An oral administration syringe loaded with CBD hemp oil for treating a severely-ill child is shown at a home in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2014. (Brennan Linsley/The Associated Press)
Cannabidiol, or CBD oil, is promoted for a wide range of medical conditions. Recently, a review for doctors weighed the science behind the claims.
The Clinicians’ Guide to Cannabidiol and Hemp Oils was published earlier this month in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
CBD is a compound found in the cannabis plant. It is not intoxicating, Health Canada said.
As of October 2018, the sale of dried cannabis, fresh cannabis, cannabis oil, cannabis plants and cannabis seeds are permitted under the the Cannabis Act.
As consumer interest in CBD grows ahead of the Oct. 17 legalization of cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals, here’s a primer to answer common questions about its health claims for seizures, pain and other conditions.
What is CBD approved to treat?
Epidiolex, a purified form of plant-based CBD, is the only CBD-related treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is used to treat severe forms of epilepsy. Epidiolex isn’t listed in Health Canada’s database of medications approved for use in this country.
Health Canada assigns a drug identification number (DIN) to all drug products evaluated and authorized for sale in this country. To qualify, a drug manufacturer needs to provide information including dosing, strength and how it’s taken.
“Currently, there are two cannabis-related drugs that have a DIN and are authorized for sale in Canada,” a spokesperson for Health Canada said in an email.
Nabilone, a synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, product is approved to treat nausea. THC is the main psychoactive component in cannabis that gives users a high.
The other drug with a DIN is Sativex, which is manufactured from whole botanical extracts and contains THC and CBD, according to Health Canada. Sativex is added to treatments aimed at relieving spasticity in adults with multiple sclerosis. Spasticity is a muscle-control disorder.
No CBD-specific product has a DIN.
As well, no other “cannabis-related drug (including fresh or dried marijuana or cannabis oil) has been approved to be marketed as a drug for therapeutic use and sale in Canada,” Health Canada said.
What is CBD commonly used for?
There are anecdotal reports from users of CBD helping with certain types of pain, such as nerve-related back pain.
“Chronic pain management continues to challenge patients and physicians alike, and investigation into potential therapies such as CBD and hemp oils is a promising area for the future of clinical pain management for both pain relief as well as addiction management,” Dr. Karen Mauck, an internist at Mayo Clinic, and her co-authors wrote.
Dr. Hance Clarke, director of pain services at Toronto General Hospital who wasn’t involved in the U.S. paper, said he starts by asking patients what symptoms they want to use CBD to treat.
It’s one of the first times in Canadian history where a medication has made it to the population without the science actually leading us there.– Dr. Hance Clarke, director of pain services at Toronto General Hospital
“The evidence has not caught up to the story that’s in the public,” Clarke said. “It’s tricky. It’s one of the first times in Canadian history where a medication has made it to the population without the science actually leading us there.”
The world is looking to Canada for answers on CBD, said Dr. Hance Clarke. (University Health Network)
Physicians need to work with patients to figure out what people are using, the levels in their body and what’s actually helped and what hasn’t.
“The world is looking to Canada over the next five to 10 years,” Clarke said. An evidence-based perspective on cannabis is needed rather than solely industry’s, he said.
Canada’s Arthritis Society said there’s limited clinical evidence so far on the relative benefits and risks of medical cannabis to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
CBD now is widely used by people for all kinds of disease, in particular anxiety, panic attack, bipolar disorder, depression. But we don’t know if CBD is really good for these kind of diseases.– Dr. Gabriella Gobbi
“CBD now is widely used by people for all kinds of disease, in particular anxiety, panic attack, bipolar disorder, depression,” said Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, the study’s author and a psychiatrist at McGill University’s faculty of medicine in Montreal. “But we don’t know if CBD is really good for these kinds of diseases.”
Only clinical trials in humans can show if CBD is really effective for an illness, Gobbi said.
In Canada, pharmaceutical companies are sponsoring clinical trials to test CBD products in people.
How do you know what’s in the product?
Depending on what part of the plant is extracted, different components will be present in the oil, the Mayo Clinic authors said. Their list of what clinicians should look for include:
Manufacturing standards certification, such as pesticide or herbicide testing.
European Union, Australian or Canadian organic certification.
Lab testing to confirm cannabinoid levels and the absence of heavy metals.
“We see variations from batch to batch where patients are doing well on something, and potentially the next time they seek that same product, potentially they’re not seeing the same effects,” Clarke said.
A research letter published in 2017 in JAMA found nearly 70 per cent of CBD extracts sold online were mislabelled.
“A lot of CBD oil can have very little or contain lots of THC, so you must be very careful,” Gobbi said. “We need more quality control.”
What side-effects have been reported?
In larger studies on CBD treatment for epileptic patients, it was associated with drowsiness, decreased appetite and diarrhea in up to 36 per cent of people, the Mayo Clinic authors said, adding the side-effects were less severe and frequent compared with a conventional anticonvulsant medication.
CBD oil products can have very little of the active ingredient or contain a lot of THC, the main psychoactive component in cannabis that gives users a high. (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press)
The FDA said its review of a marketing application for Epidiolex suggested potential for liver injury associated with CBD.
You can’t just self-treat.– Dr. Gabriella Gobbi
“You can’t just self-treat,” Gobbi said.
What about drug interactions?
The main drug interactions doctors and pharmacists look for are drugs, such as morphine, oxycodone, sleeping pills, antidepressants or antipsychotics, that already make you sleepy, confused or impair co-ordination.
“If you’re taking those medications to begin with and you use cannabis, we’d expect that those side effects would get worse,” said Kelly Grindrod of the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy.
