WeedLife News Network

A recent study found that medical marijuana fails to improve symptoms of pain, anxiety and depression and effectively doubles the risk of developing addictive symptoms and cannabis use disorder (CUD).

The study, published by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital on March 18, also noted that up to one in five users of cannabis may develop CUD.

"There have been many claims about the benefits of medical marijuana for treating pain, insomnia, anxiety and depression, without sound scientific evidence to support them," said Professor Jodi Gilman in a news release.

At least 1.4 million Americans are using marijuana for their health, according to an Associated Press analysis of states that track medical marijuana patients.

And while marijuana has been shown to help ease pain and a few other health problems, two-thirds of U.S. states have decided pot should be legal to treat many other conditions with little scientific backing.

Cannabis has become an increasingly popular source of pain management for medical ailments. With growing frequency, patients with breast cancer are turning to cannabis to help them cope with symptoms and side effects. An online survey of 612 patients with breast cancer, led by Dr. Marisa Weiss, Pennsylvania-based chief medical officer at Breastcancer.org, found that 42% used cannabis to relieve their symptoms. Most patients with breast cancer (79%) reported using cannabis to ease pain and discomfort from chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. A total of 78% of patients used cannabis for pain relief, 70% used it to counter insomnia, 57% used it to relieve anxiety, 51% used it to relieve stress, and 46% used it to counter nausea or vomiting.

Despite the large number patients who gained relief from cannabis, only 39% felt comfortable informing their physicians of their cannabis use. Especially given that marijuana is not federally legal, fear grips many patients regarding the prospect of discussing cannabis use with physicians. Dr. Weiss suggests that patients want to avoid being judged, or worse, getting into trouble for simply trying to help themselves from a medical perspective. What’s more, many patients who did speak with their physicians left feeling disappointed by their doctors’ dearth of knowledge as to the benefits of cannabis for medical treatment.

This leaves many patients with few options other than turning to the Internet for cannabis information. According to Dr. Weiss, 67% of cannabis users obtained their knowledge of medicinal marijuana online. About 56% got information from family, friends, or “budtenders”—cannabis dispensary workers who are not pharmacists. Dispensary pharmacists educated 36% of cannabis-using patients, and alternative healthcare providers, like acupuncturists or chiropractors, informed 18% of cannabis-using patients. A mere 12% of cannabis-using patients obtained medicinal marijuana information from their physicians, and an even fewer 7% obtained that information from a nurse.

Kevin Boehnke of the University of Michigan’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center stresses that although marijuana use is legal for medicinal use, this does not eliminate the stigma, legal ramifications, and possible medical issues surrounding it. According to Boehnke, health professionals are often hesitant to discuss and suggest medicinal marijuana use with patients due to the lack of supportive data available.

Can the the opioid crisis be dealt with head on if there’s expanded medical marijuana use? That’s the topic of a South by Southwest panel in Austin Tuesday, exploring what that would look like and whether it would be effective here in Texas.

Opioid use is a big talker right now, in light of a recent uptick in overdoses in Austin. Officials have warned this impacts the entire state as they haven’t pinpointed where the drugs are coming from.

Texas lawmakers are currently researching the impact of fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths in the state, looking into ways to best deal with opioid abuse.

Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation Dispensary is one of few in the entire state of Texas.

USA medical hemp company Ananda Professional is opening enrollment for its study of endometriosis and other forms of pelvic pain.

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside it. It can be a painful and at times debilitating condition.

Ananda Professional, one of Australian company Ecofibre’s businesses, has committed $40 million to advance the clinical evidence for hemp extract, including this study – which goes by the curious acronym of FREE HER (Finding Relief from Endometriosis and Exclusion).

The study, which planned to enroll 300 participants, will assist Ananda Professional in gathering information on how medications and other substances can reduce complaints of pelvic pain and related issues.

Each participant will be in the study for about one week and there are no treatments or procedures involved. However, study participants will receive one bottle of a cannabidiol (CBD) based cream; the use of which is entirely voluntary. Participants will also receive a $30 gift card if they complete the questionnaires over the 7-day study.

Most drugs come with their fair share of tall tales. These range from the fearful to the reverent, granting these substances powers that do not align with their actual effects. Cannabis is one drug that has been both understudied and over-mythologized.

“Cannabis has been around for a long time, but it has not been well studied,” said Harriet de Wit, PhD, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago.

“People have decided for themselves what it’s good for. It’s hard for us to know how much of those effects are pharmacological or just expectancy.”

As cannabis legalization and access expands, it becomes increasingly crucial for people to understand it more fully. Part of this understanding requires learning how cannabis can uniquely impact different populations.

