After almost 50 years of controversy, the general opinion about medical cannabis or marijuana is swinging from a seemingly misinformed “anti” to a more open-minded “pro”.
The SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) found promising benefits of cannabis in 2015 re pain and spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis sufferers, and to a lesser degree re nausea, vomiting and stimulating appetite and weight gain in cancer patients receiving chemo therapy.
Legislation is now allowing a synthetic form of cannabis; and the CBD form of cannabis is seemingly quite openly available. I am amazed how many people are currently using cannabis!
Some pending court cases, including the “dagga couple” vs the state next year in the Pretoria high court, may further influence the status of cannabis in SA.
Review of the current legislation may also facilitate the necessary research, still to be done.
Endocannabinoid receptors in the human brain indicate that cannabinoids are not alien substances, but are produced by the body. They even appear in breast milk! These have either a stimulating or inhibiting effect, influencing not only pain and appetite, but also neuro-protection, sleep, memory, tumour growth, bowel motility and possibly intra-ocular pressure.
The presence of these receptors is a very strong indication that medical marijuana may have an effective role to play with enhancing health.
The two main groups of cannabis are the CBD and THC fractions.
The former is mostly used in medical conditions and has no psychoactive effects. However, CBD is ineffective to combat pain.
THC is the recreational, psychoactive form of cannabis and would need to be added to CBD in pain management.
The best known conditions where medical marijuana is used are:
- Cancer and AIDS, to stimulate appetite, reduce nausea. There are claims that cannabis inhibits tumour cell growth and metastasis, without damaging benign cells.
- Neuro-degenerative conditions, like Multiple Sclerosis (using a combination of THC and CBD re pain and spasticity), Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
- Epilepsy, especially in children.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: to improve sleep, reduce nightmares and other symptoms.
As the above conditions are often managed with harsh drugs with unpleasant side effects, more research may confirm that medical marijuana can be an effective and safe alternative, and member of the “integrative team”.