Medical Cannabis May Help Treat Mental Health Problems and Opioid Addiction

By News Medical | November 16, 2016
Using marijuana could help some alcoholics and people addicted to opioids kick their habits, a UBC study has found.

“Research suggests that people may be using cannabis as an exit drug to reduce the use of substances that are potentially more harmful, such as opioid pain medication,” says the study’s lead investigator Zach Walsh, an associate professor of psychology at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

This comprehensive systematic review of research on the Medical Cannabis use and mental health also found some evidence that cannabis may help with symptoms of depression, PTSD and social anxiety. However, the review concluded that cannabis use might not be recommended for conditions such as bipolar disorder and psychosis.

“In reviewing the limited evidence on Medical Cannabis, it appears that patients and others who have advocated for Cannabis as a tool for harm reduction and mental health have some valid points,” says Walsh. - Full Article

Veterans Affairs Data: Medical Marijuana Use Increases When Cannabis Shops, Clubs Are Accessible

By Huffington Post Canada | September 5, 2016
When he opened a medical marijuana shop in Kingston earlier this year, Trevor Hands had little idea who his customers would be, how much they would buy or how his business would grow simply through word of mouth.

He does now.

Business is booming for Hands, thanks in large part to an influx of business from a single demographic: former Canadian Forces soldiers.

A review of Veterans Affairs Canada data on medical marijuana users, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, suggests the number of users has grown most dramatically in those parts of the country where marijuana shops and clubs cater to a local population of military veterans.

Are those businesses simply meeting demand - or creating it?

Usage rates - and the commensurate federal costs - are generally higher in those areas where the stigma and barriers to medical marijuana use have been lowered or eliminated, said Zach Walsh, a University of British Columbia psychology professor.

Marijuana clubs and shops play a key role in removing those barriers, he said.

“The reason we see higher concentrations in areas where it’s promoted is because it gives the individuals with PTSD the opportunity to find out that it works,” Walsh said.

Veterans are proving well-educated about the potential benefits of pot, said Mike Southwell, vice-president of Marijuana for Trauma, which helps clients to understand the drug and navigate the federal benefits program that pays for it.

Once cannabis helps one veteran, they tell two others, and so on and so on, said Southwell. - Full Article

Israeli Doctor To Use Medical Cannabis To Treat Autism In First-Of-Its-Kind Study, Report

After some success in using Medical Cannabis to treat epileptics, the research will check effect of cannabis oils on autistic people with severe behavioral problems.
By Haaretz | August 29, 2016
Evidence that cannabinoids can help improve the quality of life of autistic people has, until now, been anecdotal. Now an Israeli doctor is launching a formal clinical trial of “medical cannabis” among autistic children and teenagers – the first of its type.

Dr. Adi Eran, who is heading up the endeavor, is in the process of obtaining permits from the Health Ministry for the study, which will involve 120 autistic individuals, male and female, aged 4 to 30, who are defined as low to medium functioning.

As is usual when medical cannabis is administered, participants will be given cannabis oils free of the intoxicating substance but rich in cannabidiol (CBD), one of the active chemicals found in cannabis.

Eran, head of the pediatrics neurology department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, has obtained the authorization in principle from the Israel Health Ministry for his tests. He is presently working on obtaining permits and finding subjects from other local hospitals, as well as from psychiatric facilities and centers dealing with childhood development.

Per the norm in proper clinical research, participants will be divided into two groups: the test group that actually ingests the oil, and the control subjects who will be given placebos. After a test period during which the effects on the patients will be recorded, treatment will be halted for a month, then the groups will be reversed – the test group will become the control group and vice versa. Again, as is typical in such research, at no point will subjects or their families know whether the patient is receiving CBD or a placebo.

The study will focus specifically on a certain segment of behavioral symptoms typical of certain autistic individuals, including physical aggression toward themselves and others, attacks that can be accompanied by acute anxiety. - Full Article

After Years of Quiet Progress, Israeli Medical Cannabis Research is Budding

By Jerusalem Post | August 23, 2016
Behind closed doors somewhere in the recesses of the Israeli government’s Agricultural Research Organization, Dr. Nirit Bernstein has been working for the past three years to perfect cannabis cultivation practices.

“It’s difficult to be a cannabis researcher. It’s much easier to be a tomato or citrus researcher,” she told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. “We are dealing with an illegal drug. Even though we are growing cannabis for medicinal purposes, it is still by definition an illegal drug.”

Bernstein, a senior research scientist at the Agricultural Research Organization’s Volcani Center, was Israel’s first scientist to acquire a research license from the Health Ministry’s Medical Cannabis Unit. Now, the Volcani Center, which operates under the broader umbrella of the Agriculture Ministry, is in the process of building a National Center for Research in Medical Cannabis.

Although an internal launch already took place this spring, the National Center, as well as the current and planned medical marijuana research at Volcani, was essentially secret until a few weeks ago; the organization only began to open up about the research after a June 26 government decision to regulate the medical cannabis sector.

“It was kept quiet for the sake of safety,” Bernstein said. “In my department, not everyone knows where the plants are. We haven’t advertised it because we want to be able to do the research in true keeping with the regulations and the law. We don’t advertise and flag it out as a gimmick.”