Doctors should look for lab testing to confirm cannabinoid levels when looking for products for patients, researchers say. (Guillaume Payen/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty)
People should talk to their physician, nurse or pharmacist to discuss potential drug interactions when determining whether to try CBD.
Maddie Brown, a registered practical nurse and cannabis consultant based in Ottawa, helps patients with medical cannabis prescriptions understand how CBD works and obtain it.
“I’m definitely most concerned about blood thinners,” Brown told CBC Radio’s White Coat, Black Art. “CBD can make Coumadin [a blood thinning medication] more potent.”
The general advice is to start low and go slow, especially if taking medications that are known to interact, Grindrod said.
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.
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?
Rafael, a Chumash who shared Californian Native American cultural knowledge with anthropologists in the 1800s.Leon de Cessac
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?
What are cannabinoids?
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 dried bud of a Kush cannabis plant.Kerouachomsky
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.
Medical properties of marijuana
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.
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.
Depending on the medical condition, oils or lotions made from cannabis may be a better choice.sangriana/Shutterstock.com
What do all these varieties do?
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.
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.
Florida restaurants and eateries have begun adding CBD (cannabidiol) oil to some of the items on their menus. Widely regarded as a wonderful supplement to help deal with pain, anxiety, and other ailments, CBD oil gives the user the benefits of cannabis without the mind-altering high.
Customers are raving about the new slices at Pizza City in Fort Lauderdale, especially the marinara sauce, which is infused with cannabidiol, aka CBD oil, the trendy but controversial compound commonly found in cannabis plants, according to ABC Local 10 News. Although controversial, CBD oil shouldn’t be. Some CBD-laced foods contain trace amounts of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive substance in marijuana that produces a euphoric high. THC is illegal in Florida for those without a medical marijuana card. But according to WebMD:
Cannabidiol is extracted from the flowers and buds of marijuana or hemp plants. It does not produce intoxication; marijuana’s “high” is caused by the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). –WebMD
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also says that using CBD oil as a food additive is illegal nationwide, says Seth Hyman, a medical marijuana expert with the Plantation law firm Kelley Kronenberg.
However, trace amounts aren’t enough to get a person high and marijuana laws are rapidly changing across the country to improve freedom and choice over what Americans are allowed by the government to put in their bodies. Regardless, CBD oil has gained a foothold in Florida, where it’s widely available at markets and vape shops in glass bottles and bath bombs, dog treats and gummies.
“Selling unapproved products with unsubstantiated therapeutic claims is not only a violation of the law but also can put patients at risk, as these products have not been proven to be safe or effective,” FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote in the statement. “Cannabis and cannabis-derived products … are considered new drugs or new animal drugs and must go through the FDA drug approval process for human or animal use before they are marketed in the U.S.”
That hasn’t stopped Dave Nardi, the owner of Pizza City, from infusing his New York-style pizzas with CBD oil. Pot-leaf cartoons and the phrase “CBD infusion” decorate the windows of his Las Olas Boulevard pizzeria.
It isn’t just Florida either! CBD-infused food and drinks have been popping all over the country in response to the demand for the oil. You can find CBD-laced food or lattes in many places in New York City as well.
CBD oil is definitely the newest health craze, and whether it’s a fad or an actual medical miracle should be left up to those who make the decision to consume it, not the meddling busybodies in government who think they can dictate everyone’s lives.
This is huge. The FDA just granted orphan drug designation (ODD) to Insys Therapeutics for its pharmaceutical-grade, proprietary cannabidiol (CBD) product for treating cancer tumors in humans. Although glioma tumors affect less than 200,000 Americans, this FDA approval sets a precedent for natural remedies, and could lead to a revolutionary way to legally treat many forms of cancer with natural cures. In justifying preliminary approval of utilizing CBD to treat brain and spinal cancer tumors of this kind, Insys Therapeutics provided the FDA with the scientific rationale for CBD’s benefits, including human experiences with the natural remedy, evidence discovered through in vitro studies, and preclinical animal testing.
U.S. Government recognizes scientific proof CBD heals cancer – the tide is finally turning for natural cures in the USA
The same tired argument always ensues in America when a natural remedy cures too many humans of disease and disorder – the allopathic clowns claim there’s no scientific proof (because pharma doesn’t like the competition). Now the scientific evidence is strong for the real therapeutic potential of CBD oils to treat some of the most dangerous and lethal forms of cancer, especially ones that surgery and chemotherapy have proven nearly useless against.
Certain cannabinoids work best when combined with other CBDs and THC, but the breakthrough recognition of the Insys Therapeutics’ formula is huge for the natural health community and cancer science in general. This completely dismantles the fake “scientific consensus” that only “peer reviewed” chemicals, radiation and surgery can treat cancer. After Insys provides success after success, which they most likely will, it is likely that the full-spectrum of cannabis extracts will find FDA approval, and be a viable option for the masses who want a safe and effective alternative to archaic, invasive, chemical, misery-inducing “mainstream” versions of trying to treat cancer now.
Chemotherapy fails 97% of the time, but no oncologists ever tell their patients THAT
On thing is for sure, chemicals cause cancer, and the worst thing you can do to an acidic body is dose it with more chemicals. Science has already proven that chemical pesticides, chemical preservatives in foods, chemical sugar substitutes, and chemical-based prescription drugs cause cancer cells to proliferate. Mutated cells that are fed by chemicals multiply uncontrollably and can take over vital human organs, including the most complex one in the body – the brain.
If you could filter all of the chemicals out of everything you eat, drink, breathe in, and put on your body today, you could probably fill up a shot glass. Your filtering organs are being overwhelmed, your cells are getting choked out, and the cumulative effect of all of this is the mutation of cells that will eventually gang up and attack your good cells. So why on earth would anyone accept chemotherapy for the treatment of a cell disorder that is caused by chemicals? The name chemotherapy even uses the root word “chem” from chemical. Wake up folks.
