Medicinal Cannabis

continued from: medicinal cannabis … 

Recent studies

Alzheimer’s disease

Research done by the Scripps Research Institute in California, USA shows that one of the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, prevents the formation of deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. THC was found to prevent an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase from accelerating the formation of “Alzheimer plaques” in the brain more effectively than commercially marketed drugs. THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimer’s patients, as reported in Molecular Pharmaceutics.

Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

THC has been found to reduce tumor growth in common lung cancer by 50 percent and to significantly reduce the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University, who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies. The researchers suggest that THC might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.

In 2006, Donald Tashkin, of the University of California in Los Angeles, presented the results of his study, Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. Tashkin found that smoking marijuana does not appear to increase the risk of lung cancer or head-and-neck malignancies, even among heavy users. The more tobacco a person smoked, the greater their risk of developing lung cancer and other cancers of the head and neck. But people who smoked more marijuana were not at increased risk compared with people who smoked less and people who didn’t smoke at all. Marijuana use was associated with cancer risk ratios below 1.0, indicating that a history of marijuana smoking had no effect on the risk for respiratory cancers. In contrast, tobacco smoking had a 21-fold risk for cancer. Tashkin concluded, “It’s possible that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in marijuana smoke may encourage apoptosis, or programmed cell death, causing cells to die off before they have a chance to undergo malignant transformation”.

Wan Tan presented a study at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference showing that smoking marijuana and tobacco together more than tripled the risk of developing Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) over just smoking tobacco alone.

Similar findings were released in April 2009 by the Vancouver Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease Research Group. The study presents that smoking both tobacco and marijuana synergistically increased the risk of respiratory symptoms and COPD. Smoking only marijuana, however, was not associated with an increased risk of respiratory symptoms of COPD. In a related commentary, Tashkin writes, “…we can be close to concluding that marijuana smoking by itself does not lead to COPD”

Breast cancer

According to a 2007 study at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, cannabidiol (CBD) may stop breast cancer from spreading throughout the body. The scientists believe their discovery may provide a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy while achieving the same results minus the painful and unpleasant side effects. The research team says that CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene called Id-1, which is believed to be responsible for a process called metastasis, which is the aggressive spread of cancer cells away from the original tumor site HIV/AIDS.

Investigators at Columbia University published clinical trial data in 2007 showing that HIV/AIDS patients who inhaled cannabis four times daily experienced substantial increases in food intake with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance. They concluded that smoked marijuana has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive patients. In another study in 2008, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that marijuana significantly reduces HIV-related neuropathic pain when added to a patient’s already-prescribed pain management regimen and may be an “effective option for pain relief” in those whose pain is not controlled with current medications. Mood disturbance, physical disability, and quality of life all improved significantly during study treatment. Despite management with opioids and other pain modifying therapies, neuropathic pain continues to reduce the quality of life and daily functioning in HIV-infected individuals. Cannabinoid receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems have been shown to modulate pain perception. No serious adverse effects were reported, according to the study published by the American Academy of Neurology.

Brain cancer

A study by Complutense University of Madrid found the chemicals in marijuana promotes the death of brain cancer cells by essentially helping them feed upon themselves in a process called autophagy. The research team discovered that cannabinoids such as THC had anticancer effects in mice with human brain cancer cells and in people with brain tumors. When mice with the human brain cancer cells received the THC, the tumor shrank. Using electron microscopes to analyze brain tissue taken both before and after a 26- to 30-day THC treatment regimen, the researchers found that THC eliminated cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. The patients did not have any toxic effects from the treatment;  previous studies of  THC for the treatment of cancer have also found the therapy to be well tolerated. However, the mechanisms which promote THC’s tumor cell–killing action are unknown.

Opioid dependence

Injections of THC eliminate dependence on opiates in stressed rats, according to a research team at the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System (France). In the journal Neuropsychopharmacology Deprived of their mothers at birth, rats become hypersensitive to the rewarding effect of morphine and heroin (substances belonging to the opiate family), and rapidly became dependent. When these rats were administered THC, they no longer developed typical morphine-dependent behavior. In the striatum, a region of the brain involved in drug dependence, the production of endogenous enkephalins was restored under THC, whereas it diminished in rats stressed from birth which had not received THC. Researchers believe the findings could lead to therapeutic alternatives to existing substitution treatments.

In humans, drug treatment subjects who use cannabis intermittently are found to be more likely to adhere to treatment for opioid dependence. Historically, similar findings were reported by Clendinning, who in 1843 utilized cannabis substitution for the treatment of alcoholism and opium addiction and Birch, in 1889, who reported success in treating opiate and chloral addiction with cannabis.

