and one thing this means is that they have an extra sensitive nervous system, which makes them extra prone to stress, anxiety and insomnia. CBD oil can be great for calming all that down. The other category are those who are recovering from the effects of an emotionally neglectful and/or abusive childhood. This is many more people than you’d think, and trauma disorders, anxiety and depression are common in this group. Again, CBD oil can really help thanks to its calming, balancing and antidepressant properties.”
If you are suffering from childhood trauma and stress that you feel the effects of today, I really hope that this article resonates with you and you consider trying this oil. At the bottom of this article is a Facebook group you can join for those suffering from childhood trauma.
While I have come a long way with healing the damage, at the age of 40, I still suffer from anger issues that have also been quite erratic. Again, I know I am not alone here because I hear from others that they feel the same way, especially new mothers, where they are getting too angry too often and it doesn’t feel like it’s a normal thing; something is out of ‘whack.’
I also see these anger issues play out online, with how people behave on social media, often resorting to hurling abuse at others, putting them down and writing really terrible things.
Balanced, healthy minded people do not act like this, as I am sure you may agree.
Anger comes from not being able to process emotions well when the body shoots out amounts of adrenaline and cortisol, so a person can often then explode, yelling at others and in worse cases, may even become violent towards others. Many people who are in jail today, may in fact be there from anger issues (stemming from childhood trauma) that simply got out of control. Their nervous systems were not stable and the severe imbalance led to their criminal act.
With so many teens who say they are very stressed and depressed today, the future for them could possibly be quite alarming if the way they are feeling is not dealt with better. The teens who do commit suicide, are not surprisingly, said to have a history of depression, anxiety, drug abuse or a behaviour problem. Those teens who suffer depression also have a 30% chance of developing a drug problem later in life.
Here are some concerning statistics I’d like to share with you:
If you know of any teens who are depressed, you might like to tell their parents to look into giving them CBD oil, but they might be more comforted in knowing that taking CBD oil is not the same as smoking it. The oil is non-addictive and does not make people behave as if they are on drugs.
This subject of depression and mood disorders, is such an urgent global matter, we really need people to feel calmer – which would then affect our earth so positively – but we need to get to this state without resorting to using drugs that really do not fix the problem.
If you suffer from low mood and feel depressed, you might like to see how you respond to CBD oil. A study showed that CBD has a fast acting antidepressant ability.
CBD Oil Calms The Nervous System Down
Do you feel like your nervous system is very poor and runs on high alert all the time? Until recently, I still found it very hard to calm my own nervous system down at times, after having stimulating things like coffee, too much raw chocolate and anything that was ‘exciting,’ for example, even hearing some really good news.
The first time I really saw the power of CBD oil was after I had not slept a wink the night after I had a very strong raw chocolate cake. By 2pm the next day, I felt awful, like I had too much jittery energy in my body and around my heart. A friend reminded me to take some CBD oil that I had in my cupboard and the result was quite mind blowing. Within just ten minutes, my entire mind and body had calmed down, and all of the jittery feeling went totally away. It felt truly incredible to see it happen that fast.
If you have also had years of stress, or suffered from a very serious traumatic event, this may literally have reprogrammed your body to be in a constant fight or flight stage. If you don’t do anything about it, then it may mean you could be more predisposed to an early heart attack, or even stroke. Our bodies need to work in a healthy balance.
Now that CBD oil is legal in some countries (and states) across the world, I’ve personally been trying CBD oil for the last few months and have found that the effects are quite profound, as have others I know, and I am excited to share them with you.
Cannabinoids (the chemical component of cannabis) are proven to activate certain receptors found throughout our bodies, which produce pharmalogic effects, especially that of the central nervous system and the immune system. You might be fascinated to know that there are natural cannabinoids found in human breast milk.
The endocannabinoid system found in humans is said to affect many varieties of physiologic processes. These include pain sense, memory, appetite, food intake, energy balance and motor control.
Click here to learn more about the endocannabinoid system or watch the video below
Source: Rub It On: 4 Conditions That May Be Helped With Topicals From the CBD in Pot | Alternet
CBD Hemp ointment
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Medical marijuana. You can smoke it, you can eat it, you can vape it, you can infuse it. And you can rub it on.