De Wit is studying the effects of THC — the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — in specific groups of people. Her research team recently released two papers on the effects of cannabis in women and adolescents. The studies measured real-time effects of THC in human participants in tightly controlled settings. They found that increasing doses of THC can increase bodily anxiety in women, and that compared to adults, adolescents are more negatively impacted by THC on cognitive tasks.

Participants in the Radicle ACES study experienced significant improvement in five different health indicators while taking CBD, but they felt no difference between products with various cannabinoid spectrums.

While the effects of CBD on people are just starting to be studied, the effects of individual products have been mostly anecdotal. But a recent study has attempted to shed light on individual products and the cannabinoid as a whole.

Radicle ACES (Advancing CBD Education & Science), an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved a study conducted by Radicle Science that included 13 different CBD brands, concluded late last year. Radicle Science is led by Dr. Jeffrey Chen MD/MBA, founder and former director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative, and Pelin Thorogood, president and co-founder of the Wholistic Research and Education Foundation.

The study took place over four weeks and included nearly 3,000 participants who were randomly assigned to take one of 13 CBD products, each from a different brand, in order to analyze the products’ effects on quality of life, well-being, anxiety, sleep quality and pain. (Meanwhile, one control group did not take any CBD products).

Overall, the study showed CBD had a significant impact on the participants–those taking a CBD product experienced “statistically significant improvement” across all health outcomes, Jessica Saleska, who led the research, said in an email. 

“The Radicle ACES study represents the largest clinical trial ever conducted on commercially-available CBD products and provides first-of-its-kind real-world evidence into what conditions users may experience benefit from CBD usage, whether these benefits are clinically meaningful, what attributes of CBD products may impact health outcomes, and what side effects may occur,” Saleska said.

The Arizona Department of Health Services wants to know who has the desire and credentials to do human studies on whether marijuana can treat health conditions such as autism. The agency is also asking researchers to estimate their yearly cost to do clinical trials.

The callout is a step toward issuing competitive grants — potentially worth $25 million over five years — to pay for marijuana clinical trials.

Priority review will eventually go to human studies that would focus on conditions such as epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and pain.

Dr. Tally Largent-Milnes, assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Arizona, wants to someday learn if cannabis can treat migraines.   

“But until we are able to run these clinical trials in a well-thought out manner, we’re never going to know the answer,” she said.

Advocates suffering from chronic pain have launched the ‘What About Us’ campaign outside Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament in Dublin.

In Ireland, people with chronic pain are seeking legal access to medical cannabis, arguing that the current scheme is too restrictive.

Ireland’s medical marijuana program has only three qualifying conditions: plasticity associated with MS, nausea associated with chemotherapy and treatment-resistant epilepsy.

What About Us? Campaign

Advocates suffering from chronic pain have launched the ‘What About Us’ campaign outside Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament in Dublin.

Supported by People Before Profit parliament member, Gino Kenny, the group is calling on the Department of Health to expand the use of medical cannabis to include those with chronic pain.

 “The program is too restrictive; it’s only benefiting a handful of people. We think it’s not fit for purpose, so it has to expand,” Kenny said.

Those who ditch their habits before the age of 30 “do not have lower economic and relationship success, and life quality.”

A new study out of Australia suggests that the future life success of adolescent cannabis and amphetamine consumers is not affected if they break the habit before the age of 30.

“In a community sample, cannabis as well as cannabis and amphetamine use and/or use disorder in the adolescent period does not appear to predict life success in adulthood for those whose use has ceased prior to 30 years of age,” authors explain in the study, published this week in the peer-reviewed journal, Addiction Research & Theory.

A University of Queensland study from 2015 found lower quality of life (QoL) in the early teenage years predicted subsequent onset of cannabis use in young adulthood.

“Frequent use of cannabis does not appear to enhance the user’s QOL and appears to be associated with a reduced QOL into young adulthood.”

With the latest study, investigators wanted to shed light on the extent that cannabis and amphetamines use up to age 21 predicts life success at age 30. Onset use among study participants ranged from 15 to 19 years.

NIDA seeks to characterize the composition/potency, the pattern of use, and methods of administration of cannabis products

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the lead federal agency supporting scientific research on drug use and its consequences, is promoting federally funded research in cannabis expressing interest in studies on differing cannabis regulatory models and consumption patterns across the U.S., reported Marijuana Moment.

On Friday, the agency issued a notice of interest with instructions for researchers on how to apply for funding.

“Policies around cannabis products (including whole-plant cannabis and cannabis constituent compounds) in the United States (and globally) continue to evolve, and far outpace the knowledge needed to determine the public health impacts of these changes,” the notice says.

“Growing numbers of states have loosened restrictions on cannabis, including those on sales and use, bypassing medical marijuana laws or by making cannabis legal for adult recreational use, and in increasing numbers, states have done both.

