The designation of cannabis as a Schedule I Controlled Substance has impeded research, but the discovery of the endocannabinoid system over two decades ago has triggered a recent explosion of scientific investigation into cannabis as medicine. While scientists have learned a tremendous amount from this research, it is my patients’ experiences that have truly informed me about medical cannabis.
In the following section, I have reviewed the scientific literature for each condition as it relates to cannabis. Some illnesses have been studied in depth, while others have not been studied at all. The variables in studying cannabis and the endocannabinoid system are almost too many to count. Much of the research used synthetic THC, which is quite different from natural whole plant cannabis. Some of the research used an orally administered THC, which has erratic absorption and significant individual differences in effects, due to the wide variation of metabolism from person to person. Research on the effects of CBD often uses the isolated CBD molecule that is difficult to compare to CBD-rich chemovars that contain other cannabinoids and terpenoids. With this single molecule treatment, the entourage effect is lost. Although animals have endocannabinoid systems, it is difficult to use them as a comparison to human physiology. If patients recruited into a study have varying endocannabinoid system dysfunction (or lack of dysfunction), the outcome of the study may also be skewed in a certain direction.
All of these factors must be taken into account when using research to decide if you should use cannabis. I find that patient experience often does not reflect the conclusions reached in studies, probably due to the variables I’ve mentioned above. Although I see people with many different conditions in my office, I find a thread of commonality among many of them.
Chronic illnesses that prompt a patient to seek out medical cannabis treatment have very similar basic symptoms – chronic pain, disruption of sleep, anxiety, depression and inability to participate in life – all of which are treated effectively with cannabis.
Although most conditions are not cured with cannabis, managing and sometimes eliminating these symptoms with a non-toxic natural medicine allows patients to experience an improved quality of life that is not controlled by illness. Being able to participate in life, at home and at work, as well as the elimination of suffering is what my patients report to me every single day.
Cannabis is medicine.