While a few scientists are already working within the framework of the National Center, the research will receive a new home in the shape of a NIS 2.5 million building that is slated to be complete by mid-2017, according to Prof. Itamar Glazer, deputy director for research and development at the Agricultural Research Organization.

In addition, the Agriculture Ministry’s chief scientist recently announced a NIS 8m. research fund dedicated to medical cannabis cultivation, which will be available to all academics in Israel, Glazer explained. - Full Article

Could Medical Cannabis Break the Painkiller Epidemic?

A body of research suggests yes, but scientists are having to fight red tape to study whether medical marijuana could substitute for opioid drugs

By Scientific American | September 1, 2016
Six days before Prince died, the iconic pop star was hospitalized after possibly overdosing on Percocet. His death on April 21 involved overdosing on another painkiller, fentanyl. Both are among the prescription opioids that alleviate the pain of millions of Americans every year—often at the price of their needing ever greater amounts and the risk of overdose. The U.S. “is in the midst of an unprecedented opioid epidemic,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Prescription opioid overdoses killed more than 165,000 Americans between 1999 and 2014, and the health and social costs of abusing such drugs are estimated to be as much as $55 billion a year. The problem has led experts to scramble for a less dangerous alternative for pain relief—and some research points to medical marijuana.

As early as 15 years ago physicians began hearing that patients were using cannabis instead of prescription opioids for pain. These anecdotes inspired a research team led by Marcus Bachhuber, assistant professor of medicine at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, to examine whether some states’ legalization of medical cannabis had affected the number of opioid overdose deaths. Published in 2014, the study revealed an intriguing trend: between 1999 and 2010, states that permitted medical marijuana had an average of almost 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths each year than states where cannabis remained illegal.

Bachhuber’s research could not prove that medical cannabis use directly led to fewer opioid overdoses. In addition, the overdose count included both prescription opioids and illegal heroin. But the study opened the eyes of many researchers to a possible relation between marijuana and painkiller use. “I think medical cannabis could fall into the category of alternatives for treating chronic pain so that people don’t use opioids or use a lower dose of opioids than they otherwise would,” Bachhuber says.

Various wide-ranging new studies back him up. As reported in the June issue of the Journal of Pain, researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a retrospective survey of 185 patients who frequented a medical marijuana dispensary in Ann Arbor, Mich. Those patients reported cutting their opioid use by more than half in treating their chronic pain. Meanwhile animal studies have shown that cannabinoid chemical compounds found in marijuana can work synergistically with opioids to mitigate pain. - Full Article

Cannabis Science and the Research Foundation Begins Protocols for California Legal Patients to Receive the New CBIS MDI Rescue Inhaler for Its First Observational Study Intending to Lead Into Clinical Trials

By Market Wired (yahoo) | August 12, 2016
Cannabis Science, Inc. ( OTC PINK : CBIS ), a U.S. company specializing in the development of cannabis-based medicines, is happy to announce the intent to seek out 20 - 25 potential candidates suffering from Asthma/COPD and other critical ailments. These initial patients will receive the New MDI Inhalation device FREE for monitoring usage habits, combination levels, and tracking medical results. The observational study is being designed to accumulate valuable data to lead into clinical trials in the State of California.

The CBIS MDI Rescue Inhaler dosage is targeting 100 - 200 dose MDI with cannabinoid level variations ranging from 10mg, 25mg, up to 100mg THC, CBD, and other cannabinoid variables as patient/consumer analysis moves further down the road.

“We are already receiving inquiries from patients looking to be a part of a cannabinoid study targeting several critical ailments so we are responding to the inherent demand from the consumers,” stated CEO Mr. Raymond C. Dabney. “We believe we will get valuable feedback and clinical data from these participants that will aid us in establishing our products as an effective medication for these and other patients that suffer from so many different diseases. We are looking to have these patients in place by the time we launch and distribute this product to our partners and qualified legal vendors. We are very excited about this new product line and its potential to help these diminished lung function patients as well as the many other critical ailments we believe our cannabinoid formulations can help.”

The Cannabis Science Research Foundation will be making the necessary changes to its website to receive the applications from interested patient/participants in this initial trial study. This trial study offer will be limited to the State of California and more specifically the city of Los Angeles. - Full Article

Obama Administration Set to Remove Barrier to Marijuana Research

By The New York Times | August 10, 2016
The Obama administration is planning to remove a major roadblock to marijuana research, officials said Wednesday, potentially spurring broad scientific study of a drug that is being used to treat dozens of diseases in states across the nation despite little rigorous evidence of its effectiveness.

The new policy is expected to sharply increase the supply of marijuana available to researchers.

And in taking this step, the Obama administration is further relaxing the nation’s stance on marijuana. President Obama has said he views it as no more dangerous than alcohol, and the Justice Department has not stood in the way of states that have legalized the drug.

For years, the University of Mississippi has been the only institution authorized to grow the drug for use in medical studies. This restriction has so limited the supply of marijuana federally approved for research purposes that scientists said it could often take years to obtain it and in some cases it was impossible to get. But soon the Drug Enforcement Administration will allow other universities to apply to grow marijuana, three government officials said.

While 25 states have approved the medical use of marijuana for a growing list of conditions, including Parkinson’s, Crohn’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, the research to back up many of those treatments is thin. The new policy could begin to change that. - Full Article