In 2018 NIDA sought input from a National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (NACDA) workgroup to identify cannabis policy research areas with the greatest urgency and potential for impact.

More than 500 ounces of potentially contaminated marijuana — including some that tested positive for a fungus that can lead to lung infections or death — was quietly returned to store shelves in Michigan late last year, an MLive investigation revealed.

“So, DMT vapes have now been patented,” Graham Pechenik, a San Francisco-based registered patent attorney, tweeted earlier this month.

“This is how patent trolls function,” Pechenik tells The GrowthOp’s Sam Riches following his Twitter post that sparked online outrage.

Graham Pechenik is a registered patent attorney and the founder of Calyx Law. Photo provided.

Psychedelics may find a smoother path toward federal legalization than cannabis has.

In this segment from Backstage Pass, recorded on Feb. 4, Motley Fool contributor Rachel Warren speaks with Tim Schlidt, co-founder and partner at psychedelic investment fund Palo Santo, about his work to help increase the supply of clinically effective and accessible mental health and addiction treatment solutions. Schlidt explains why he believes the pathway to federal legalization for psychedelics is much clearer than the approach cannabis is taking, for a multitude of reasons.

Rachel Warren: Psychedelic therapeutics, they are starting to gain broader recognition in the mainstream medical community. But at the same time, these treatments are still viewed by many with caution given their potential for abuse and even long-term negative outcomes in some cases. On the other hand, as we've been discussing, Wall Street seems to really be quite bullish about this space. This reminds me in some ways of how many investors have approached cannabis industry, which also as you mentioned faces a quasi legal landscape. I'm curious, do you think that the psychedelic therapeutics market could eventually outpace that of the cannabis market?

Tim Schlidt: I'm hesitant to say, it depends on how we define out pace, of course. I think from a market sizing standpoint, if cannabis could replace alcohol, the market potential there is very, very large. I will concede that point. Where I think this could certainly outpace cannabis is again from a regulatory perspective. I think the pathway to federal legalization is much, much better than the approach cannabis is taking for a multitude of reasons. That FDA pathway to DEA rescheduling I think is very superior. I forgot to mention earlier, we've seen a lot of case studies where this has occurred previously, be it Epidiolex, Marinol, Syndros, Xyrem, there's a lot of now-prescribed medications that were scheduled and got rescheduled upon FDA approval.

Also cannabis, even if you do achieve federal legalization, it's gone by such a state-by-state pathway that I think states are going to be hesitant to give up their tax revenue around cannabis. You're going to see this whole messy patchwork of state regulations versus federal regulations that you're just not dealing with that nearly as much here. It's a lot cleaner as a pathway. They will certainly outpace cannabis I think in terms of their timeline to market. We're seeing that already with maps advancing MDMA for PTSD, that will likely hit the market in 2023. Compass Pathways with psilocybin for treatment of resistant depression likely 2025 that that hits the market. It's within the next few years we could see psychedelics being prescribed for medical applications.

One other comment I'll make, just your comment on potential for abuse. I actually think psychedelics are much better than many known medications that are prescribed. Even we now know cannabis, there is some physical dependency around cannabis. With psychedelics, there's no physical dependency, at least for the classic psychedelics like an LSD, a mescaline, a psilocybin, since these are much more serotonin-based rather than dopamine-based, you don't really induce addictive behavior. Usually, any medications that activate your reward system, which is largely dopamine receptors and operating on those neurons, that's where you tend to see more abuse potential. We also know opioids as well, very potent opioid receptors.

New studies are showing how cannabinoids are helping patients with post-COVID recovery.

COVID-19 has taken countless lives worldwide, but thankfully with the vaccine, many have also been able to survive it.

However, surviving COVID-19 is not an easy feat. In many cases, the dreaded virus leaves damage in the bodies which we can feel for far long after we have tested negative. There are the usual symptoms such as dry cough, fever, colds, and shortness of breath.

The duration and severity of symptoms differs from one person to another, but there are also some people who will experience symptoms that will linger for a longer period of time. Depending on the case, the fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest pains, stomach pains, brain fog, muscle pain, headaches, and heart palpitations among others.

When the symptoms persist for as long as 12 weeks after the infection, this is known as long COVID, and these conditions are not yet well understood. Doctors and researchers don’t know why it happens, who it will happen to, and how to prevent it. Of course, getting your vaccine helps reduce any complications, and a booster shot even if you have gotten COVID will also help. There is not much we can do to help treat it other than rest as much as you can, and for as long as it takes. Additionally, seeing your doctor to check for any complications will also help.

But what else can we do?

