For example, cannabis has been found useful in the treatment of:
• Mental disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders and Tourette’ s syndrome
• Seizure disorders such as epilepsy
• Pain( in one study, three puffs of marijuana a day for five days decreased chronic nerve pain)
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Spasticity, dystonia and tremors
• Heart disease
• Multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune issues
• Autism
• Parkinson’ s disease
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Cancer, including melanoma, leukemia and cancers of the brain, breast, prostate, lung, head and neck, thyroid, colon and pituitary
• Nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite
• Insomnia
• Glaucoma
• HIV / AIDS
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Crohn’ s disease
• Anorexia
• Alzheimer’ s disease( the U. S. government, through the Department of Health and Human Services, holds a patent on CBD as a neuroprotectant)
• Hepatitis-C
• Cachexia( wasting syndrome)
• Asthma
• Drug dependency and withdrawal
• High blood pressure
Among the most exciting research is that on cancer. Not only does cannabis help with the unpleasant side effects of traditional chemotherapy( including pain, nausea and insomnia), but the cannabis itself appears to be a natural chemotherapy agent.
Researchers have found cannabis is proapoptotic, meaning it triggers cellular suicide of cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched, and anti-angiogenic, meaning it cuts off a tumour’ s blood supply. Dozens of studies point to marijuana’ s effectiveness against many different types of cancer. For example, Harvard researchers found THC cuts tumour growth in lung cancer while significantly reducing its ability to spread.
Medicinal Marijuana Can Help Stem Death Toll From Narcotic Pain Killers Another area where cannabis offers great hope is in the treatment of pain. Overdoses from narcotic pain killers are now the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 50, and pharmaceuticals in general have for decades been among the leading causes of death in the U. S. According to Dr. Margaret Gedde, owner and founder of Gedde Whole Health and the Clinicians’ Institute of Cannabis Medicine, research clearly confirms that cannabis is safer and less toxic than many prescription drugs. This includes liver and kidney toxicity, gastrointestinal damage, nerve damage and death. Moreover, cannabinoids often work when pharmaceutical drugs fail, so not only is cannabis safer but it’ s typically more effective. Besides treating intractable seizures, one of the strongest areas of research regarding marijuana’ s health benefits is pain control.
In 2010, the Centre for Medical Cannabis Research released a report on 14 clinical studies about the use of marijuana for pain, most of which were FDA-approved, doubleblind and placebo-controlled. The report revealed that marijuana not only controls pain but in many cases, it does so better than pharmaceutical alternatives. If you compare opioids to marijuana, marijuana is unquestionably safer.