Study finds that most young adult smokers engage in multiple other health risk behaviors. When placed in an intervention, participants were most ready to change their stress management and least ready to change their cannabis use.
Preferences for Medical Marijuana over Prescription Medications Among Persons Living with Chronic Conditions: Alternative, Complementary, and Tapering Uses
In a survey of 30 patients using medical cannabis for a range of illnesses, including Rheumatoid Arthritis, cancer, Hepatitis C, PTSD, and more, patients reported an array of benefits from their cannabis use. Patients successfully used cannabis as an alternative to prescription medication, as a complementary agent with traditional prescription medicines, and to gradually help halt the use of some prescription medications. Benefits described by participants included the effects of cannabis lasting longer than that of opioids, lower risk of addiction, fewer side-effects. Patients also saw their sleep, anxiety, appetite, and adverse reactions improve with the use of medical cannabis. Larger, more controlled studies may suggest cannabis more affirmatively as an alternative or complementary therapy with prescription medications.
Overlaps in pharmacology for the treatment of chronic pain and mental health disorders
Select small trials have demonstrated cannabis to be more effective than other analgesics to treat chronic pain associated with certain conditions. However, the existing research lacks large-scale, controlled experiments relating medical cannabis use to pain management. Additionally, negative effects are documented with respect to cannabis use among adolescents and those suffering from compromised mental health. There is a need for further research on the topic.
Edibles are a popular way to consume cannabis because they can be tasty & easy, but maybe this is a problem? Should meds be made unappealing to children or pets? Although many people enjoy treatment via gummy bears, is this a bad path? The Brilliant Dr Peter Grinspoon’s take: http://bit.ly/2KygQov
Taste buds likely evolved to detect foods which have a positive (or negative) effect on the body. It seems logical to assume that good taste would prime good effects. Also, cannabis has an effect similar to hypnotizability and suggestibility. If it tastes good, it’s logical to suggest that good tastes would suggest a higher likelihood of improved effect, from a psychological standpoint too.
A counter-argument: “If it tastes good, people (especially kids) would take it all the time. It actually should taste unpleasant so that you only take it when the alternative is worse.”
1 – Better-tasting medications may enhance pediatric adherence to drug therapy, where that is appropriate.
2 – Sugars, acids, salt, and other substances may reduce perceived unpleasant taste of cannabis With respect to children, in one study, more than 90% of pediatricians suggested that a drug’s taste and palatability were the biggest barriers to completing treatment.
3 – The potential for taste stimuli to activate nongustatory sensory systems, including those of a visceroceptive nature in the cases where the taste solutions are swallowed, must be considered, particularly as bitter tastes (likely with cannabis) are governed by GPR protein receptors.
4 – Pleasant tasting products activate a conditioned response: good taste = good effect (when can then generalized to all pleasant-tasting edibles.
5 – “The unpleasant taste of medicine is often a sensory expression of its pharmacological activity; in many cases, the more potent the drug, the more bitter it will be. The more bitter, the more likely the drug will be rejected. Better-tasting medications may go a long way toward enhancing the ability of pediatric patients to adhere to drug therapy, especially when failure to consume may do harm and, in some cases, be life-threatening.”
6 – On the other hand, frequent use of sucrose-sweetened medicines has been linked to dental caries
Because of the associated anti-inflammatory action, modulation of CB1R & CB2R is helpful to treat autoimmune diseases, including Multiple Sclerosis, Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus, and Rheumatoid Arthritis The full list is truly very much longer, as every illness necessarily involves the immune system and cellular communication.
The following review, written by Elaine D. Gonc ̧alves
In a systematic review of studies investigating cannabis therapy for the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), evidence pointed to cannabinoids primarily effecting change with respect to neuropathy or MS-related pain. For CNCPs, it is unlikely that cannabinoids can be used as a single therapy, but rather in conjunction with other therapies. The quality of evidence in many of the studies reviewed was low, so further research needs to be completed in order to evaluate the efficacy of cannabinoids as a long-term treatment option for CNCPs.
Medical cannabis users prefer vaping for fast, portable, discrete treatment
Previous research shows that medical cannabis users prefer vaporization, or vaping, as a means for drug administration. In a Brown University study, 25 consumers of medical cannabis were surveyed to further investigate this phenomenon. Participants largely preferred vaping over other forms of delivery. Patients cite increased cost efficiency, discrete use, more ease in transporting medication when traveling, and more immediate symptom relief as reasons for this preference. Based on these data, vaping may be a valuable drug delivery option for cannabis users seeking a discrete, portable, effective treatment vehicle. bit.ly/2W378N3
Benjamin Caplan, MDMedical Cannabis: Vaping Over Other Delivery Options