Medicinal compounds

Cannabis contains over 300 compounds. 60 of these are cannabinoids, which are the basis for medical and scientific use of cannabis. This presents the research problem of isolating the effect of specific compounds and taking account of the interaction of these compounds. Cannabinoids can serve as appetite stimulants, antiemetics, antispasmodics, and have some analgesic effects. Three important cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant are cannabidiol, β-caryophyllene, and Cannabigerol.

 Cannabidiol

Cannabidiol (CBD), is a major constituent of medical cannabis. CBD represents up to 40% of extracts of the medical cannabis plant. Cannabidiol relieves convulsion, inflammation, anxiety, nausea, and inhibits cancer cell growth. Recent studies have shown cannabidiol to be as effective as atypical antipsychotics in treating schizophrenia. Because Cannabidiol relieves the aforementioned symptoms, cannabis strains with a high amount of CBD would be ideal for people with multiple sclerosis, frequent anxiety attacks and Tourette syndrome.

β-Caryophyllene

Part of the mechanism by which medical cannabis has been shown to reduce tissue inflammation is via the compound β-caryophyllene.A cannabinoid receptor called CB2 plays a vital part in reducing inflammation in humans and other animals.β-Caryophyllene has been shown to be a selective activator of the CB2 receptor.β-Caryophyllene is especially concentrated in cannabis essential oil, which contains about 12–35% β-caryophyllene.

Cannabigerol

Like cannabidiol, cannabigerol is not psychoactive but has been shown to lower blood pressure in rats greater than cannabinol.

Pharmacologic THC and THC derivatives

In the USA, the FDA has approved two cannabinoids for use as medical therapies: dronabinol (Marinol) and nabilone. These medicines are taken by use of capsules taken orally.

These medications are usually used when first line treatments for nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy fail to work. In extremely high doses and in rare cases “psychotomimetic” side effects are possible. The other commonly-used antiemetic drugs are not associated with these side effects.

The prescription drug Sativex, an extract of Cannabis administered as a sublingual spray, has been approved in Canada for the adjunctive treatment (use along side other medicines) of both multiple sclerosis and cancer related pain. This medication may be legally imported into the United Kingdom and Spain on prescription. William Notcutt is one of the chief researchers that has developed Sativex, and he has been working with GW and founder Geoffrey Guy since the company’s inception in 1998. Notcutt states that the use of MS as the disease to study “had everything to do with politics.”

Criticism

A major criticism of cannabis as medicine is the fact that smoking as a method of consumption is a health hazard in part due to the tobacco used.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisory against smoked medical marijuana stating that, “marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. Furthermore, there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful.”

The Institute of Medicine, run by the United States National Academy of Sciences, conducted a comprehensive study in 1999 to assess the potential health benefits of cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids. The study concluded that smoking cannabis is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition, but did conclude that nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety can all be mitigated by marijuana. While the study expressed reservations about smoked marijuana due to the health risks associated with smoking, the study team concluded that until another mode of ingestion was perfected that could provide the same relief as smoked marijuana, there was no alternative. In fact, modern vaporizers and the ingestion of cannabis in a decarboxylated state have laid most of these concerns to rest. In addition, the study pointed out the inherent difficulty in marketing a non patentable herb. Pharmaceutical companies will not substantially profit unless there is a patent. For those reasons, the Institute of Medicine concluded that there is little future in smoked cannabis as a medically approved medication. The report also concluded for certain patients, such as the terminally ill or those with debilitating symptoms, the long-term risks are not of great concern. (sic)

Marinol was less effective than the steroid megestrol in helping cancer patients regain lost appetites. A phase III study found no difference in effects of an oral cannabis extract or THC on appetite and quality of life (QOL) in patients with cancer-related anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS) to placebo.

Harm reduction

The harm caused by smoking can be minimized or eliminated by the use of a vaporizer or ingesting the drug in an edible form. This risk is also thought to be decreased by processing the cannabis leaves into hemp oil.

Vaporizers are devices that heat the active constituents of Cannabis in a partial vacuum that is then inhaled. There is no combustion of plant material and thus this prevents the formation of carcinogens such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, benzene and carbon monoxide. A pilot study led by Donald Abrams of UC San Francisco showed that vaporizers eliminate the release of irritants and toxic compounds, while delivering equivalent amounts of THC into the bloodstream.

In order to kill micro-organisms, especially the molds A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. niger, Levitz and Diamond suggested baking marijuana at 150 °C (302 °F) for five minutes. They also found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was not degraded by this process.

