(NORML) The oral administration of the non-psychotropic cannabis plant constituent cannabidiol (CBD) is safe and well tolerated in humans, according to clinical trial data published online by the journal Current Pharmaceutical Design.
Investigators at Kings College in London assessed the physiological and behavioral effects of CBD and THC versus placebo in 16 healthy volunteers in a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial.
Investigators reported that the oral administration of 10 mg of THC was associated with various physiological and behavioral effects – such as increased heart rate and sedation – whereas the oral administration of 600 mg of CBD was not.
They concluded, “There were no differences between CBD and placebo on any symptomatic, physiological variable. … In healthy volunteers, THC has marked acute behavioral and physiological effects, whereas CBD has proven to be safe and well tolerated.”
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Researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Long Island, NY, in collaboration with a team at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, examined the difference in cognitive performance among 50 individuals with bipolar disorder who had a history of cannabis use, with 150 bipolar patients who had no history of cannabis use.
The team discovered that patients who used cannabis showed superior neurocognitive performance than those who did not. However, patients who used cannabis did not differ considerably on estimates of premorbid IQ.
The researchers explained:“Results from our analysis suggest that subjects with bipolar disorder and history of (cannabis use) demonstrate significantly better neurocognitive performance, particularly on measures of attention, processing speed, and working memory.
These findings are consistent with a previous study that demonstrated that bipolar subjects with history of cannabis use had superior verbal fluency performance as compared to bipolar patients without a history of cannabis use. Similar results have also been found in schizophrenia in several studies.”
German Study: Cannabis-Based Medications Relieve Pain
Cannabis-based medications have been demonstrated to relieve pain, and can be useful for patients whose symptoms aren’t adequately alleviated by conventional treatment, according to a paper in a peer-reviewed German medical journal.
The symptoms shown to have been alleviated by marijuana-based medicines include muscle spasms, nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy, loss of appetite in HIV/AIDS patients, and neuropathic pain, according to the paper, published in Issue 29-30 of Deutsches Arzteblatt International, the German Medical Association’s official international peer-reviewed science journal, reports Science Daily.
“Medications based on cannabis have been used for therapeutic purposes in many cultures for centuries,” the paper notes. “In Europe, they were used at the end of the 19th century to treat pain, spasms, asthma, sleep disorders, depression, and loss of appetite.”
Physicians who prescribe opioid drugs to patients with neuropathy (nerve pain) ought to consider recommending cannabis as an alternative therapy, according to a peer-reviewed paper published online this week in the Harm Reduction Journal.
“There is sufficient evidence of safety and efficacy for the use of (cannabis/cannabinoids) in the treatment of nerve pain relative to opioids,” the commentary states. “In states where medicinal cannabis is legal, physicians who treat neuropathic pain with opioids should evaluate their patients for a trial of cannabis and prescribe it when appropriate prior to using opioids. … Prescribing cannabis in place of opioids for neuropathic pain may reduce the morbidity and mortality rates associated with prescription pain medications and may be an effective harm reduction strategy.”
The author notes that between the years 1999 and 2006, “approximately 65,000 people died from opioid analgesic overdose.” By contrast, he writes “[N]o one has ever died from an overdose of cannabis.”
In clinical trials, inhaled cannabis has been consistently shown to reduce neuropathic pain of diverse causes in subjects unresponsive to standard pain therapies.
We’ve reported before on council members and others protesting the fact that not only has New York City arrested over 350,000 people for marijuana possession since 2002 – despite under 25 grams of cannabis being decriminalized in the city for decades now – but the fact that nearly 90% of those arrests are of Black or Latino suspects.
The Bloomberg administration has defended the policy, saying that marijuana arrests are an important tool in fighting drug markets and violence, and that changing the law would encourage public smoking.
Arresting a black kid with a half ounce of weed fights drug markets? Wouldn’t going after drug dealers be a much more efficient way to enforce a failed drug policy?
To receive the cards, patients must first obtain a written certificate from a licensed Arizona doctor confirming they have one or more of the qualifying conditions in the program such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis C, etc.
ADHS then reviews each application and renders a decision on its validity. Of the 8,738 applications received by ADHS, 8,670 of them have been approved, with only seven being rejected.