With the medical and legal marijuana markets coming out of the shadows, we are seeing a rapid expansion of marijuana product lines. One of the most promising is topicals, such as balms, lotions, oil, and salves. Topicals laden with cannabidiol (CBD), the molecule that puts the medical in medical marijuana, are proving to be useful for a number of syndromes and conditions.
While research on the efficacy of CBD-based topicals is in its infancy, here, with a tip of the hat to High Times, are four areas where the science is beginning to demonstrate that topicals can help:
1. Acne
Got zits? CBD topicals may help. A 2014 study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggested that CBD could help with treating acne abrasions: “Collectively, our findings suggest that, due to the combined lipostatic, anti-proliferative, and anti-inflammatory effects, CBD has potential as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of acne vulgaris,” the study concluded.
2. Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
A 2008 study published in the Journal of Natural Products found that THC and CBD successfully killed tough strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as MRSA, in laboratory experiments.
“Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) has long been known to contain antibacterial cannabinoids, whose potential to address antibiotic resistance has not yet been investigated,” the authors noted. Their successful results using cannabinoids against a variety of MRSA strains suggest “a specific, but yet elusive, mechanism of activity” and warrant further investigation.
3. Arthritis
There could be relief for joint pain sufferers through CBD topicals, too. An Israeli study found that most patients reported reduced pain and increased function, and fully 90% of them stayed on their medication regime.
And a 2013 study from researchers at the University of Nottingham found that CBD products targeting cannabinoid receptors may help bring relief for knee joint pain associated with osteoarthritis.
Research on medical marijuana for arthritis continues, although in a Canadian study, the CAPRI Trial (Cannabinoid Profile Investigation of Vaporized Cannabis in Patients with Osteoarthritis of the Knee), researchers are examining vaporized marijuana, not topicals. But CBD topicals are already well-known for their anti-inflammatory properties, and more research is likely to cement their reputation as highly effective in this regard.
4. Open Wounds
Topical CBD may help in treating open wounds. A study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management noted that: “Anecdotal accounts of the use of topical extracts from the cannabis plant being used on open wounds date back to antiquity. In modern times, cannabinoid therapies have demonstrated efficacy as analgesic agents in both pharmaceutical and botanical formats.”
The study suggested that it was the combination of CBD and terpenes, the aromatic organic compounds that give marijuana its odor, that make marijuana efficacious in soothing skin abrasions.
Warning: Some topicals may contain grain alcohol or other solvents and would not be appropriate for broken or irritated skin. Look instead for topicals that have organic coconut oil or almond oil bases.
Source: Why Cannabis Can Help Even with Difficult Diseases Like Parkinson’s | Alternet
Researchers use brain patterns to measure placebo effects in Parkinson’s disease patients
Photo Credit: PsyPost/Creative Commons
Highlights:
Scientists at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky have identified a previously unknown molecular target of cannabidiol (CBD), which may have significant therapeutic implications for Parkinson’s Disease (PD).
A poster by Zhao-Hui Song and Alyssa S. Laun at the 2017 meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society in Montreal disclosed that CBD activates a G-coupled protein receptor called “GPR6” that is highly expressed in the basal ganglia region of the brain. GPR6 is considered an “orphan receptor” because researchers have yet to find the primary endogenous compound that binds to this receptor.(1)
It has been shown that a depletion of GPR6 causes an increase of dopamine, a critical neurotransmitter, in the brain. This finding suggests GPR6 could have a role in the treatment of Parkinson’s, a chronic, neurodegenerative disease that entails the progressive loss of dopaminergic (dopamine-producing) neurons and consequent impairment of motor control. By acting as an “inverse agonist” at the GPR6receptor, CBD boosts dopamine levels in preclinical studies.
Parkinson’s affects an estimated 10 million people worldwide, including one million Americans. It is the second most common neurological disorder (after Alzheimer’s Disease). Over 96 percent of those diagnosed with PD are over 50 years old with men being one-and-a-half times more likely to have PD than women. Uncontrolled PD significantly reduces the patient’s quality of life and can render a person unable to care for themselves, trapped in a body they cannot control.