Organizational support

A number of medical organizations have endorsed allowing patients access to medical marijuana with their physicians’ approval. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The American College of Physicians – America’s second largest physicians group
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – America’s second largest cancer charity
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American Alliance for Medical Cannabis
• American Public Health Association
• American Psychiatric Association
• American Nurses Association
• British Medical Association
• AIDS Action
• American Academy of HIV Medicine
• Lymphoma Foundation of America
• Health Canada

History

Ancient China & ancient Taiwan

Cannabis, called dà má in Chinese, is known to have been used in Taiwan for fiber starting about 10,000 years ago. Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for approximately 4,000 years. In the early 3rd century AD, Hua Tuo was the first known person in China to use cannabis as an anesthetic. He reduced the plant to powder and mixed it with wine. Cannabis was prescribed to treat vomiting, plus infectious and parasitic hemorrhaging. Cannabis is one of the 50 “fundamental” herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.

Ancient Egypt

The Ebers Papyrus (ca. 1,550 B.C.) from Ancient Egypt describes medicinal marijuana. Other ancient Egyptian papyri that mention medicinal marijuana are the Ramesseum III Papyrus (1700 BC), the Berlin Papyrus (1300 BC) and the Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus VI (1300 BC). The ancient Egyptians even used hemp (cannabis) in suppositories for relieving the pain of hemorrhoids. The egyptologist Lise Manniche notes the reference to “plant medicinal marijuana” in several Egyptian texts, one of which dates back to the eighteenth century B.C.

Ancient India

Surviving texts from ancient India confirm that psychoactive properties in Cannabis were recognized, and doctors used it for a variety of illnesses and ailments. These included insomnia, headaches, a whole host of gastrointestinal disorders, and pain: cannabis was frequently used to relieve the pain of childbirth.

Ancient Greece

The Ancient Greeks used cannabis not only for human medicine, but also in veterinary medicine to dress wounds and sores on their horses.

In humans, dried leaves of cannabis were used to treat nose bleeds, and cannabis seeds were used to expel tapeworms. The most frequently described use of cannabis in humans was to steep green seeds of cannabis in either water or wine, later taking the seeds out and using the warm extract to treat inflammation and pain resulting from obstruction of the ear.

In the 5th century BCE Herodotus, a Greek historian, described how the Scythians of the Middle East used cannabis in steam baths.

Medieval Islamic world

In the medieval Islamic world, Arabic physicians made use of the diuretic, antiemetic, antiepileptic, anti-inflammatory, pain killing and antipyretic properties of Cannabis sativa, and used it extensively as medication from the 8th to 18th centuries.

Modern history

An Irish physician, William Brooke O’ Shaughnessy, is credited with introducing the therapeutic use of Cannabis to Western medicine. He was assistant-surgeon and Professor of Chemistry at the Medical College of Calcutta, and conducted a cannabis experiment in the 1830s, first testing his preparations on animals, then administering them to patients in order to help treat muscle spasms, stomach cramps or general pain.

Cannabis as a medicine became common throughout large parts  of the Western world by the 19th century. It was used as the primary pain reliever until the invention of aspirin. Modern medical and scientific inquiry began with doctors like O’ Shaughnessy and Moreau de Tours, who used it to treat melancholia and migraines, and as a sleeping aid, analgesic and anticonvulsant.

By the time the United States banned Cannabis in a federal law, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, the plant was no longer extremely popular. Skepticism about Cannabis arose in response to the bill. The situation was exacerbated by the stereotypes promoted by the media, that the drug was used primarily by Mexican and African immigrants. (sic).

In the late 20th century, researchers investigating methods of detecting cannabis intoxication discovered that smoking the drug reduced intraocular pressure. In 1973 physician Tod H. Mikuriya reignited the debate concerning Cannabis as medicine when he published “Marijuana Medical Papers”. High intraocular pressure causes blindness in glaucoma patients, so he believed that using the drug could prevent blindness in patients. Many Vietnam War veterans also believed that the drug prevented muscle spasms caused by battle-induced spinal injuries. Later medical use focused primarily on its role in preventing the wasting syndromes and chronic loss of appetite associated with chemotherapy and AIDS, along with a variety of rare muscular and skeletal disorders.

Later, in the 1970′s, a synthetic version of THC, the primary active ingredient in cannabis, was synthesized to make the drug Marinol. Users reported several problems with Marinol leading many to abandon capsules and resume smoking the plant. Patients complained that the violent nausea associated with chemotherapy made swallowing capsules difficult. The effects of smoked cannabis are felt almost immediately, and it is therefore easily dosed. Marinol, like ingested cannabis is harder to titrate than smoked cannabis. Some studies have indicated that other chemicals in the plant may have a synergistic effect with THC.

