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- Why would the US Department of Health be granted
such a patent if again, there's no medical benefits?
Very good question.
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- Today we're going to talk about
the medical benefits of cannabis use.
So what are the medical benefits?
Why can't medical experts and researchers study it more?
Did you know it was once legal?
So many questions concerning this hot button issue
and I'm going to go over all of that
plus clear up some other myths about cannabis.
Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Wagner.
I'm a board certified emergency medicine physician,
and on my show I answer your urgent medical questions
and clear up myths about certain ailments.
For years people have allegedly been using cannabis
to help treat their medical ailments, and yet for years,
the government has classified it as a schedule one drug,
meaning it has no medical benefits.
Despite that, researchers have shown documented benefits
by using cannabis for various ailments
as well as there are a load of anecdotal evidence
with patients having positive results
and finding relief with using medical cannabis.
So why is there still so much red tape?
In recent years researchers have discovered that,
similar to the pulmonary and or nervous system,
our bodies have an endocannabinoid system.
The endocannabinoid system is a biological system
composed of endocannabinoids which are
endogenous, lipid-based, retrograde neuro-transmitters
that bind to cannabinoid receptors
and cannabinoid receptor proteins
in the nervous system, including the brain,
as well as the peripheral nervous system.
In other words, although it remains
under preliminary research,
the endocannabinoid system
is a body system that may be involved
in regulating physiological and cognitive processes
including fertility, pregnancy,
during pre and postnatal development,
appetite, pain, sensation, mood,
memory, and more.
You hear them most often referred to
as the CB one and the CB two receptor.
Interestingly, the cannabis plant contains more
than a hundred different cannabinoids,
or chemical compounds,
that on a molecular level bind
to our CB one and CB two receptors.
For instance, if you look at anandamide, a molecule
that our own body creates naturally and compare it to THC
they are nearly identical on a molecular level.
So why would a plant that our government labels
as having no alleged medical benefits contain
cannabinoids that mimics what our own body creates,
and why would these cannabinoids bind so perfectly
to our healthy regulatory system in our brain and body?
Although we don't have all the answers,
some researchers out there believe it's
for our own medical benefit.
The history of medical benefits.
Let's take a trip down memory lane,
long before it was labeled as a schedule
one substance meaning, again, it has no medical benefits.
If we travel all the way back in time
to 1937 cannabis was legal and used quite regularly
as medicine by physicians to treat many different ailments.
In fact, before 1937, you could head to your local Rite-Aid
or CVS equivalent and purchase it as you would
many other over-the-counter prescriptions today.
But then it all changed.
Historians trace back the growing thoughts
against cannabis to 1937.
At that time, there was a rival battle
between the competing
lumber industries of the time and the hemp,
or industrial fiber version of cannabis,
that can be used similarly
to lumber for paper, ropes, et cetera
but to take far less time to grow.
Many of the lumber owned companies
also owned some of the major newspapers of the time.
As their disdain for the competing hemp industries grew
many of these lumber owned newspaper companies
started printing salacious articles
against all forms of the cannabis plant.
Then, in 1937, the hammer came down
and the Marijuana Act of 1937 occurred,
which put a high tax on the sale of cannabis.
Some parties have argued that the aim
of the tax was to reduce the size of the hemp industry.
As time had gone on,
more and more regulations have been placed
on cannabis and cannabis was officially outlawed
for any use, medically included,
with the passage of the 1970 Controlled Substance Act.
But now, some 50 years later,
more and more are we seeing laws becoming
more lax on the use of cannabis,
and it is now once again legal for medicinal use
in 33 States and legal for recreational use in 11 States.
So why has it taken so long to
get more research for medical use?
Well, the long and short of it is
you can't really research something
if the government says it has no medical benefits.
They just don't give out funding for it.
However, as more and more patients come up
with their own anecdotal stories and research
and as drug companies and other countries
start to work with it,
you are slowly seeing things change.
For instance, the US patent number
six six three zero five zero seven,
granted in 2013 to the
US Department of Health and Human Services
covers the potential use of non-psychoactive cannabinoids
to protect the brain from damage
or degeneration caused by certain diseases.
Things that make you go hmm.
Why would the US Department of Health
be granted such a patent if again,
there is no medical benefits?
Very good question.
Now, in the fiscal year of 2017,
the NIH supported 330 research projects,
totaling almost 140 million dollars,
on cannabinoid research.
Is marijuana safe from a medical standpoint?
The correct answer is still a bit up in the air.
Meaning since it isn't regulated,
the dosage, the concentration, and plant varieties
all play a key role in its safety.
Scientists say more long-term research is needed
just like any other drug that's on the market.
Scientists are concerned about the effects
it might have on young people using it
as their brains are still developing.
However, that being said, if you look
at the different studies out of Israel
with Dr. Meshulam's research
and its treatment of Alzheimer's patients
and different epilepsy benefits,
or with Dr. Manuel Guzman out of Spain
with research regarding cannabis
and glioblastoma brain tumors,
it certainly seems that cannabis advancements
in medicine might be right around the corner.
FDA, or the Federal Drug Administration,
has not approved the cannabis plant for any medical use
but it has approved several drugs that contain
individual cannabinoids.
Marinol and Syndros
which contain dronabinol, or synthetic THC,
and Cesamet which contains nabilone,
a synthetic substance similar to THC,
are approved by the FDA
to treat nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.
Dronabinol is also used to treat the loss of appetite,
weight loss in people with HIV or AIDS.
Medical marijuana received a lot
of attention a few years ago
when parents said that a specific form
of the drug helped control seizures in their children.
The FDA recently approved Epidiolex,
which is made from CBD as a therapy for people
with very severe or hard to treat seizures.
In studies some people have had a dramatic drop
in seizures after taking this medication.
Some research suggests cannabinoids can also reduce anxiety,
reduce inflammation and relieve pain,
control nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy,
kill cancer cells and slow tumor growth,
relax tight muscles in people with multiple sclerosis,
stimulate appetite and improve weight gain in people
with cancer and AIDS/HIV,
Alzheimer's disease, Crohn's disease, epilepsy, glaucoma,
mental health conditions like schizophrenia
and PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Talk to your doctor openly about it.
Together, you can make a shared, well-informed decision.
Remember always be safe with an unknown substance.
Do not use cannabis or cannabinoids
to postpone seeing a healthcare provider
about a medical problem you have.
Be aware that driving or operating heavy machinery
is dangerous when using cannabis,
just like many other medications.
All right, that's been your five minutes
on the positive sides of cannabis with me Dr. Wagner.
I hope I've cleared up some
of the myths regarding cannabis out there
and hope that you get a better understanding
of the potential benefits this plant can bring
to the medical field once legalized.
Have you used medical cannabis to treat an ailment?
Make sure you leave me a comment below.
I'd love to hear from you.
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Thank you so much for watching
and stay healthy, my friends.