Author: Frank Schuler

Despite what some governments around the world may claim, cannabis does indeed possess tremendous medical value, as proven by a growing number of peer reviewed studies and personal testimonies from suffering patients that have successfully treated their condition(s) with cannabis.

Fortunately, more and more cannabis laws are being reformed around the world which is boosting safe access to medical cannabis. For instance, Canada has had a medical cannabis program for several decades now, and is the only G-7 nation to have a nationwide adult-use law on the books.

For some reason, doctors and medical professionals in Canada are still lagging behind when it comes to knowledge of medical cannabis and related topics. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Montreal, Canada: Despite the federal government having legalized patients’ access to marijuana two decades ago, most Canadian health care providers acknowledge that they possess little knowledge about medical cannabis and almost none report having received any training about it while in medical school.

Survey data published in the journal BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies reported that 56 percent of respondents felt either “uncomfortable or ambivalent regarding their knowledge of medical cannabis,” and that only six percent of medical professionals received any formal training about it while attending medical school. (By contrast, 60 percent of respondents said that they had   attended either a workshop or a conference on the topic.) Fewer than one-in-three (27 percent) acknowledged being familiar with the regulations surrounding patients’ access to medical cannabis products.

The results are consistent with numerous other surveys from the United States and abroad finding that health professionals seldom receive any formal training about cannabis and that most lack sufficient understanding of the subject.

Authors concluded: “The majority of HCPs [health care practitioners] received little, if any, formal training in cannabinoid-based medicine in medical school or residency, … and nearly one-third were unfamiliar with the requirements for obtaining CMP [cannabis for medical purposes] in Canada. Respondents endorsed discomfort with their knowledge of MC [medical cannabis.] …. These findings suggest that medical training programs must reassess their curricula to enable HCPs to gain the knowledge and comfort required to meet the evolving needs of patients.”

Full text of the study, “Healthcare practitioner perceptions on barriers impacting cannabis prescribing practices,” appears in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. Additional information is available in NORML’s fact sheet, ‘Health Clinicians Attitudes Toward Cannabis.’

It is estimated that over 75 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with autism, with countless other people going undiagnosed for one reason or another. The first diagnosis of autism occurred roughly 75 years ago, and the definition of what constitutes autism has evolved since that time.

Currently, autism is defined by Autism Speaks as, “a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.”

The most common types of developmental therapy for people with autism include speech and language therapy, which has been found to improve the person’s understanding and use of speech and language, particularly in social interactions.

A recent study in Canada found that CBD oil may be an effective treatment for those diagnosed with autism. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Toronto, Canada: The administration of plant-derived CBD oil is safe and effective in the treatment of autism-related symptoms and it ought to be considered as a viable treatment option for patients with the disorder, according to the findings of a case study published in the journal Cureus.

A team of Canadian investigators assessed the long-term use of CBD oil containing 20 mg of CBD and less than one mg of THC in a non-verbal pediatric patient with autism spectrum disorder. Prior to initiating CBD treatment, the patient exhibited behavioral symptoms with outbursts of anger and physical aggression (e.g., punching, kicking, biting, head-butting, and scratching).

Following twice-daily CBD treatment, the patient “experienced a reduction in negative behaviors, including violent outbursts, self-injurious behaviors, and sleep disruptions. There was an improvement in social interactions, concentration, and emotional stability.”

Investigators concluded: “In the case study presented, the child patient has shown behavioral and cognitive improvements with no side effects reported. … With the increasing clinical studies on the use of cannabidiol in treating patients with mood disorders, anxiety, chronic pain conditions, and other behavioral problems, it should be considered as a treatment option in managing symptoms related to autism.”

The findings are consistent with numerous other studies demonstrating that the use of either CBD-dominant cannabis or oral extracts is associated with symptom mitigation in children with ASD.

Full text of the study, “Cannabidiol in treatment of autism spectrum disorder: A case study,” appears in Cureus. Additional information on cannabis and ASD is available from NORML.

As many as one percent of people worldwide suffer from Tourette Syndrome to some degree, although many cases go undiagnosed. Tourette Syndrome is a nervous system disorder that involves the patient making repetitive movements and/or unwanted sounds.

Most cases of Tourette’s Syndrome start when the sufferer is a child, with some cases getting worse as the patient gets older. Typical treatments for Tourette Syndrome includes pharmaceutical medications and/or psychological therapies.

Cannabis is another form of treatment for Tourette Syndrome, albeit an emerging form of treatment that is not as common. A recent study in Canada found cannabis to be effective in some cases. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Toronto, Canada: Vaporized cannabis containing ten percent THC provides symptomatic relief to patients with Tourette Syndrome (TS), according to placebo-controlled data published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

Canadian researchers assessed the short-term effects of vaporized cannabis of varying potencies versus placebo in nine patients with TS.

They reported that subjects exhibited and perceived modest improvements following the administration of THC-dominant cannabis, but that they failed to demonstrate similar improvements following the use of either lower THC cannabis and/or high-CBD cannabis. Researchers acknowledged, “[G]iven the small sample size, … it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the benefits of THC.”

Prior studies assessing the long-term use of oral THC have documented a reduction in tics in TS patients. The findings of a 2019 study concluded, “Medical cannabis seems to hold promise in the treatment of GTS [Gilles de la Tourette syndrome] as it demonstrated high subjective satisfaction by most patients however not without side effects and should be further investigated as a treatment option for this syndrome.”

Full text of the study, “A double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover trial of cannabis in adults with Tourette Syndrome,” appears in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Additional information on cannabis and TS is available from NORML.