Dopamine depletion
Parkinson’s Disease is most associated with compromised motor function after the loss of 60-80% of dopamine-producing neurons. As dopaminergic neurons become damaged or die and the brain is less able to produce adequate amounts of dopamine, patients may experience any one or combination of these classic PD motor symptoms: tremor of the hands, arms, legs or jaw; muscle rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; slowness of movement (bradykinesia); and /or impaired balance and coordination (postural instability).
Additional symptoms include decreased facial expressions, dementia or confusion, fatigue, sleep disturbances, depression, constipation, cognitive changes, fear, anxiety, and urinary problems. Pesticide exposure and traumatic brain injury are linked to increased risk for PD. Paraquat, an herbicide sprayed by the DEA in anti-marijuana defoliant operations in the United States and other countries, resembles a toxicant MPTP [methyl-phenyl-tetrahydropyridien], which is used to simulate animal models of Parkinson’s for research purposes.(2)
Within the PD brain there are an inordinate number of Lewy bodies – intracellular aggregates of difficult to break down protein clusters – that cause dysfunction and demise of neurons.(3) This pathological process results in difficulties with thinking, movement, mood and behavior. The excessive presence of Lewy bodies, coupled with the deterioration of dopaminergic neurons, are considered to be hallmarks of Parkinson’s. But mounting evidence suggests that these aberrations are actually advanced-stage manifestations of a slowly evolving pathology.
It appears that non-motor symptoms occur for years before the disease progresses to the brain, and that PD is actually a multi-system disorder, not just a neurological ailment, which develops over a long period of time. According to the National Parkinson’s Foundation, motor symptoms of PD only begin to manifest when most of the brain’s dopamine-producing cells are already damaged.
Patients whose PD is diagnosed at an early stage have a better chance of slowing disease progression. The most common approach to treating PD is with oral intake of L-dopa, the chemical precursor to dopamine. But in some patients, long-term use of L-dopa will exacerbate PD symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no cure – yet.
Gut-brain axis
What causes Parkinson’s? One theory that is gaining favor among medical scientists traces the earliest signs of PD to the enteric nervous system (the gut), the medulla (the brainstem), and the olfactory bulb in the brain, which controls one’s sense of smell. New research shows that the quality of bacteria in the gut – the microbiome – is strongly implicated in the advancement of Parkinson’s, the severity of symptoms, and related mitochondrial dysfunction.
Defined as “the collection of all the microorganisms living in association with the human body,” the microbiome consists of “a variety of microorganisms including eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria and viruses.” Bacteria, both good and bad, influence mood, gut motility, and brain health. There is a strong connection between the microbiome and the endocannabinoid system: Gut microbiota modulate intestinal endocannabinoid tone, and endocannabinoid signaling mediates communication between the central and the enteric nervous systems, which comprise the gut-brain axis.
Viewed as “the second brain,” the enteric nervous system consists of a mesh-like web of neurons that covers the lining of the digestive tract – from mouth to anus and everything in between. The enteric nervous system generates neurotransmitters and nutrients, sends signals to the brain, and regulates gastrointestinal activity. It also plays a major role in inflammation.
The mix of microorganisms that inhabit the gut and the integrity of the gut lining are fundamental to overall health and the ability of the gut-brain axis to function properly. If the lining of the gut is weak or unhealthy, it becomes more permeable and allows things to get into the blood supply that should not be there, negatively impacting the immune system. This is referred to as “leaky gut.” Factor in an overgrowth of harmful bacteria and a paucity of beneficial bacteria and you have a recipe for a health disaster.