Do you know the top 10 chemical causes of cancer cell development? Scrub your daily intake against these. Then, if you still find yourself fighting cancer, consider natural remedies that are now PROVEN by science to beat even the toughest forms of cancer, including glioma tumors.
Chemical insecticides and herbicides, including GMOs and glyphosate
Chemical-based pharmaceuticals and vaccines, including flu shots
Bleach and ammonia in foods
Chemical-based food coloring
Heavy metal toxins from industries that pollute farms
Chemicals from automobiles and industries in cities
Radiation and nuclear chemical pollution and leakage
Bloom Farms medicinal marijuana in vape cartridge form. It is the second biggest seller for marijuana derived CBD or cannabidiol.Bloom
The largest survey on cannabidiol or CBD usage to date found that women were more likely than men to use CBD and once they started using it, were likely to drop their traditional medicine. A new survey from Brightfield Group and HelloMD covered 2,400 of HelloMD’s community of 150,000 members and did a deep dive into the usage of CBD products and their effectiveness. HelloMD is an online community that brings together doctors and cannabis patients.
Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive cannabis compound that doesn’t give users the feeling that they are high or stoned. Instead, it is known to have medicinal qualities. Contrary to the image of men being the predominant consumers of cannabis, this survey found that 55% of the CBD users were women, while men preferred the THC-dominant products. Brightfield Group, which helped conduct the survey, studies consumption patterns and demand trends and is committed to providing accurate data in the cannabis industry which seems to be rife with unsupported claims.
The most common reasons people used CBD were to treat insomnia, depression, anxiety and joint pain, according to Dr. Perry Solomon, the Chief Medical Officer of HelloMD. Forty-two percent of the CBD users said they had stopped using traditional medications like Tylenol pain relievers or prescription drugs like Vicodin and had switched to using cannabis instead. Eighty percent said that they found the products to be “very or extremely effective.” Only 3% or less found the product to be either ineffectual or only slightly effective.
‘Women have been saying it works for 10,000 years’: 400 women will use marijuana-infused inserts in a groundbreaking study from a Harvard Medical School professor
As cannabis products enter the mainstream, two markets remain largely untapped: women’s health and sexuality.
While various compounds in cannabis have long been thought to alleviate symptoms associated with pain and stress from menstruation, there hasn’t been a lot of research to back it up.
Foria Wellness, a startup based in Venice Beach, California, is seeking to change that. It released a line of products – including lotions, sprays, vaporizer pens, and marijuana suppositories – designed to help women with everything from treating menstrual pain to having orgasms.
While Foria’s Relief product has been nicknamed a “weed tampon,” it’s not exactly that. Rather than a cotton device, it’s a suppository pill that when inserted into the body quickly gets absorbed.
“Women have been saying it works for 10,000 years,” Foria CEO Mathew Gerson told Business Insider in a recent interview, referring to cannabis. “And I don’t think men have been listening.”
Foria’s suppositories are forming the basis of an observational study of 400 women to see how marijuana-based products affect the symptoms associated with periods.
So far, Foria has raised $2 million in a funding round led by Gotham Green Partners, a cannabis-focused venture-capital firm. The company’s THC-containing products are available in Colorado and California, where cannabis is legal for adult use, and will be available in Canada once legalization goes into effect later this month.
Though the legality of CBD is something of a gray area, products containing it are widely available in most states, as long as they don’t contain THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana responsible for a high. (Foria’s Relief product has both CBD and THC.)
According to Gerson, Foria’s products are effective because of what’s known as the “entourage effect” of the active compounds in marijuana.
“We now know that the minute you break this plant apart into its component parts, you lose some of the magic,” Gerson said. “And that sounds like hippie speak, but this is proven out again and again, in study after study, that the entourage effect as we understand it is real.”
“The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta declares that 33% of the babies born this year will be diabetic by the year 2050. – Dr. Alan Cantwell”
There is nothing more needed in medicine today than a way of treating diabetes and metabolic syndrome because these syndromes lead directly to cancer, heart disease and stroke. I wrote New Paradigms in Diabetic Care to address what doctors and medical officials are loath to face—the real causes of diabetes. Diabetes is not the hopeless disease that most doctors would have us believe. There are safe treatments and lifestyle changes that will prevent diabetes from destroying your life.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta declares that 33% of the babies born this year will be diabetic by the year 2050. – Dr. Alan Cantwell
When we find out that diabetes and metabolic syndrome are caused by toxic insults from heavy metals, radiation exposure and chemicals running smack into major nutritional deficiencies, we begin to stumble upon treatment pathways that actually work. Diabetes is actually an extremely serious warning to civilization; it is an announcement that the rising tide of radiation, mercury, other deadly chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs are poisoning humanity. The cost of not treating diabetes in a truly effective way is steep. Diabetes can contribute to, among other things, eye disorders and blindness, kidney failure, amputation, nerve damage, heart disease and stroke. Diabetes makes pregnancy more difficult and can cause birth defects.
Populations are being simultaneously poisoned and starved by the food they eat.
Dangerous or Safe Approaches to Diabetes
What we are introducing in this chapter is a pair of medicinals that will positively impact diabetic treatment. Magnesium chloride and cannabinoid medicine together shame contemporary medicine’s shockingly dangerous approach, which cures no one. “Conventional drug treatment for diabetes does not have a good track record. Prescription drugs have various side effects and are associated with severe health complications. Several researchers have revealed that long-term use of some common diabetes drugs can increase the risk of cancer and heart disease. An analysis of five-year data collected from an ongoing 10-year study, conducted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, showed a link between the common anti-diabetes drug Actos and increased risk of bladder cancer”, writes Dr. Marc Ott.