In addition, during the 1970′s and 1980′s, six health departments in U.S. states performed studies on the use of medicinal cannabis. These are widely considered some of the most useful and pioneering studies on the subject.Voters in eight states showed their support for Cannabis prescriptions or recommendations given by physicians between 1996 and 1999, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, going against policies of the federal government.

In May 2001, “The Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis” (Russo, Mathre, Byrne et al.) was completed. This three-day examination of major body functions of four of the five living US federal cannabis patients found “mild pulmonary changes” in two patients.

On October 7, 2003 a patent entitled “Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants” (#6,630,507) was awarded to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, based on research done at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). This patent claims that cannabinoids are “useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.”

In an essay entitled Physicians Are Not Bootleggers, bioethicist Jacob Appel compared the medicinal cannabis movement to the medicinal alcohol movement that took place during the Prohibition era of the 1920s in the United States. Just as modern physicians who want the right to prescribe cannabis may or may not support its legalization for use without a prescription, the essay notes that physicians in the 1920s who wanted the right to prescribe alcohol were not uniformly in favor of repealing Prohibition. They were united instead by their opposition to what they saw as unwarranted governmental interference in the practice of medicine.

National and International Regulations

Cannabis is in Schedule IV of the United Nations´ Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, making it subject to special restrictions. Article 2 provides for the following, in reference to Schedule IV drugs:

A Party shall, if in its opinion the prevailing conditions in its country render it the most appropriate means of protecting the public health and welfare, prohibit the production, manufacture, export and import of, trade in, possession or use of any such drug except for amounts which may be necessary for medical and scientific research only, including clinical trials therewith to be conducted under or subject to the direct supervision and control of the Party.

The convention thus allows countries to outlaw cannabis for all non-research purposes but lets nations choose to allow medical and scientific purposes if they believe total prohibition is not the most appropriate means of protecting health and welfare. The convention requires that states that permit the production or use of medical cannabis must operate a licensing system for all cultivators,manufacturers and distributors and ensure that the total cannabis market of the state shall not exceed that required “for medical and scientific purposes.”

Austria

In Austria both Δ⁹-THC and pharmaceutical preparations containing Δ⁹-THC are listed in annex IV of the Narcotics Decree (Suchtgiftverordnung) Compendial formulations are manufactured upon prescription according to the German Neues Rezeptur-Formularium.

On July 9, 2008 the Austrian Parliament approved cannabis cultivation for scientific and medical uses..Cannabis cultivation is controlled by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit, AGES).

Canada

In Canada, the regulation on access to marijuana for medical purposes, established by Health Canada in July 2001, defines two categories of patients eligible for access to medical cannabis. Category 1 is comprised of any symptoms treated within the context of providing compassionate end-of-life care or the symptoms associated with medical conditions listed below:

• severe pain and/or persistent muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis, from a spinal cord injury, from spinal cord disease,
• severe pain, cachexia, anorexia, weight loss, and/or severe nausea from cancer or HIV/AIDS infection,
• severe pain from severe forms of arthritis, or
• seizures from epilepsy.

Category 2 is for applicants who have debilitating symptom(s) of medical condition(s), other than those described in Category 1. The application of eligible patients must be supported by a medical practitioner.

The cannabis distributed by Health Canada is provided under the brand CannaMed by the company Prairie Plant Systems Inc. In 2006, 420 kg of CannaMed cannabis was sold, representing an increase of 80% over the previous year. However, patients complain of the single strain selection as well as low potency, providing a pre-ground product put through a wood chipper (which deteriorates rapidly) as well as gamma irradation and foul taste and smell.

It is also legal for patients approved by Health Canada to grow their own cannabis for personal consumption, and it’s possible to obtain a production license as a person designated by a patient. Designated producers were permitted to grow a cannabis supply for only a single patient, however. That regulation and related restrictions on supply were found unconstitutional by the Federal Court of Canada in January, 2008. The court found that these regulations did not allow a sufficient legal supply of medical cannabis, and thus forced many patients to purchase their medicine from unauthorized, black market sources. This was the eighth time in the previous ten years that the courts ruled against Health Canada’s regulations restricting the supply of the medicine.

In May, 2009, Health Canada revised their earlier regulations to permit licensed, designated producers to grow cannabis for a maximum of two patients. The move was called a “mockery” of the court’s intention by lawyer Ron Marzel, who represented plaintiffs in the successful challenge in Federal Court to Health Canada’s previously-existing rules. Marzel has announced plans to ask the court to overturn all prohibitions on cannabis use if Health Canada refuses to create regulations that will allow an adequate legal supply for use by medically-authorized patients.