The importance of a beneficial bacteria in the gut and a well-balanced microbiome cannot be overstated. Bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, for example, has been associated with worsening PD motor function. In a 2017 article in the European Journal of Pharmacology, titled “The gut-brain axis in Parkinson’s disease: Possibilities for food-based therapies,” Peres-Pardo et al examine the interplay between gut dysbiosis and Parkinson’s. The authors note that “PD pathogenesis may be caused or exacerbated by dysbiotic microbiota-induced inflammatory responses … in the intestine and the brain.”(4)
Mitochondria, microbiota and marijuana
The microbiome also plays an important role in the health of our mitochondria, which are present in every cell in the brain and body (except red blood cells). Mitochondria function not only as the cell’s power plant; they also are involved in regulating cell repair and cell death. Dysfunction of the mitochondria, resulting in high levels of oxidative stress, is intrinsic to PD neurodegeneration. Microbes produce inflammatory chemicals in the gut that seep into the bloodstream and damage mitochondria, contributing to disease pathogenesis not only in PD but many neurological and metabolic disorders, including obesity, type-2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
The evidence that gut dysbiosis can foster the development of PD raises the possibility that those with the disease could benefit by manipulating their intestinal bacteria and improving their microbiome. Enhancing one’s diet with fermented foods and probiotic supplements may improve gut health and relieve constipation, while also reducing anxiety, depression and memory problems that afflict PD patients.
Cannabis therapeutics may also help to manage PD symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. Acclaimed neurologist Sir William Gowers was the first to mention cannabis as a treatment for tremors in 1888. In his Manual of Diseases of the Nervous System, Grower noted that oral consumption of an “Indian hemp” extract quieted tremors temporarily, and after a year of chronic use the patient’s tremors nearly ceased.
Modern scientific research supports the notion that cannabis could be beneficial in reducing inflammation and assuaging symptoms of PD, as well as mitigating disease progression to a degree. Federally-funded preclinical probes have documented the robust antioxidant and neuroprotective properties of CBD and THC with “particular application … in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.” Published in 1998, these findings formed the basis of a U.S. government patent on cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants.
Pot for Parkinson’s
Although clinical studies focusing specifically on the use of plant cannabinoids to treat PD are limited (because of marijuana prohibition) and convey conflicting results, in aggregate they provide insight into how cannabis may aid those with Parkinson’s. Cannabidiol, THC, and especially THCV all showed sufficient therapeutic promise for PD in preclinical studies to warrant further investigation. Additional research might shed light on which plant cannabinoids, or combination thereof, is most appropriate for different stages of Parkinson’s.
Anecdotal accounts from PD patients using artisanal cannabis preparations indicate that cannabinoid acids (present in unheated whole plant cannabis products) may reduce PD tremor and other motor symptoms. Raw cannabinoid acids (such as CBDA and THCA) are the chemical precursors to neutral, “activated” cannabinoids (CBD, THC). Cannabinoid acids become neutral cannabinoid compounds through a process called decarboxylation, where they lose their carboxyl group through aging or heat. Minimal research has focused on cannabinoid acids, but the evidence thus far suggests that THCA and CBDA have powerful therapeutic attributes, including anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea, anti-cancer, and anti-seizure properties. In a 2004 survey of cannabis use among patients at the Prague Movement Disorder Centre in the Czech Republic, 45 percent of respondents reported improvement in PD motor symptoms.
Cannabis clinicians are finding that dosage regimens for medical marijuana patients with PD don’t conform to a one-size-fits-all approach. In her book Cannabis Revealed (2016), Dr. Bonni Goldstein discussed how varied a PD patient’s response to cannabis and cannabis therapeutics can be:
“A number of my patients with PD have reported the benefits of using different methods of delivery and different cannabinoid profiles. Some patients have found relief of tremors with inhaled THC and other have not. A few patients have found relief with high doses of CBD-rich cannabis taken sublingually. Some patients are using a combination of CBD and THC … Trial and error is needed to find what cannabinoid profile and method will work best. Starting a low-dose and titrating up is recommended, particularly with THC-rich cannabis. Unfortunately, THCV-rich varieties are not readily available.”