80% of patients use 2 or more diabetes drugs every day.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires oral diabetes medicines to carry a warning regarding increased risk of heart attack. Medications for type-2 diabetes actually do more harm than good. In February 2008, researchers heading a large, government-funded trial made a sobering announcement. The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of various medication regimens, found that the most intensive drug regimens aimed at driving blood sugar way down resulted in a much higher cardiovascular death rate. Intensive blood-sugar-lowering treatment proved to be so harmful that the researchers halted the study 18 months early to prevent this aggressive drug use from killing even more people.[1]
Avandia raises the risk of heart attacks and possibly deaths. Yet more than 6 million people worldwide have taken the drug to control blood sugar since it came on the market 12 years ago.
Medical science has known about the fatal complications of diabetes drugs since 1969 when results of a similar study called the University Group Diabetes Program were made public. That study also had to be stopped two years early because participants who were taking the drugs had a 250-300 percent higher death rate than those taking the placebo.[2]
Dr Julian Whitaker says that, “The majority of patients with type-2 diabetes who come to the Whitaker Wellness Institute are taking at least one oral medication. We stop these drugs on sight. If they’re on insulin and they’re overweight, we stop the insulin as well. Giving insulin to heavy type-2 diabetics is a recipe for further weight gain and does more harm than good. As you might imagine, this is a new concept. Patients are conditioned to trust their doctors, who have convinced them of the absolute necessity of taking drugs to lower blood sugar. However, once they hear the truth about diabetes drugs, most of our patients opt to stop their medications and adopt a much healthier treatment approach targeted at lowering blood sugar and reducing risk of heart disease and other complications.”
Most pain and anti-inflammatory medications are not safe; even the over–the-counter pain medications hold unforeseen dangers. Despite more than a decade’s worth of research showing that taking too much acetaminophen can ruin the liver, the number of severe, unintentional poisonings from the drug is on the rise, a 2005 study reports.[3] The drug, acetaminophen, is best known under the brand name Tylenol. Compounds containing Tylenol include Excedrin, Midol Teen Formula, Theraflu, Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine, NyQuil Cold and Flu and Paracetamol as well as other over-the-counter drugs and many prescription narcotics, like Vicodin and Percocet.
Inflammation, Magnesium and Diabetes
Inflammation plays a key role in a set of disorders that include type-2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease—collectively called the metabolic syndrome (or Syndrome X). Dr. Steve Shoelson, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School has focused squarely on inflammation. Epidemiologists have found that patients with type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have slightly elevated levels of inflammatory markers in their bloodstream.
Magnesium deficiency is pro-inflammatory. Magnesium deficiency induces insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, endothelial activation and prothrombic changes in combination with the upregulation of markers of inflammation and oxidative stress.[4] Though it is magnesium that modulates cellular events involved in inflammation, we can find another powerful and exceptionally safe medicine that can head inflammation off at the pass. When we understand the process of inflammation, and treat it with magnesium chloride, and other of my protocol items (Cannabinoids[5]) we can put an end to a large amount of suffering.
Inflammatory reactions in the body are a valuable predictor of impending heart attack. Magnesium deficiency causes and underpins chronic inflammatory buildups. Magnesium deficiencies feed the fires of inflammation and pain. Increases in extracellular magnesium concentration cause a decrease in the inflammatory response. Magnesium literally puts the chill on inflammation especially when used transdermally.
Dr. Andrzej Mazur [6] said, “Magnesium deficiency induces a systemic stress response by activation of neuro endocrinological pathways. Magnesium deficiency contributes to an exaggerated response to immune stress and oxidative stress is the consequence of the inflammatory response.” Magnesium improves and helps correct insulin sensitivity, which is the fundamental defect that characterizes pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome and even full blown diabetes and heart disease. An intracellular enzyme called tyrosine kinase requires magnesium to allow insulin to exert its blood-sugar-lowering effects. In several studies, daily oral magnesium supplementation substantially improved insulin sensitivity by 10% and reduced blood sugar by 37%.[7],[8]
Let’s Not Forget the Sun. Researchers from Tuffs and Harvard are telling us that daily supplements of vitamin D boosts the function of the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.[9]
Medical Marijuana and Diabetes
Dr. Gregory T. Carter, Clinical Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine says, “Marijuana is a complex substance containing over 60 different forms of cannabinoids, the active ingredients. Cannabinoids are now known to have the capacity for neuromodulation via direct, receptor-based mechanisms at numerous levels within the nervous system. These have therapeutic properties that may be applicable to the treatment of neurological disorders including anti-oxidative, neuroprotective, analgesic and anti-inflammatory actions, immunomodulation, modulation of glial cells and tumor growth regulation.[10] Intracellular changes and altered signaling of the neurons seems to be the principle effects of the cannabinoids in marijuana.
Cannabinoids reduced inflammation in the brain and prevented cognitive decline. Cannabinoids have also been shown to alleviate neuropathic pain.[11]
Marijuana has strong anti-inflammatory effects. “This is why I believe that people who used marijuana a few decades ago are much less likely to develop any disease, such as Alzheimer’s, that relies upon the slow development of brain inflammation,” said Dr. Gary Wenk. The recent discovery of an endogenous cannabinoid system with specific receptors and ligands (compounds that activate receptors and trigger their characteristic responses) has increased our understanding of the actions of marijuana. Excessive inflammatory responses can emerge as a potential danger for organisms’ health. Physiological balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory processes constitutes an important feature of responses against harmful events.
There is mounting evidence pointing to dysfunction of the endocannabinoid system having an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity.[12] Insulin-induced glucose uptake increases with increasing THC concentration.