Germany

In Germany dronabinol was rescheduled 1994 from annex I to annex II of the Narcotics Law (Betäubungsmittelgesetz) in order to ease research; in 1998 dronabinol was rescheduled from annex II to annex III and since then has been available by prescription, whereas Δ⁹-THC is still listed in annex I.Manufacturing instructions for dronabinol containing compendial formulations are described in the Neues Rezeptur-Formularium.

Spain

In Spain, since the late 1990s and early 2000s, medical cannabis underwent a process of progressive decriminalization and legalisation. The parliament of the region of Catalonia is the first in Spain have voted unanimously in 2001 legalizing medical marijuana, it is quickly followed by parliaments of Aragon and the Balearic Islands. The Spanish Penal Code prohibits the sale of cannabis but it does not prohibit consumption. Until early 2000, the Penal Code did not distinguish between therapeutic use of cannabis and recreational use, however, several court decisions show that this distinction is increasingly taken into account by the judges. From 2006, the sale of seed is legalized, the sale and public consumption remains illegal, and private cultivation and use are permitted.

Several studies have been conducted to study the effects of cannabis on patients suffering from diseases like cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, seizures or asthma. This research was conducted by various Spanish agencies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid headed by Manuel Guzman, the hospital of La Laguna in Tenerife led neurosurgeon Luis González Feria or the University of Barcelona.

Several cannabis consumption clubs and user associations have been established throughout Spain. These clubs, the first of which was created in 1991, are non-profit associations who grow cannabis and sell it at cost to its members. The legal status of these clubs is uncertain: in 1997, four members of the first club, the Barcelona Ramón Santos Association of Cannabis Studies, were sentenced to 4 months in prison and a 3000 euro fine, while at about the same time, the court of Bilboa ruled that another club was not in violation of the law. The Andalusian regional government also commissioned a study by criminal law professors on the “Therapeutic use of cannabis and the creation of establishments of acquisition and consumption. The study concluded that such clubs are legal as long as they distribute only to a restricted list of legal adults, provide only the amount of drugs necessary for immediate consumption, and not earn a profit. The Andalusian government never formally accepted these guidelines and the legal situation of the clubs remains insecure. In 2006 and 2007, members of these clubs were acquitted in trial for possession and sale of cannabis and the police were ordered to return seized crops.

United States

In the United States, it is important to differentiate between medical cannabis at the federal and at the state level. At the federal level, cannabis per se has been made criminal by implementation of the Controlled Substances Act which classifies marijuana is a Schedule I drug, the strictest classification on par with heroin, LSD and Ecstasy, and the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution allowed the government to ban the use of cannabis, including medical use. The United States Food and Drug Administration states “marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision”.

On the state level, 13 states have legalized medical marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island Vermont and Washington; , and Maryland allows for reduced penalties if cannabis use has a medical basis. California, Colorado, New Mexico, Maine, and Rhode Island are currently the only states to utilize dispensaries to sell medical cannabis. California’s medical marijuana industry took in about $2 billion a year and generated $100 million in state sales taxes during 2008with an estimated 2,100 dispensaries, co-operatives, wellness clinics and taxi delivery services in the sector colloquially known as “cannabusiness”.

On 19 October 2009 the US Deputy Attorney General issued a US Department of Justice memorandum to “All United States Attorneys” providing clear clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors in US States that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana. The document is intended solely as “a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion and as guidance on resource allocation and federal priorities.” The US Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden provided seven criteria, the application of which acts as a guideline to prosecutors and federal agents to ascertain whether a patients use, or their caregivers provision, of medical marijuana “represents part of a recommended treatment regiment consistent with applicable state law”, and recommends against prosecuting patients using medical cannabis products according to state laws. Not applying those criteria, the Dep. Attorney General Ogden concludes, would likely be “an inefficient use of limited federal resources”. The memorandum does not change any laws. Sale of cannabis remains illegal under federal law unless there is a very rare permission. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s position, that marijuana has no accepted value in the treatment of any disease in the United States, has also remained the same. Nevertheless, the memorandum is seen by some United States commentators to be the first step in which President Obama’s Administration may come good on its pre-election promise to address the issue of medical marijuana in federal policymaking.

The Health and Human Services Division of the federal government holds a patent for medical marijuana. The patent, “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants”, issued October 2003 reads: “Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia…”

See also

• Legality of cannabis by country
• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
• Tilden’s Extract
• Chinese herbology

References | Further Reading | Links

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