Medicinal cannabis (also referred to as medical cannabis or marijuana) is the use of Cannabis as a physician-recommended medicine or herbal therapy. The use of medicinal Cannabis has a long history, dating back 6000 years.
The extent of the medicinal values of cannabis are still being debated but it does have several well-documented beneficial effects. Among these are: the amelioration of nausea and vomiting, stimulation of hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, lowered intraocular eye pressure, shown to be effective for treating glaucoma, as well as general analgesic effects (pain reliever). Individual studies indicate that cannabis is beneficial in a variety of conditions including multiple sclerosis and depression.
Synthetic cannabinoids are also available as prescription drugs in many countries. Examples include Marinol and Cesamet.
There are several methods for administration of dosage, including vaporizing or smoking the cured plant buds, drinking or eating extracts, and taking capsules. The comparable efficacy of these methods was the subject of an investigative study conducted by the National Institutes of Health in the USA..
While cannabis for recreational use is illegal in many parts of the world, its use as a medicine is legal in a number of countries worldwide, including Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Italy, Finland, and Portugal. In the United States, federal law outlaws all cannabis use, while permission for medicinal cannabis varies among states. Distribution is usually done within a framework defined by local laws. Medicinal cannabis remains an issue worldwide.
Partial list of clinical applications
In a 2002 review of medical literature, medicinal cannabis was shown to have established effects in the treatment of nausea, vomiting, premenstrual syndrome, unintentional weight loss, and lack of appetite. Other “relatively well-confirmed” effects were in the treatment of “spasticity, painful conditions, especially neurogenic pain, movement disorders, asthma and glaucoma”.
Preliminary findings indicate that cannabis-based drugs could also prove useful in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (consisting of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), migraine, fibromyalgia, and related conditions.
Medicinal cannabis has also been found to relieve certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries by exhibiting antispasmodic and muscle-relaxant properties as well as stimulating appetite. Clinical trials provide evidence that THC reduces motor and vocal tics of Tourette syndrome and related behavioral problems such as obsessive–compulsive disorders.
Other studies have shown cannabis or cannabinoids to be useful in treating alcohol abuse, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or AD/HD) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, collagen-induced arthritis rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, autism, bipolar disorder, childhood mental disorders, colorectal cancer depression, diabetic retinopathy, dystonia, epilepsy, digestive diseases, gliomas, hepatitis C, Huntington’s disease, hypertension, urinary incontinence, leukemia, skin tumors, morning sickness, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Parkinson’s disease, pruritus, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sickle-cell disease, and sleep apnea.
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