Professor Mike Cawthorne and the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline believe that plant-based medicines might be the way to approach the treatment of diabetes. The particular plant they are studying is marijuana. Cannabis is an excellent anti-inflammatory that lacks the side effects of steroids, the NSAIDS, and the COX-2 inhibitors like Vioxx. This anti-inflammatory action may help quell the arterial inflammation common in diabetes.
Cannabidiol (CBD)[13] arrested the onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice in a 2007 study. Researchers at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem [14] in 2006 reported that injections of 5 mg per day of CBD (10-20 injections) significantly reduced the prevalence of diabetes in mice from an incidence of 86 percent in non-treated controls to an incidence of only 30 percent. In a separate experiment, investigators reported that control mice all developed diabetes at a median of 17 weeks (range 15-20 weeks) while a majority (60 percent) of CBD-treated mice remained diabetes-free at 26 weeks. Investigators also reported that CBD significantly lowered plasma levels of the pro-inflammatory cykotines(proteins), INF-gamma and TNF-alpha, and significantly reduced the severity of insulitis compared to non-treated controls.
Cannabidiol – CBD – CBD also occurs in almost all strains and is the second most interesting cannabinoid in regards to medical cannabis. Unlike THC, CBD lacks noticeable psychoactive effects. Nevertheless, CBD has valuable medical properties. CBD appears to work synergistically with THC, bolstering its medical effects while moderating its psycho-activity. It is also thought to improve wakefulness and to enhance THC’s activity against pain. Taken by itself CBD has anti-inflammatory, antianxiety, anti-epileptic, sedative and neuro-protective actions. It is also a potent anti-oxidant, protecting against chemical damage due to oxidation. Studies have suggested that CBD could protect against the development of diabetes, certain kinds of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, brain and nerve damage due to stroke, alcoholism, nausea, inflammatory bowel disease and Huntington’s disease.
Researchers concluded that confirmation of the observed immunomodulatory effects of CBD “may lead to the clinical application of this agent in the prevention of type-1 diabetes” and possibly other autoimmune diseases. They note that many patients diagnosed with type-1 diabetes have sufficient residual cells that produce insulin at the time of diagnosis, and may be candidates for immunomodulation therapy.
Bioactive cannabinoids have an anti-inflammatory effect. Marijuana can also be used to make topical creams to relieve neuropathic pain and tingling in hands and feet. Cannabis helps still diabetic “restless leg syndrome” (RLS), so the patient can sleep better: “It is recommended that patients use a vaporizer or smoke cannabis to aid in falling asleep.”
In studies THC essentially countered the effects of insulin resistance. These results support previous findings that smoking cannabis can reduce blood glucose in diabetics (Gallant, Odei-Addo, Frost, & Levendal, 2009).
Cannabidiol protects retinal neurons by preserving glutamine synthetase activity in diabetes. In current research on how to modulate cannabinoid receptors in the human body, Dr. Gregory I. Liou, a molecular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia, has found that cannabidiol (a cannabis compound) could prevent the overabundance of leaky eye blood vessels associated with diabetic retinopathy. As the leading cause of blindness in the United States, diabetic retinopathy is a major health concern for more than 16 million American adults.
Dr. Liou’s work, published in the January issue of the American Journal of Pathologyindicates that cannabidiol can interrupt the destructive points of action in diabetic animals. “What we believe cannabidiol does is go in here as an antioxidant to neutralize the toxic superoxides. Number two, it inhibits the self-destructive system and allows the self-produced endogenous cannabinoids to stay there longer by inhibiting the enzyme that destroys them.” Dr. Liou believes that cannabinoids act as a type of negotiator, trying to keep peace, harmony and balance between a host of potentially volatile and dangerous factions of cells. “Cannabinoids are trying to ease the situation on both sides.”
Cannabis is neuroprotective.[15] It is believed that much of neuropathy comes from the inflammation of nerves caused by glycoproteins in the blood that deposit in peripheral tissues and trigger an immune response. Cannabis helps protect the nerve covering (myelin sheath) from inflammatory attack. Cannabis also lessens the pain of neuropathy by activating receptors in the body and brain. Some components of cannabis (perhaps cannibidiol) act as anti-spasmodic agents similar to the far more toxic anti-convulsants like Neurontin. This action of cannabis helps relieve diabetic muscle cramps and GI upset.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology stated, “Collectively, our results strongly suggest that cannabidiol may have tremendous therapeutic potential in the treatment of diabetic cardiovascular and other complications.”[16]
(Natural News) Cannabis may still be prohibited by the U.S. federal government, but that doesn’t mean the prized plant isn’t a medicine. While federal prohibition may make scientific research on cannabis harder to complete, many studies have shown that the plant has wide-reaching medicinal benefits. Research continues to show that for dozens of conditions, cannabis could be a natural solution.
As of 2018, 29 U.S. states have legalized cannabis for medical use. In the U.S., legalized medical cannabis is gaining more support than ever, with an 84-percent approval rating according to recent survey data.
Even the National Institutes of Health recognizes the medical benefits of cannabis – and it’s a federal organization. All this has left many people wondering why cannabis prohibition is still running strong in the U.S. But despite prohibition’s dampening effect on research, the science on medicinal cannabis continues to pour in. Here are 10 health conditions scientifically shown to have success with cannabis treatment:
1. Cannabis can relieve many types of pain
For chronic pain sufferers of any kind, cannabis can bring relief with fewer side effects and less risk than many mainstream treatments. Studies of patients with peripheral neuropathy have shown that pain reduction can be observed within a week of regular use. CBD, or cannabidiol, is thought to be the key pain alleviator here; reports say that it “reduces the inflammatory response and binds to TRPV1 receptors, which are capable of mediating antihyperalgesic effects.”
