Medicinal Benefits of Cannabis

Please do note that this blog was originally written prior to the legalization in Canada ... According to a publication by the United Nations  ' The UN Drug Control Conventions" , they would have us believe that international control and restriction of cannabis was a result of the growing opium use in China at the beginning of the 20th century. The noted publication from the UN further states that it was the US seeking control over drugs. Coal tar, a petroleum derivative, is a main ingredient in pharmaceutical medicine. The problem with it is that our bodies are not able to properly assimilate it.  The control over medicine and the rise of the pharmaceutical industry occurred simultaneously with 'the take down' of natural healing plants such as and particularly - cannabis including its hemp cousin. The main treaty for international control of cannabis was the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Countries that adopted this treaty agreed to recognize ...

DEA and Seniors' use of Alternative Cannabis Medicine DSM-5 On May 18, 2013, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM-5 was published amongst a myriad of controversy and criticism. Not surprising, a big complaint with the fifth revision is with the undue influence that the pharmaceutical industry, or more specifically, the psychiatric drug industry had with the revision. The criticism stems from the fact that over 70% of the task force members responsible for the revision and assigned by the APA, were from the pharmaceutical industry.  Cannabis Use Disorder The DSM-5 does not separate the diagnosis of cannabis abuse from cannabis dependence anymore. Instead, the new DSM-5 has come up with specific criteria for diagnosing intoxication, withdrawal, substance/medication-induced disorders, and a new category in which "unspecified substance-induced disorders, where t...

The 2000 decision in R v. Parker  held that individuals with a medical need had the right to possess cannabis for medical purposes.  This decision brought in the MMAR regulations which allowed patients to grow their own medicine rather than purchase from the one designated supplier at the time. However, in 2013, Health Canada announced new regulations for medical cannabis that was to replace the previous MMAR regulations and which eliminated the right for patients to grow their own. These new regulations resulted from our Canadian BC neighbors stepping up and persevering all the way to the Supreme Court for our charter right to consume cannabis medicine rather than be limited to its dried plant form. In 2014, the MMPR regulations took effect which required all personal growers under the previous MMAR regulations to cease and desist -growing their own plant based medicine. The new MMPR regulations required patients to order their medicine (sight unseen) from commer...

In reviewing the minutes to a 1971 United Nation 'symposium' discussing the research surrounding the chemistry and biological activity of cannabis , the following was noted: Cannabis research at the Division of Narcotic Drugs, United Nations, Geneva is mandated with the primary function of internationally coordinating cannabis research in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort. The research on cannabis was to focus on  "to elucidate the effects of the compounds responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis in man, to quantify the constituents or their metabolites in biological fluids, to determine their toxicity and side effects and to correlate these data with the social effects of the drug." The minutes are very interesting (clickable above) as it was stated at this meeting in 1971 that the three main cannabinoids in cannabis are THC, CBN and CBD.  As a result, almost 40 years later and mountains of research later, THC and CBD are the onl...

Former Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan   is said to be in charge of Canada's new task force on recreational marijuana. Ms McLellan will be reporting to a former Toronto Chief of Police, Bill Blair, in charge of the file. What was disturbing to a medical cannabis patient was learning when Ms McLellan was the Minister of Health, in 2002 she felt “a certain degree of discomfort” around the issue of medical marijuana. She said “the courts took us down a certain path,” arguing it was not her government ’s choice to allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes. What can Canadians expect from a task force on cannabis headed by the very person that was against legislation for the use of cannabis for medical purposes in the first place? More than a year after this appointment, the Honourable A. Anne McLellan admitted that the courts have helped push the government into accepting the huge amount of experiential evidence heard attesting to the important therapeutic benefit...

Although a number of cannabinoids have been identified and synthesized, why are we limited to only knowing the percentage of THC and CBD in a strain? History of Cannabinoid Discovery: Cannabinol or CBN , the degraded form of THC, was first identified around the end of the 19th century. The presence and quantity of this cannabinoid in your medicinal cannabis, is an indication of its age. Although mildly psychoactive, it does contain a number of medicinal benefits that contribute to homeostasis in your body. Moving forward to the forties: Roger Adams, the University of Illinois Department Head of Chemistry, identified CBD (Cannabidiol) in 1940 and subsequently, THC in 1942.  Despite these discoveries, it wasn't until the early sixties when these cannabinoids were fully understood and able to be synthesized (reproduced in the lab). During this time in the sixties, a number of other cannabinoids were discovered including cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC),T...