Paging Dr. Dope: 3 Conditions Treated by Medical Cannabis

Introduced into western medicine for its reported analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and anticonvulsant effects in 1839, cannabis use for medicinal purposes actually dates back at least 3,000 years.

However, it’s only been recently that medical cannabis — legal in Canada since 2001 — has begun to emerge beyond contrasting viewpoints to gain wider acceptance for its ability to aid in a variety of chronic medical conditions.

Here are three of them.

1. Cancer

Though current research does not show that it can control or cure the disease, the idea that medical cannabis can help with the symptoms and side effects of cancer, or at least some of them, is gaining traction. According to the American Cancer Society, a number of small studies have found that smoked marijuana can be helpful in treating nausea and vomiting from cancer chemotherapy. Likewise, that inhaled (smoked or vaporized) marijuana can be conducive to the treatment of neuropathic pain caused by damaged nerves, while people who took marijuana extracts in clinical trials tended to need less pain medicine. What’s more, that THC and other cannabinoids, such as CBD, slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes.

2. Multiple sclerosis

There is currently no cure for multiple sclerosis, but some scientific institutions have concluded that medical cannabis is proven or highly likely, as measured by self-reported symptoms, to help ease stiffness and muscle spasms common with the disease. Specifically, in a study published by the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, researchers gave people with MS either an oral extract of marijuana or a placebo for 12 weeks. They found that those in the marijuana group experienced almost twice as much relief from muscle stiffness. Similarly, in a larger 2011 study that involved 572 patients, it was determined that marijuana extract is an effective treatment for MS-related spasticity. Evidence further suggests that marijuana or its cannabinoid compounds may ease sleep problems for some of those suffering with the degenerative condition.

3. Spinal cord disease

Studies have documented medical cannabis for spinal cord disease, and its ability to fight spasticity and pain in patients with the disorder, as early as the 1970s. More recently, participants in a joint University of Otago, Christchurch and Burwood Academy of Independent Living study identified that it can help people with spinal cord injuries better tolerate almost constant and excruciating pain, as well as participate in community and family life without feeling like quote-unquote zombies. Another study, this one by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, deduced that cannabinoid agonists (CBD and THC) can have remarkable analgesic capabilities in regards to spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of chronic refractory pain.

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This article was written by Chris Metler. 

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This article was published March 31, 2020.