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Chronic pain can come from many different sources, but for fibromyalgia patients, cannabis could be very effective. Studies also show that it can relieve other types of pain, like arthritis. While not every person with chronic pain finds relief from cannabis, many do. In fact, pain is the most common reason people ask their doctors for medical marijuana.
2. Relief from anxiety
In the right amount, cannabis has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress in users. However, the dose makes the poison: For many people, too much cannabis can cause anxiety to spike instead. CBD oil can also help reduce feelings of anxiousness.
3. Eases depression
Studies have shown that the infamous plant has anti-depressive benefits as well. Specifically, the plant compound CBD has been shown to exhibit similar effects on depression as pharmaceutical antidepressants.
4. Cannabis protects brain cells
Despite popular belief, cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant can actually help protect your brain – especially CBD. Sources say that CBD is “proven to reduce short-term brain damage and was associated with extracerebral benefits.”
5. Fights Alzheimer’s disease
In addition to protecting the brain against damage, studies have shown that THC, a compound in cannabis, can slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, the plant may help reverse the degenerative condition entirely.
6. Relieves the symptoms of MS
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a serious disease with no currently known cure. But studies have shown that cannabis can provide much needed relief to people who have MS – especially those struggling with painful muscle spasms. Muscle spasticity effects an estimated 90 percent of MS patients. Studies show that cannabis can help relieve this symptom; survey data indicates that as many as 97 percent of MS patients could benefit from it.
7. Eliminates nausea, increases hunger
Cannabis can help reduce feelings of nausea in patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS and other debilitating conditions. Furthermore, in patients with poor appetite, the plant medicine may help increase overall tolerance of food.
8. Treats IBD
For patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), cannabis could be a novel treatment that provides symptom relief. Studies suggest that both THC and CBD (two well-known cannabinoids) play an important role in gut function – and the benefits can’t be ignored.
9. Cannabis reduces seizure activity
There is much to support the fact that cannabis reduces seizure activity in people with seizure disorders. There is a mountain of evidence which shows children with intractable seizures have experienced a drastic reduction in seizure frequency thanks to cannabis.
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that Cannabidiol (CBD) oil – a concentrated oily extract made from cannabis – can help treat a variety of ailments. It’s said to help with everything from epileptic seizures to opioid addiction, PTSD to arthritis.
But despite CBD oil’s high profile status, there’s still a lot of confusion about what it actually is, and what it’s made from. Certain types of CBD oil are already legally available in the UK – such as those made from hemp – whereas other types are very much illegal in the UK – though are available to buy in other countries
CBD oil extracted from hemp is often marketed as a food supplement to promote well-being – similar to other herbals like Echinacea – and boost the immune system. Although Hemp CBD oil is legal, it is not a medicine and should not be confused with the recent confiscation of 12-year-old Billy Caldwell’s CBD oil at Heathrow airport.
Billy had flown with his mother to Canada to buy the CBD oil – which helps to keep his daily epileptic seizures at bay. But his oil was confiscated because it was made from cannabis flowers and leaves, and so was classed as illegal in the UK, pushing childhood epilepsy and CBD oil into the spotlight.
Cannabis law explained
So far, so confusing, but part of the problem is that terms like cannabis and hemp are often used interchangeably – which masks the nuances and complexities of the cannabis plant.
Cannabis sativa L, the scientific name of the cannabis plant, is cultivated to produce two distinctive products – industrial hemp, and cannabis. The main difference between hemp and cannabis is based on two criteria. First, the levels of cannabinoids – a family of chemical compounds, the cannabis plant naturally produces – and second, the end use.
According to current UK drug laws, cannabis is classified as an illegal drug because of the psychoactive properties of THC, the component in it that creates the “high”. And under UK law, cannabis is deemed to have a high potential for abuse – with no accepted medical properties.
Hemp vs cannabis
But this is where it gets even more confusing because cannabis can be bred to create different strains. Cannabis consumed for recreational purposes is selectively bred to optimise high THC content strains – to maximise the “high” feeling. But cannabis also contains CBD, which is a non-psychoactive component.
Hemp, on the other hand, is harnessed as seed, oil and fibre to produce a wide range of products. It is cultivated to produce a low concentration of the psychoactive cannabinoid THC – as well as higher levels of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD.
Industrial hemp plant products: tea, oil, rope, protein powder and hemp fabric.Shutterstock
Cannabis is classified as hemp if it has a maximum level of 0.2% THC. Billy’s CBD oil, confiscated at Heathrow, was made from cannabis with a higher level than 0.2% of THC – so it was classed as cannabis, which is why it was confiscated.
Medical marijuana
A recent survey conducted by Sky News found that 82% of their poll subjects agreed that medical cannabis should be legalised. Professor Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, who was appointed to investigate the current scientific and medical evidence, about the therapeutic properties of cannabis-based products, also believes this. She recently said that “doctors should be able to prescribe” cannabis.
Davies has recommended the removal of cannabis from schedule one classification – which covers a group of drugs considered to have no medical purpose, that cannot be legally possessed or prescribed.
The future of pharmacies?Shutterstock
In Billy Caldwell’s case, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, made the decision to grant Billy access to imported CBD oil. This fresh approach to reconsider the classification of cannabis has been seminal, and mirrors wider sentiment in other countries. In the US, for example, medical cannabis programmes have been initiated in 30 states. Hence, medical tourism to Canada – where cannabis is legal for medicinal purposes – and the US to gain access to CBD oil.
In the UK, however, Sajid Javid will not reclassify cannabis until the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs provides recommendations about the public health implications – which will include the abuse potential of cannabis-based CBD. Though it seems very likely that the home secretary will continue to move towards a patient focused resolution.