Juan Sanchez-Ramos M.D., PhD, a leader in the field of movement disorders and the Medical Director for the Parkinson Research Foundation, told Project CBD that he encourages his patients to begin with a 1:1 THC:CBD ratio product if they can get it. In a book chapter on “Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Movement Disorders,” he and coauthor Briony Catlow, PhD, describe the dosage protocol used for various research studies that provided statistically positive results and a dosing baseline for PD. This data was included in a summary of dosing regimens from various studies compiled by Dr. Ethan Russo:
A threshold dose
Of course, each patient is different, and cannabis therapeutics is personalized medicine. Generally speaking, an optimal therapeutic combination will include a synergistic mix of varying amounts of CBDand THC – although PD patients with sleep disturbances may benefit from a higher THC ratio at night.
Dr. Russo offers cogent advice for patients with PD and other chronic conditions who are considering cannabis therapy. “In general,” he suggests, “2.5 mg of THC is a threshold dose for most patients without prior tolerance to its effects, while 5 mg is a dose that may be clinically effective at a single administration and is generally acceptable, and 10 mg is a prominent dose, that may be too high for naïve and even some experienced subjects. These figures may be revised upward slightly if the preparation contains significant CBD content … It is always advisable to start at a very low dose and titrate upwards slowly.”
For information about nutritional supplementation to help manage PD, visit the Life Extension Foundation Parkinson’s page.
Lifestyle Modifications for PD Patients
It is important to treat the patient as a whole – mind, body and soul. The following are a few lifestyle modifications that may provide relief from PD symptoms and improve quality of life.
Sources
(1) An inverse agonist binds directly to a receptor and modifies it in a way that causes the receptor to have the opposite effects of activating it normally.
(2) MPTP was found in an underground meperidine (Demerol) synthesis that caused a small epidemic of Parkinson syndrome in i.v. drug abusers in the San Francisco area in the mid-1980s.
The presence of Lewy bodies (a-synuclein protein clusters) in other parts of the body could potentially serve as an early detection marker for PD, especially in the olfactory bulb and the enteric nervous system.
(4) Peres-Prado et al analyzed gut microbiota in PD patients compared to controls and found the following:
Source: Omega-3 Fatty Acids Fight Inflammation via Cannabinoids – Neuroscience News
Summary: A new study in PNAS reveals how the body converts omega 3 fatty acids into endocannabinoids, which can have anti-inflammatory effects.
Source: University of Illinois.
Chemical compounds called cannabinoids are found in marijuana and also are produced naturally in the body from omega-3 fatty acids. A well-known cannabinoid in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, is responsible for some of its euphoric effects, but it also has anti-inflammatory benefits. A new study in animal tissue reveals the cascade of chemical reactions that convert omega-3 fatty acids into cannabinoids that have anti-inflammatory benefits – but without the psychotropic high.
The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Foods such as meat, eggs, fish and nuts contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which the body converts into endocannabinoids – cannabinoids that the body produces naturally, said Aditi Das, a University of Illinois professor of comparative biosciences and biochemistry, who led the study. Cannabinoids in marijuana and endocannabinoids produced in the body can support the body’s immune system and therefore are attractive targets for the development of anti-inflammatory therapeutics, she said.
In 1964, the Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam was the first to discover and isolate THC from marijuana. To test whether he had found the compound that produces euphoria, he dosed cake slices with 10 milligrams of pure THC and gave them to willing friends at a party. Their reactions, from nonstop laughter, to lethargy, to talkativeness, confirmed that THC was a psychotropic cannabinoid.
Foods such as meat, eggs, fish and nuts contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which the body converts into endocannabinoids. NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only.
It wasn’t until 1992 that researchers discovered endocannabinoids produced naturally in the body. Since then, several other endocannabinoids have been identified, but not all have known functions.
Cannabinoids bind to two types of cannabinoid receptors in the body – one that is found predominantly in the nervous system and one in the immune system, Das said.
“Some cannabinoids, such as THC in marijuana or endocannabinoids can bind to these receptors and elicit anti-inflammatory and anti-pain action,” she said.
“Our team discovered an enzymatic pathway that converts omega-3-derived endocannabinoids into more potent anti-inflammatory molecules that predominantly bind to the receptors found in the immune system,” Das said. “This finding demonstrates how omega-3 fatty acids can produce some of the same medicinal qualities as marijuana, but without a psychotropic effect.”
