Category Archives: Cannabis – Medical Marijuna

Higher Potency Cannabis Associated With Greater Risk of Addiction

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Kat Petrilli, PhD Student
Addiction and Mental Health Group (AIM)
Department of Psychology
University of Bath

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

cannabis marijuana weed pot

Response: Cannabis is the third most used drug globally, after alcohol and nicotine. Experimental studies show that THC, the main psychoactive component, causes intoxication, cognitive impairments, as well as symptoms of anxiety and psychosis-like experiences and these effects are dose-dependent, which means that higher potency cannabis products (products with high THC concentrations) could increase the risk of harm to cannabis users. 

Previous studies have shown that concentrations of THC in cannabis have increased over the years. In the US and Europe concentrations of THC in cannabis have more than doubled over the past 10 years. In addition, new legal markets have facilitated the appearance of cannabis products with higher potencies than earlier products, such as cannabis concentrates. We also know from previous studies that cannabis use is associated with mental health disorders and 22% of people who use cannabis are estimated to meet the criteria for cannabis use disorder (CUD) or cannabis addiction. 

International increases in cannabis potency and the availability of higher potency cannabis products makes it especially pressing to understand the association of cannabis potency with mental health outcomes. 

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Study Finds Majority of Hemp Products Mislabeled for CBD and/or THC Content

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Tory R. Spindle, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor
Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences 
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Due to recent policy changes, hemp products and anything derived from hemp, including non-THC cannabis constituents such as CBD are now federally legal. As a result, CBD products are now available nation-wide, including in states where cannabis remains illegal. Some prior work had shown oral or vaporized cannabinoid products have poor labeling accuracy, but no one had examined the labeling accuracy of topical cannabinoid products, which are a product category growing in popularity. We purchased 105 topical cannabinoid products (e.g., lotions, creams, gels, patches) from national retailers and online. 

We found that the vast majority of the products were inaccurately labeled for CBD and/or THC and that many of the products had health claims on the label that are not recognized by the FDA, the most common of which was pain/inflammation.

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Preclinical Trial Tests Combination of CBD:THC for Migraine Relief

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Andrew F. Russo, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

Dr. Russo

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: The company Schedule 1 Therapeutics approached us with an interest in testing a combination of CBD:THC in migraine. We thought the topic had tremendous public interest so we teamed up with them and won grants from the Migraine Research Foundation and from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  

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Real World Study Evaluates Medical Cannabis for Cancer Pain Relief

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
David (Dedi) Meiri PhD
Principal Investigato
Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research
Technion
Israel Institute of Technology

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: We encountered numerous cancer patients that asked us whether medical cannabis treatment can benefit their health, however, while there is a lot of anecdotal evidence regarding the effectiveness of medical cannabis for pain, not much was known regarding its effectiveness in particular for the treatment of cancer-related pain; and there were no validated clinical studies. This motivated us to conduct an organized and thorough study that can serve patients and government ministries alike.

This study, which was conducted by Dr. Joshua Aviram as part of his postdoctoral fellowship, is the first to assess the possible benefits of medical cannabis for cancer-related pain in oncology patients, gathering information from right before they started the treatment and with repeated follow-ups for an extended period of time. Over a span of six months, we investigated the effectiveness and safety of medical cannabis treatment based on sound real-world evidence.

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Australian Study Finds Most Medical Cannabis Obtained Without Prescription

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Janni Leung, PhD
National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellow
National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR)
The University of Queensland

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: It is important to know the prevalence and source of medical cannabis use because non-prescribed use may put individuals at risk.

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Many Young Adults and Adolescents Vape Both Tobacco and Cannabis

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Ruoyan Sun PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Public Health
The University of Alabama at Birmingham

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: Many people consider vaping as just nicotine vaping, but these vaping devices can be used to vape cannabis as well. We are curious about how many e-cigarette users are vaping cannabis. Using the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study from 2018 to 2019, we investigated the proportion of current (past 30-day) e-cigarette users (ages 12-24) who vaped cannabis and their frequency of cannabis vaping.  

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About 1/3 North Americans Self Medicate with Cannabis, Mostly for Pain

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Janni Leung, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR)
The University of Queensland

Dr. Leung

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: There is increasing interest in cannabis use for medical reasons, and we want to find out how many people are using it and for what.

PainRelief.com:  What are the main findings?

Response: Almost 1 in 3 of North Americans self-reported that they have used cannabis for medical reasons, with higher use reported by young adults, although chronic conditions are less prevalent in this group.

Most common reasons were to help with pain, sleep, depression and anxiety, but some reported using it to manage their drug or alcohol use and psychosis.

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More Kids Poisoned by Cannabis Since Legalization

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Daniel Myran, MD, MPH, CCFP, FRCPC
Family and Public Health and Preventive Medicine Physician 
CIHR Fellow, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute 
Department of Family Medicine Innovation Fellow
University of Ottawa 

Dr. Myran

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: Canada legalized recreational, or non-medical, cannabis in October 2018. Canada took phased approach to legalization initially only allowing flower-based cannabis products and oils and after one year permitting the sale of commercial cannabis edibles (e.g. THC containing candies, baked goods, and drinks). In this study we took advantage of this phased roll out of legal cannabis to understand the impact of legalization on cannabis exposures or poisonings in children aged 0-9 years and the contribution of different types of cannabis products to these events. 

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Study Finds Physical Exercise Increases Body’s Own Cannabis-Type Substances

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Amrita Vijay PhD
Division of Rheumatology
Orthopedics and Dermatology
School of Medicine
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK

Dr. Vijay

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: We carried out this research as we wanted to see if exercise had an effect on the levels of anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes and on endocannabinoids (i.e cannabis-like substances) produced by our bodies.  

One of the key findings of the study is that physical exercise increases levels of the body’s own cannabis-type substances and highlights a key link between how substances produced by our gut microbes interact with these cannabis-like substances and reduces inflammation.  

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Survey of Medical Cannabis Effects on Anxiety and Depression

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Erin Martin Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Neuroscience
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC 29425

Erin Martin

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?
Response: Anxiety and depressive disorders are highly prevalent. People with these disorders are increasingly using cannabis products for symptom management, either as an alternative to or in conjunction with traditional antidepressants.

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of medicinal cannabis product use on symptoms of anxiety and depression in a clinical population, and to assess important correlates of anxiety and depression such as chronic pain and quality of life.  

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