For patients like Billy then, what this means is that cannabis-based CBD oil could soon be prescribed in the UK under controlled conditions, by registered practitioners, and for medical benefit.
“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”
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.
Materials Used: Plants, Animals, and Extracts
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)
Results Of CBD vs. Full-Spectrum on Inflammation and Pain
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.
Injections of CBD and Clone 202 (Full-Spectrum) Extract (mg/kg) (source)
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.
In the short term, marijuana can make your heart race.
David Ramos/Getty
Within 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.
Marijuana’s effects on the heart could be tied to effects on blood pressure, but the link needs more research.
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.
So while there’s probably a link between smoking marijuana and high blood pressure, there’s not enough research yet to say that one leads to the other.
Marijuana use affects the lungs but doesn’t seem to increase the risk of lung cancer.
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 may help relieve some types of pain.
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.
Marijuana may not be the “gateway drug” that opponents make it out to be.
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.
Abstract
Background
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).
Method
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).
Results
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.
Limitations
The primary limitations are the self-selected nature of the sample and the inability to control for expectancy effects.
Conclusions
Cannabis reduces perceived symptoms of negative affect in the short-term, but continued use may exacerbate baseline symptoms of depression over time.
The US DEA continues to stand by a decades-old assertion that marijuana and certain of its derivatives are as dangerous as heroin, in spite of a wealth of increasing evidence revealing that the opposite is true.
In a preliminary report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month, a non-psychoactive substance in marijuana, cannabidiol, which the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considers to be a Schedule I drug that has no medical use and can be abused, is, in fact, not harmful, and has been shown to be a benefit to those who are ill.
The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) concluded that cannabidiol has a very low potential for abuse and indeed shows several medicinal benefits, particularly in treating epileptic seizures. A cannabidiol product called Epidiolex is currently in phase III trials for the treatment of epilepsy.
Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component in marijuana that creates the ‘high,’ or euphoric sensations, the use of cannabidiol alone does not provide the same effect.
In fact, cannabidiol is believed to affect the endocannabinoid system, a group of neurotransmitters that bind to nervous system receptors and affect several psychological responses, including appetite, pain, mood and tissue inflammation.
In addition, according to the ECDD, there is preliminary data that cannabidiol can treat Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, pain, nausea, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. There is even some data that suggests that it could help addicts quit their opioid addictions.
In current studies on animals and humans, according to WHO, there is no evidence that cannabidiol has any toxic or addictive properties.
The ECDD concluded that existing data “does not justify scheduling of cannabidiol.”
The WHO report is preliminary and the committee plans in May 2018 to more extensively investigate the effects of cannabis and its components.
In December of last year, the DEA generated a new drug code for marijuana compounds, including pure cannabidiol, indicating that the agency, ignoring all modern evidence, would not modify its position that marijuana extracts are to be lumped alongside harmful drugs, including heroin and cocaine.
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 afederal investigative studydocumented recently in theNew 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:
Children taking CBD experienced a nearly 40 percent reduction in the frequency of convulsive seizures over the 14-week treatment period, from a median of 12.4 seizures per month to 5.9. In the placebo group, the median convulsive-seizure frequency decreased from 14.9 to 14.1
43 percent of patients in the CBD group experienced a 50 percent or greater reduction in convulsive-seizure frequency, compared to 27 percent in the placebo group
During the treatment period, three patients in the CBD group were completely free of seizures. No patients in the placebo group were free of seizures
When looking at all seizure types, the median frequency of seizures per month decreased from 24.0 to 13.7 in the CBD group (a reduction of 28.6 percent), compared to a decrease from 41.5 to 31.1 in the placebo group (a reduction of 9 percent)
37 of 60 caregivers (62 percent) said their child’s overall condition improved in the CBD group, compared to 20 of 58 caregivers (34 percent) in the placebo group
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.
There is a soothing balm, and you don’t have to go to Gilead, just to your local pot shop.
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.
Phillip Smith is editor of the AlterNet Drug Reporter and author of the Drug War Chronicle.
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.
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
You can watch the complete interview on Cannabis.net, the new “Facebook of weed”.
The site is a great community forum for veteran cannabis connoisseurs and new canna-converts alike.
You can follow Cannabis.net on Twitter, see what they are up to on Instagram, or follow them on Facebook.
Man I am glad I live in Canada and not in those parts of the States that seem stuck in a time warp zone. Are these people really that ignorant? They remind me of other fundamentalists who believe THEIR interpretation of their holy books is the only valid one. These eejits don’t think that if they were born in Damascus they would not be chanting Aluah Akbar? Ignorance is not bliss, it’s a curse.
By the way, cannabis is a gift from the Gods to heal the aches of humanity. That has always been my position.
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. Genesis 1:29
Can Cannabis And Christ Coexist? These Devout Southern Christians Think So
The Deep South is the nation’s most religious region and the least open to legalized cannabis for medical or recreational use. To those who say marijuana is a sin, though, devout Christians are using the Bible to argue that it’s God’s “perfect medicine.”
Lydia Decker couldn’t miss the man in the motorized wheelchair as he whirred down the aisles of a West Texas grocery store. As someone with lung problems herself, she noticed his oxygen tank and wondered about his illness and his meds. They got talking, and Decker mentioned Genesis 1:29, the organization she heads that uses religion to preach the value of medical cannabis. This was one conversion that wasn’t going to happen.
“Oh, that trash!” Decker remembered the man saying as she tried to reason with him in the pharmacy aisle. The nurse with the man “politely” asked Decker, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, to leave. She did, but not before handing the nurse a Genesis 1:29 business card, which features a map of Texas covered with a large cannabis leaf and the words “One Mission End Prohibition!”
“Do you know he almost ran over me with the cart?” Decker said, laughing. “My goodness, he flipped a U-ee in the aisle.”