The study was an interdisciplinary effort led by recent comparative biosciences alumnus Daniel McDougle and supported by current biochemistry graduate student Josephine Watson. The team included U. of I. animal sciences professor Rodney Johnson; U. of I. bioengineering professor Kristopher Kilian; Michael Holinstat, of the University of Michigan; and Lucas Li, the director of the Metabolomics Center at the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center at Illinois.
Das also is an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at Illinois.
Funding: The National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association supported this research.
Source: Aditi Das – University of Illinois
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “Anti-inflammatory ω-3 endocannabinoid epoxides” by Daniel R. McDougle, Josephine E. Watson, Amr A. Abdeen, Reheman Adili, Megan P. Caputo, John E. Krapf, Rodney W. Johnson, Kristopher A. Kilian, Michael Holinstat, and Aditi Das in PNAS. Published online July 7 2017 doi:10.1073/pnas.1610325114
Source: Study Proves Cannabis To Be A Promising Treatment For Asthma – True Activist
Evidence demonstrates that THC in cannabis reduces the bronchial inflammation associated with asthma.
Credit: Pixabay
Contrary to popular belief, cannabinoids increase airflow to the lungs and prevent them from constricting. This could be especially helpful for asthma. A study published in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics shows that cannabinoids THC and THC-V work as a bronchodilator.
The research, guided by Raj Makwana from King´s College London in England, analyzed the effects of six cannabinoids — THC, CBD, CBG, CBC, CBD-A and THC-V — in anesthetized guinea pigs. The analysis showed that only THC and THC-V inhibited the bronchoconstriction, THC being the most effective.
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH) asthma “is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways.” Asthma can be present in people of all ages but is more commonly diagnosed in children. As reported by the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), this chronic disease has been estimated to affect 300 million people worldwide and is attributed to up to 250,000 deaths every year.
Credit: Omega Centauri
Bronchoconstriction is one of the main problems that patients suffering from asthma develop. During an asthma attack, the bronchioles become constricted, and little or no air is able to flow to the lungs.
Dr. Rachel Knox, current Medical Chair of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, spoke in an interview with Green Flower about the efficiency of cannabis. “THC is actually a very potent bronchodilator and that’s exactly what we need when we’re treating asthma. When we are suffering from an asthma attack, those bronchioles are squeezing on themselves, making it very hard to breathe. Well, enter THC. It opens those bronchioles right up and we can breathe better.”
Naturally, asthma patients tend to avoid smoking any substance. However, given that cannabis has been proven to help treat this disease, patients should seek the safest and most suitable method of consumption.
According to Dr. Dustin Sulak, a medical cannabis physician, one of the best methods is vaporization, because it provides more temperature control. Dr. Sulak also explains that one well-performed inhalation every day can reduce the constriction and expand the lungs respiratory capacity. Asthma patients should talk to a licensed doctor familiar with the benefits of marijuana for asthma.
Source: Rick Simpson: Cure Cancer With Cannabis THC, Not CBD | Humans Are Free
With permission from
humansarefree.com
June 5, 2017
The big wave in conservative communities in cannabis is CBD oil. It doesn’t cause the “high” of THC, which so many people seem to have a problem with.
But CBD only helps with a few conditions. THC is the true healer. Compared to the side effects of most pharmaceuticals, feeling good is a benefit, not a drawback.
For many, it is this controversial cannabinoid that holds the key to healing.
Rick Simpson on clearing the air
Cannabis.net sat down with Rick Simpson recently to talk about his life, his mission to help people, and his amazing cannabis oil.
People are under the misconception that I live in the US and all of this, and I can’t even travel into the US.
The Canadian government gave me a criminal record for saving people’s lives and that prohibits me from even traveling into the United States. So, I haven’t been in the US since.
On the miracle of cannabis
The simple truth is the American government or nobody anywhere ever had the right to outlaw this plant’s use in the first place.
We used it for thousands of years all through history. It was basically man’s best fiend.
But the big money didn’t want it that way, the same big money that controls our governments in the shadows, they wanted [to] sell their own.
