Medicinal Cannabis

•  Effects of cannabis extracts

1.  In medicine:

a.Cannabinoids in medicine:
As we said before that the two main cannabinoids from marijuana that are used in
medicine are THC and CBD. For THC, it has many medical uses such as,
increasing appetite and reducing nausea. Also, it decreases pain as we said before.
In addition it has an effect on inflammation (swelling and redness), finally muscle
control problem.
CBD is a cannabinoid that doesn’t make people high and that’s why it is
considered with THC the most effective and efficient cannabinoid extraction, also
both are not used in recreational mood since they don’t make people drunk when
comparing to other cannabinoid. CBD is useful in reducing pain and inflammation
too, and also it reduces the number of epileptic seizures affecting the person per
day to be per month, and it treats mental illness and addictions. Many researchers,
including those done by NIH (National Institutes of Health), are continuing to
examine the possible uses of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids extracts that
may be used in medicine. Early studies and researches on animal have shown that
cannabinoid extracts may help kill specific cancer cells and decrease the size of
others. Proof from one cell cultural study suggest that the purified extracts from
the whole plant can reduce the growth of cancer cells from one of the most
effective type of brain tumors. The research done on mice has showed that the
treatment by THC and CBD, when it is done with radiation, can increase the
killing effect of the cancer cells by radiation. Scientists are also doing preclinical
and clinical experiments on extracts to treat symptoms of illness and other
conditions, such as: diseases that affects the immune system (HIV/AIDS, multiple
sclerosis ‘MS’ that causes loss of muscle control). And, inflammation, pain,
seizures, mental disorders.




b. Marijuana as medicine:
It is most used in US for pain control, but it is not strong for severe pain (broken
bone), it is very effective for chronic pain that affect many American people
especially as they get older. Also it is safer than morphine-like products (less
addictive), marijuana can substitute the use of ADVIL or ALEVE especially for
those people who suffer from problems in their kidneys.
Marijuana appears to decrease the pain of multiple sclerosis, and nerve pain.
Patients demand that marijuana let them resume their activities without feeling
completely by the pain.
Marijuana is said to be a good muscle relaxant, and all the people they use they
said that it is able to decrease the shakes in Parkinson’s disease.
It is also used to control nausea and weight loss, and for glaucoma. Medical
marijuana is also reported to help patients suffering from pain wasting syndrome
that is associated with HIV, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. 95
Marijuana use can lead to the development of problem use, known as a marijuana
use disorder, which takes the form of addiction in severe cases, so marijuana
makes you high and it is rich in THC. Recent data suggest that 30 percent of those
who use marijuana may have some degree of marijuana use disorder.18 People
who begin using marijuana before the age of are four to seven times more likely
to develop a marijuana use disorder than adults.

2. Side effects of THC and CBD
As a conclusion for the medical effects of CBD and THC that are almost similar.
However, CBD doesn’t make euphoric effect or make people high as THC, so people
may like to use CBD because of the lack of this side effect. CBD tends to help people
having seizures, inflammation, pain, mental disorders, migraines, nausea, depression, and
anxiety. While THC, it helps people who have pain, muscle spasticity, glaucoma, low
appetite, nausea, and anxiety.
CBD has no side effects even if it is given in large doses. Research suggests that any side
effect resulting from CBD use is from drug-to-drug interactions between CBD and other
medications. While for THC it causes some side effects such as increasing the heart rate,
coordination problems, dry mouth, red eyes, and memory loss, these side effects are the
psychoactive properties of the compound. The compound is not fatal, but the high use of
THC may result in negative psychiatric effects. And it may affect the brain and this will
increase the risk for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.


3. Addiction!!
We know that THC found in marijuana gives its users a ‘high’ feeling that can lead to a
dependence in some cases (not always), so we must know about CBD if it makes
addiction or not?
We must know first how addiction works. Addictive substance result a release in
dopamine in the brain, then the body become dependent on the substance, which results
in dangerous effects if the person stop using it. Since CBD, does not produce a large
amount of dopamine, then it will not make any person using it feel high and there is no
euphoria. Then we conclude that CBD is not addictive. Also, CBD works to balance the
levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, and because it is not addictive then when you
stop using it there are no symptoms will appear.
So why THC that is found in high levels in marijuana causes in some cases dependencies
and CBD don’t. Not only the release of dopamine can cause this problem but also the
interaction between the receptors in the Endocannabinoid system. CBD does not bind to a
specific receptor set in the brain, while THC binds directly to receptors, then the frequent
binding to specific receptors is what produces the addiction.
The problem is here where 90% of the addictive persons will make many troubles if there
is no money to buy it, and the problem starts and it can leads to crimes and many bad
things and also it can leads to drug intake and then death, because the addicted person
will do anything to get marijuana.