Courtesy Lydia Decker
Lydia Decker
Decker, 49, tells anyone in Texas who will listen why cannabis is, in fact, a permitted therapy for Christians — not a sin. She hopes her openness will help generate support for medical cannabis among state lawmakers, and in April she submitted passionate testimony in hopes of swaying them. She described being rushed to the ER, “gasping for air” on New Year’s Day in 2014, when her COPD was first diagnosed, and the blur of medications and treatments she’s endured since then. “I live 80 miles from a legal state line,” Decker wrote, referring to New Mexico, where medical cannabis is permitted. She questioned why such treatment should be off-limits to her, “just because I choose to live and work in Texas, where I was born?”
Genesis 1:29, which Decker formed in 2010, is named after a Bible verse that’s oft-repeated by Christians in favor of medical marijuana: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” To Decker, a nondenominational Christian who follows the Bible’s verses in a literal way, it means that cannabis is “meant to be eaten, whether in oil, whether in an edible,” she said.
Obviously, not everyone in Texas is receptive to Decker’s interpretation of the Bible — none of the laws covering medical or recreational cannabis were likely to pass before the legislative session ends in late May.
“People in the Bible Belt say, ‘You’re using the Bible to promote drugs,’” she said, drawing out the word “drugs” for emphasis. Decker disagrees. “We’re using the Bible to promote what God gave us. We say that God made the perfect medicine. Man is the one that made it illegal.”
The South is the last frontier for cannabis law reform. And it is no coincidence that it is also the most religious region in the country, according to Pew Research. It’s a place where interpretations of God’s word can be as powerful as law, and where preachers have long proclaimed the evils of marijuana. So as pot takes hold for medical use in more than half the country, and for recreational use in eight states and Washington, DC, both are nonstarters in much of the South. Only Arkansas, Florida, and West Virginia have full medical marijuana programs, and recreational use is not even on the horizon.
“We say that God made the perfect medicine. Man is the one that made it illegal.”
The president of the organization that represents the largest evangelical group in the US won’t budge on calling marijuana a sin.
“The scripture speaks against drunkenness, and marijuana is a mind-altering substance with the purpose of achieving, essentially, what the Bible would describe as drunkenness,” said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
To get the votes they need, pro-legalization groups can’t just preach to nonbelievers; they also need to court people of faith, says Morgan Fox of Marijuana Policy Project, a lobbying group that is behind most of the cannabis laws in the country. Support from religious groups has become as key as support from law enforcement groups, addiction specialists, and parent groups. “I know that most of the major policy reform organizations are working on that right now — trying to build coalitions with faith-based groups,” Fox said.
After all, marijuana has never been more popular with young people — recent polls show the 18–34 crowd overwhelmingly in support of legalization. At the same time, young people’s church attendance is dropping. As much as pro-pot groups need religious support, religious leaders need to hold onto their flocks, and sometimes that means loosening opinions on controversial issues.
In Utah last year, the Church of Latter-day Saints weighed in on competing medical cannabis bills and made the unprecedented move of expressing support for one, albeit by backing the stricter of two pieces of legislation. And a group of Muslim undergraduate students at the University of South Florida, where medical marijuana was on the state ballot, tackled the question of whether cannabis use is haram last year during an event called “Contemporary Issues in Islam: A Discussion on Medical Marijuana.” Some faiths have expressed varying degrees of support for medical marijuana, including the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Unitarian churches. In New York, one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries had the cannabis blessed by a rabbi. And globally, to respect the traditional use of cannabis by Rastafarians, Jamaica legalized cannabis for religious use in 2015.
But to bring cannabis to the region of the US where states are deeply red and religious and where pot is both a social taboo and a ticket to jail, Decker and others are harnessing their devotion to their faiths to evangelize for it.
By: Higher Perspectives As more and more people are starting to realize, the pharmaceutical industry is basically one big legal drug ring.
Just as people get addicted to heroin and methamphetamine, pharmaceutical companies push drugs with slightly altered chemical compositions deemed legal by the government.
The one good thing to come of this is the increased demand for natural and alternative treatments that lie outside the domain of ‘Big Pharma.’ One substance, in particular, has been seen to hold great medicinal potential, and that’s cannabis (marijuana).
In fact, some organizations have started making cannabis-infused products to treat a variety of highly painful ailments and symptoms.
The Foria Relief Company has created vaginal cannabis suppositories using cocoa butter as the perfect alternative to pills like Vicodin, Midol and Ibuprofen. The suppository helps relax muscles, preventing or soothing menstrual cramps.
The cannabis capsule is made from the extract of cannabis flower, all of which are pesticide-free. The active ingredients are processed without microbials and then packaged with a specific mix of 60 mg of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and 10 mg of CBD (cannabidiol).
The combination together creates the perfect effect to relieve pain. The THC helps send happy feelings to the brain, while the CBD helps promote relaxation of the muscles. This helps reduce muscle spasms as well as inflammation.
After taking the suppository, one woman described the area from her waist to her thighs as “floating in some other galaxy.” It helped ease up any clenched, tense muscles and completely got rid of all of the pain in her midsection.
Unfortunately, this product is only purchasable in California at the moment, and it has not been approved by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration). However, if you think this product might be for you, please consult with a doctor before trying it, just to be safe!
“Our citizens should know the urgent facts…but they don’t because our media serves imperial, not popular interests. They lie, deceive, connive and suppress what everyone needs to know, substituting managed news misinformation and rubbish for hard truths…”—Oliver Stone
There is nothing more needed in medicine today than a way of treating diabetes and metabolic syndrome because these syndromes lead directly to cancer, heart disease and stroke. I wrote 
Tales from the Conspiratum 