Do the things their own way so they could make big profits, so the first thing you do, prohibit cannabis.
Cannabis doesn’t present a danger to the public, but it does present a great danger to these big money types.
THC vs CBD and his own oils
Well, the cannabis oils that I produced were all from the indica strains, they heavy sedative indica strains, and the more powerful the better…
Now, my oils or the extracts that I produced did contain a certain amount of CBD, there’s no question, maybe 2%, maybe even up to 6%, but the THC levels in the oils that I produced were very very high.
So, and if you look at things, like the American Cancer Institute itself openly admits right on their own webpages, that THC is very effective in the treatment of several different forms of cancer.
It’s like I said, I don’t say that CBD doesn’t have it’s benefits, but I’ll tell you one thing brother, if you’ve got cancer, you better be looking for THC.
Having a small CBD content could be beneficial, no question, but it’s the THC that to me it’s the main cancer killer.
Cannabis.net
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By Christopher Teague, Guest author
Bill Hicks: Marijuana should not only be legal, it should be mandatory!
Source: Study Finds Cannabis Reverses Aging Processes in the Brain : Waking Times
Alex Pietrowski, Staff Writer
May 8, 2017
The movement to free up the weed is growing, thanks in large part to an ever-growing body of scientific research disproving the U.S. government’s assertion that cannabis has no medical value. Research has proven that medical cannabis has a positive effect in the prevention and treatment of cancer, as well as having a clear benefit for seizure patients.
The benefits of cannabis on the human brain are still being outlined by medical research, and in a recent study, scientists at the University of Bonn concluded that it can help reverse the aging process in the brain.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, who has ‘extensive research experience in the fields of aging, cancer, nutrition.’ Her research and work is largely devoted to nutrition rather than the study of cannabis specifically, offering an impartial look at the health benefits of cannabis.
“Low dose THC from cannabis reverses the aging process in the brain. 12-and 18-month old mice that were given a low dose of THC daily for 4 weeks performed as well as 2-month old control mice on learning and memory tests. The THC treatment completely reversed the loss of performance in the old animals.
The mechanism is still unclear. Other studies have found that THC helps clear away amyloid beta plaques from the brain. Additionally, cannabinoids bind to specific receptors called cannabinoid receptors in neurons as well as on immune cells. It is possible that there are multiple mechanisms at play.” [Source]
The study examined the effects of THC on certain mice, noting that aging mice saw a return the brain function of their much younger counterparts:
“This was shown in mice by scientists at the University of Bonn with their colleagues at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel). Old animals were able to regress to the state of two-month-old mice with a prolonged low-dose treatment with a cannabis active ingredient.” [Source]
Speaking to the significance of this finding, Eureka Alert makes the following comment:
“Like any other organ, our brain ages. As a result, cognitive ability also decreases with increasing age. This can be noticed, for instance, in that it becomes more difficult to learn new things or devote attention to several things at the same time. This process is normal, but can also promote dementia. Researchers have long been looking for ways to slow down or even reverse this process.” [Source]
Regarding the outcome of this study, Professor Andreas Zimmer from the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the University of Bonn remarked that, “the treatment completely reversed the loss of performance in the old animals.” And while there is certainly a gap to bridge between mice and humans, the study offers promise in the future development of dementia treatments, a discovery that some in this field find rather exciting.
“The promotion of knowledge-led research is indispensable, as it is the breeding ground for all matters relating to application. Although there is a long path from mice to humans, I feel extremely positive about the prospect that THC could be used to treat dementia, for instance.” ~Svenja Schulze, Science Minister at The North Rhine-Westphalia
Any new research into this natural, non-chemical, and easy to grow plant medicine ultimately contributes to the case against the U.S. DEA’s classification of cannabis as a schedule I drug. The politics of the destructive war on drugs are deeply out of date, as this study and so many more have demonstrated in recent years.
Alex Pietrowski is an artist and writer concerned with preserving good health and the basic freedom to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com and Offgrid Outpost, a provider of storable food and emergency kits. Alex is an avid student of Yoga and life.
Tales from the Conspiratum 