How Cannabis Can Aid In COVID Recovery

As we all know, the marijuana industry has grown substantially in recent years, with sales expected to hit $25 billion by 2025.

Revenue growth has been driven by more and more states legalizing the plant. In states like Illinois, cannabis sales pulled in nearly $1.4 billion in 2021,  exceeding liquor taxes by nearly $100 million over the same period, after outpacing it for the first time in February. (article originally appeared on Benzinga)

However, with the plant still illegal under federal law  – something that might change when/if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his colleagues file the long-awaited bill this April – conflict and ambiguity regarding the tax policy persist, creating "significant problems" for IRS and financial regulators, not to mention cannabis operators and companies.

With tax season upon us, confusion over whether medical marijuana is tax-deductible has come up, writes Marijuana Moment.

In an interview with C-SPAN's Washington Journal, IRS taxpayer advocate Erin Collins was asked by a caller from Nevada, where cannabis is fully legal, why he couldn't find an option on TurboTax to deduct his cannabis purchases!

Collins, appointed during the Trump administration, said she'd have to "plead ignorance on the marijuana" question "unless you're saying it's a medical deduction.

Should terminal patients be able to get cannabis while at the hospital or hospice?

Even in states where cannabis has been legalized for medical use, patients struggle to find the information that they need when it comes to using cannabis as medicine.

There’s tons of questions that overwhelm patients: how much cannabis to use, what method of administration is best, how often to take it, and so much more. Given these circumstances, most patients are left to their own devices when it comes to deciding how to use cannabis. And even then, doctors still don’t feel that they are equipped with the right knowledge to prescribe cannabis as a medication or part of their therapy.

Having said that, we are severely limiting the impact cannabis could have on the lives of patients, especially those who are terminally ill. There is already an astounding body of evidence that cannabis can make life more manageable for those with cancer, struggling through chemotherapy and radiation, Parkinson’s Disease, and so much more.

So why can’t patients be given cannabis medications in the hospital, supervised the way they are with conventional medications?

California Is A Pioneer

In December 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom made waves by signing a legislation from Senator Ben Hueso that would offer more choices for end-of-life options for locals with the requirement that certain healthcare facilities and hospitals would allow terminally-ill patients to use medical marijuana for pain relief or as part of their treatment.

The Legislature can and should end this harmful discrimination against qualified patients and dispensaries.

Scottish epilepsy patients as young as two could be given new cannabis-based medication today approved for use on the NHS.

Health bosses have given the green light to Epidyolex, which can help treat the symptoms of a rare genetic disease affecting around one in 10,000 people.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) causes tumours to grow in the body and around 80% of patients develop epilepsy from it, typically in their first year of life.

Additionally, for the majority of people, their condition doesn’t respond to standard anti-seizure medication – making today’s Scottish Medical Consortium decision a potential game-changer.

Scotland has become the second UK nation to approve the oral solution for use, following Wales.

Medication ‘desperately needed’ for families

Louise Fish, the chief executive of the Tuberous Sclerosis Association, says life could now be very different for those with the debilitating condition.

A long-term study tracking just over a thousand participants has found regular cannabis smoking can change the function of your lungs as you age. Unlike smoking a cigarette, however, cannabis seems to impact a person's breathing in a slightly different way. 

Ultimately, the authors found both changes lead to similar end results – constricting airways and leading to hyperinflation and gas trapping.

These patterns of lung function match previous results from the same cohort, which were collected 13 years earlier when the participants were 32 years of age.

"Although the effects of cannabis were detrimental, the pattern of lung function changes was not the same," says respiratory specialist Bob Hancox from the University of Otago in New Zealand.

"The research found that prolonged cannabis use led to over-inflated lungs and increased the resistance to airflow to a greater extent than tobacco."

Cannabis consumers who had used the drug 11 to 100 times or more were four to five years younger “when they developed cataracts than subjects who never used cannabis.”

Researchers were not surprised by their recent findings, but argue added study is needed to determine if cannabis smoking, like cigarette smoking, is a risk factor for developing cataracts.

“Like tobacco smoke, cannabis smoke contains thousands of organic and inorganic chemical compounds,” U.S. investigators write in the study, published on Jan. 31 in the Journal Français d’Ophtalmologie.

In the new study, the authors point out that cannabis tar is chemically similar to tobacco smoke tar. That, coupled with the fact that more than 50 known carcinogens have been identified in cannabis tar, means “the association of cannabis with cataracts that we report here is not entirely surprising.”

To get a firmer grasp of the association, if any, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and at Severn Health Solutions analyzed data from the U.K. Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research resource, containing genetic and health information from half a million U.K. participants.

All subjects had cataracts and their tobacco/cannabis habits were known. Those who had ever smoked cannabis were included as part of the study group.