Medical Marijuana for Treatment of Chronic Pain and Other Medical and Psychiatric Problems

Therapeutic use of cannabis: Prevalence and characteristics among adults in Ontario, Canada

“…However, more recent changes to laws and regulations in Canada and parts of the US have increased access to cannabis for the treatment of various medical conditions. 4 Since 2001, Canada has had various regulations for medical access to cannabis. More recent regulations include, for example, the 2013 Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) that allowed commercial producers licensed by Health Canada to supply cannabis to adults with medical authorization to use it.…”

“…7,8 Of particular concern is the wide variety of medical conditions that cannabis is purported to treat and the lack of empirical evidence to support the efficacy of cannabis for many of these conditions. 4,9,10 The cannabis plant contains numerous cannabinoids, some of which have been shown to be effective in attenuating the nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite and relieving certain types of pain. [11][12][13][14][15] A recent metaanalysis, however, found that cannabis (defined in the review as " : : : the use of cannabis or cannabinoids as medical therapy to treat disease or alleviate symptoms" (p. 2457)), was moderately effective for reducing chronic pain and for reducing spasticity due to multiple sclerosis, but the evidence for other conditions such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, nausea due to chemotherapy, greater weight gain in HIV cases, and Tourette's Syndrome was poor.…”

Nature: A Rich Source of Potent Therapeutics

“…Three subspecies of cannabis have been characterized including cannabis sativa, cannabis indica, and cannabis ruderalis. The phytochemical components of cannabis are numerous, and include more than 400 naturally occurring compounds and greater than 100 different cannabinoids [5]. The five main cannabinoids including cannabidiol, cannabichromene, cannabigerol, Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinol demonstrate strong antimicrobial activity [6] Intensive biomedical research has focused on identifying potential applications of cannabinoids.…”

Marijuana Consumption and the Perception of Health and Criminal Risk for those Ages 18-25

“…Some studies have also demonstrated the efficacy of medical marijuana for certain patients. Cannabis has been shown to reduce chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and spasticity due to multiple sclerosis (Hill, 2015). It has also been shown to improve pain, appetite, and nausea among cancer patients (Waissengrin, Urban, Leshem, Garty, & Wolf, 2015), and to improve appetite (Woolridge et al, 2005) and caloric intake for HIV patients (Haney, Rabkin, Gunderson, & Foltin, 2005).…”