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Marijuana, cannabis, is overlooked for pain control
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CBD – cannabidiol — is the immune/glial suppressor
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It is anti-inflammatory in brain and spinal cord
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Correction 3/28/16:
It is not legal to transport CBD to states where marijuana is illegal, though it has no psychoactive properties. This is explained in detail by two doctors who wrote in drugpolicy.org, March 2015. I recommend reading the article as it makes several important points.
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The cannabis plant, and everything in it, is illegal under federal law. And even in states where it is legal, it is not legal to ship cannabis products from state to state, or to leave the state with such a product.
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A recent study from Israel showed that CBD in its natural form as a whole plant extract is superior over a single, synthetic CBD compound for treating illness. The plant has continually outperformed synthetic versions in research studies.
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…There are many support groups for children with epilepsy whose parents are using medical cannabis, such as this forum run through the Epilepsy Foundation. Connecting with them can be a great resource for staying on top of the developments with CBD and the other therapeutic cannabinoids in the cannabis plant.
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Dr. Malik Burnett is a former surgeon and physician advocate. He also served as executive director of a medical marijuana nonprofit organization. Amanda Reiman, PhD, holds a doctorate in Social Welfare and teaches classes on drug policy at the University of California-Berkeley.
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Cannabis has been used for thousands of years. It has been in the U.S. pharmacopoeia since 1850. A medical textbook from the 1920’s lists medical uses for cannabis. A Mexican American grandfather on hospice in 1995, explained how cannabis had helped his arthritic joints decades before.
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When alcohol prohibition failed and was repealed in 1933, Harry J. Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962, created the word marihuana claiming it led to addiction, violence, overdosage. Anslinger used racist propaganda to instill fear in Americans that only Mexicans and Negros use cannabis which led to creation of the Marijuana Tax Act passed by congress in 1937. Not unlike the CDC Opioid Guideliness of March 2016, it was passed over the objections of the AMA.
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The American Medical Association (AMA) opposed the act because the tax was imposed on physicians prescribing cannabis, retail pharmacists selling cannabis, and medical cannabis cultivation/manufacturing. The AMA proposed that cannabis instead be added to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act. The bill was passed over the last-minute objections of the American Medical Association. Dr. William Creighton Woodward, legislative counsel for the AMA objected to the bill on the grounds that the bill had been prepared in secret without giving proper time to prepare their opposition to the bill. He doubted their claims about marijuana addiction, violence, and overdosage; he further asserted that because the word Marijuana was largely unknown at the time, the medical profession did not realize they were losing cannabis. “Marijuana is not the correct term… Yet the burden of this bill is placed heavily on the doctors and pharmacists of this country.”
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Israel’s Professor Rafael Mechoulam is widely recognized for his work on cannabis over more than 40 years. He and his lab isolated and identified THC, CBD, cannabinoid receptors, endogenous cannabinoids – your brain makes two of them! Your body has more cannabinoid receptors than any other type. It was he who published 40 years ago that CBD controls certain types of epilepsy in children – and it was ignored until Dr. Sanjay Gupta publicized this in the last one or two years.
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Professor Mechoulam says CBD from the plant (the plant is illegal in the United States) outperforms synthetic CBD.
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However, standards for CBD products do not exist, assays may be unreliable, it may be extracted with harsh chemicals that are harmful to those who are ill, and FDA has warned against false claims of efficacy.
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Nevertheless, there are indications CBD may help pain. It has no psychoactive properties. It does not cause intoxication. There is no THC in it.
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CBD, Cannabidiol, is one of the 86 known cannabinoids in the cannabis plant that has 400 chemicals. In addition, the plant has perhaps 100 or 200 unique terpenes, also said to help symptoms.
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Topical CBD may help – keep that in mind when Blue Shield’s formulary offers only rectal suppository morphine (unless you wait days and hope they will approve a prior authorization).
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I received a note today about Colorado Hemp Farmers:
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a woman in her sixties suffering from sciatica who is having her nurse rub her back with a coconut oil extract of a specific strain of industrial hemp rich in CBD, but without significant THC. She reports that the pain alleviation is remarkable with the soothing extract, which she judged to be superior to when commercially available CBD oil was used.
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Have any readers have tried CBD for pain?
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Your feedback would help to inform researchers to add an additional arm to the tests now being done in rats.
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I have heard from one man with severe pain today. He uses CBD in many forms. It helps pain a little, and also it is calming. He describes it like you know pain is better after you take ibuprofen. Similar with CBD. He does not feel at all drugged.
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The material on this site is for informational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment
provided by a qualified health care provider.
Relevant comments are welcome.
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Pain Management Specialist in San Diego & La Jolla 