HEALTH
advocate for the use of medical cannabis post-operatively for pain relief and prevent weight loss , I thought , “ You know , here ’ s a new and exciting field ; let me learn more about this , let me find out how patients are actually using cannabis for different ailments .”
In the US , 29 states currently have a medical cannabis program . Most of them have multiple issues for which they allow medical cannabis use : chronic pain is the most common , but there ’ s wasting from cancer or HIV positive status , glaucoma , muscle spasms or pain from Multiple Sclerosis . I really wanted to learn more about this exciting new therapy , and it has been very eye-opening . I ’ ve learned so much from the patients that I ’ ve met and advised over the last six years .
wouldn ’ t , for example , treat a person who has migraines the same way that you would someone who has muscle wasting from cancer . There is a great deal of animal research being done across the world , and Israel is actually the leading clinical research site for medical cannabis use .
Yes indeed , and in fact it was an Israeli researcher who first isolated the active component in cannabis .
Absolutely , yes .
This would be a good point for you to describe the difference between the different components of cannabis , THC and CBD .
Cannabis itself , cannabis sativa is the genotype and phenotype that is common to North America . There are two other phenotypes of cannabis , cannabis indica , which is most common in Asia , and cannabis ruderalis , which is most common in Russia . Cannabis itself is a dioecious plant , meaning that there ’ s a male and female component . The un-pollinated female will provide flowers that are rich in THC , delta nine THC is the most common psychoactive cannabinoid . The most common non-psychoactive cannabinoid is CBD , and that is present both in the un-pollinated female plant , as well as the male plant , which is commonly referred to as hemp .
This is really interesting that you , as a medical doctor , actually had to educate yourself from the reports of your patients because there ’ s so little research being done in this country . It seems absolutely crazy that it has been classified as a schedule one drug and treated the way it has .
You ’ re absolutely right , and as you said , since cannabis , THC , CBD are all schedule 1 drugs , there ’ s no good research being done with human subjects , and it ’ s so unfortunate . I ’ ve had a wealth of anecdotal experience from the number of patients I ’ ve seen over the last six years . I ’ ve actually been able to learn from them and develop a database of how specific strains affect different ailments , and come up with really four or five best strains and modes of therapy for specific ailments . You
It ’ s the same plant ?
It ’ s absolutely the same plant , the only difference is that the female plant will flower and provide
7 | HAPI Guide