First of all, there are evidences that cannabinoids are useful for the treatment of various ailments . However, the side effects ought to be weighed carefully (some of them are horrible) & the treated age group must be considered with due care.

Please see this link which provides a useful article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3442177/

It was suggested that the cannabinoids to treat many conditions, but currently they are allowed only with feces (in the face of chemotherapy, in aftercare period, resistant to conventional antiemetic drugs) and to increase appetite in patients with HIV-cachectic patients. 

Very simillar to cannabis abuse.

Thanks to all of you! Awsome!

I believe this in an interesting and reliable link

http://www.cannabis-med.org/

Thank you Marie.

Durante la última década los cannabinoides, componentes activos derivados de Cannabis sativa, y el sistema endocannabinoide han sido objeto de estudio debido al descubrimiento de los receptores CB1 y CB2, y el desarrollo de agonistas y ligandos antagonistas específicos de estos receptores. El sistema endocannabinoide (ECS) está involucrado en el control de dolor, mediantes neuraxis, y funciones integrativas en la masa gris periacuaductal y en el núcleo ventroposterolateral del tálamo, en el que los cannabinoides han demostrado ser 10 veces más potentes que la morfina actuando sobre las neuronas mediadoras del dolor. El ECS media la analgesia inducida por estrés central y es activo en las áreas nociceptivas. La estimulación de CB1 reduce el dolor, la inflamación y la hiperalgesia(3).

Las moléculas cannabinoides como el THC tienen además efectos no relacionados directamente con sus receptores, actuando sobre los sistemas serotoninérgico, dopaminérgico y sobre el mecanismo del trigémino vascular en la migraña. El THC reduce además el dolor neuropático mediante modulación del sistema glutamatérgico. El cannabidiol (CBD) es un fitocannabinoide, con potencial analgésico, sin efecto euforizante, agonista del receptor de potencial transitorio de vanilloide (TRPV), que inhibe la recaptación de AEA. El CBD reduce los efectos adversos de THC, como la ansiedad y taquicardia debido a que inhibe la modificación hepática de THC a 11-hidroxi-THC (3).

Existen varios estudios clínicos que han evaluado el potencial analgésico de los cannabinoides. Tanto el THC como el CBD han demostrado ser superiores al placebo en varios estudios, particularmente contra el dolor neuropático (2). Las evidencias científicas del uso de Cannabis sativa o sus derivados para el tratamiento del dolor se resumen en la Tabla 1. Entre los fármacos usados están: Cannador, un extracto de Cannabis administrado en cápsulas orales con concentraciones variantes en una proporción THC:CBD de 2:1; Sativex, un spray de mucosa oral basado en un extracto natural de Cannabis que combina THC, el agonista parcial de CB1 con CBD, un modelador del sistema de cannabinoides, en una proporción 1:1; y el ácido ajulémico un cannabinoide sintético (3). Existen pocos estudios comparando la efectividad de los cannabinoides respecto a la medicación convencional. Sin embargo, una revisión sistemática de estudios con dronabinol, nabilona y levonandrol demostró que estos son igual de efectivos que 50-120mg. de codeína oral.

This question has many layers and one should look under a number of stones before the question can fully addressed. Cannabinoids alone are shown to have some therapeutic benefit however when delivered in concert with the other terpenes and flavonoids, how does "whole plant material" compare by efficacy. The delivery system also is part of the so-called orchestra. First pass considerations must be weighed against the targeted needs for the patient. Vaporization and the actions thereof offer certain benefits for certain symptoms but whether this delivery system can be affective on a broader spectrum of issues is questionable. Depending on the patient and the disease being treated, a higher concentration of medication may be required and subsequently vaporization may not be the most viable. Vaporization also requires the equipment itself be of the highest quality and standard. A majority of these devices come from China and regrettably the manufacturing standards are not always what one would hope. This is only scratching the surface on vaporization as a delivery system and of course there is still sublingual, buccal, multi-direction, topical, trans-dermal and other systems that have other considerations. Additionally if one subscribes to the "whole plant material" ideology, then strains and specifically the chemical profiles of those strains become critical to the success of the treatment. My crystal ball suggests strain specific profiles in conjunction with targeted delivery systems will be developed for disease specific treatments and patient DNA synchronicity.

Fantastic discussion here.  Would like to see you all at the ACMAP meetings in June in Spokane.  Cannabis will be part of the overall program.  Here is our official announcement of the meeting below:

We are pleased to announce our upcoming 6th Annual Conference of the American Council for Medicinally Active Plants (ACMAP) and invite you to participate in this event which will be held at Washington State University in Spokane, Washington, between June 9 and 12 of 2015. 

The topics of this conference include: 

-          Functional Foods and Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases

-          Role of Phenolics in Human Health

-          Improving Yield of Plant Bioactives: From Agricultural Production to Post-Harvest Stages

-          Role of Indigenous Diet in Prevention of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases

-          Plant Metabolic Engineering and Emerging Areas in Nutraceutical Research

-          Production, Commercialization and Regulation of Medicinal Plants and Herbs including Marijuana

-          Development of Pharmaceutical Products from Plants 

The abstract submission deadline for a contributed talk or poster presentation is March 15, 2015.

To take advantage of our discounted registration fee, please register by March 15, 2015. 

Abstract submission form, online registration and lodging information can be found at www.acmap.org.

Speakers and poster presenters will have the opportunity to submit a full paper to our peer-reviewed journal JMAP (Journal of Medicinally Active Plants; http://scholarworks.umass.edu/jmap/). 

For further information please contact the conference Co-Chairs, Dr. Amit Dhingra ([email protected] ) or Dr. Carol Stiff ([email protected] ). 

For updates please visit ACMAP at www.acmap.org and follow us in Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/acmap.org.  

Di Forti, Marta, et al. "Proportion of patients in south London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high potency cannabis: a case-control study." The Lancet Psychiatry 2.3 (2015): 233-238.

Of course, this is not an answer that any cannabis user would like, but in our clinical observations we find the effects and side effects to be as follows: euphoria, lethargy, psychosis, loss of ambition, loss of sociomoral reasoning leading to expanded substance use/abuse, and for children, developmental delays and changes in brain performance. Physical problems would include COPD, lung cancer, acidosis, and decline in general health. 

There are now numerous studies reporting both positive and negative side effects of CBD. for example, Hussain, S. A., Zhou, R., Jacobson, C., Weng, J., Cheng, E., Lay, J., et al. (2015). Perceived efficacy of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis extracts for treatment of pediatric epilepsy: A potential role for infantile spasms and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Epilepsy & Behavior, 47, 138-141.

Hi Max,

While cannabis use does correlate with an increased lifetime risk of psychosis, this association is pretty much confined to people with a strong predisposition to psychosis; 98% of cannabis smokers will never experience a psychotic episode no matter how much they smoke. In terms of problems with mental health, roughly 10% of cannabis smokers develop a dependence at some stage in their smoking career. Amongst dependent cannabis smokers, problems with depression and/or anxiety are much, much more prevalent than any symptoms of psychosis;

http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=ijp.2010.796.807&org=11

.

People who smoke cannabis recreationally often smoke tobacco as well, and these two drugs in combination greatly increase risk of COPD and of lung cancer. However the available evidence indicates that smoking cannabis in isolation does probably not increase risk of COPD;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2665954/

.

Nor is there any clear association between recreational cannabis smoking and cancers of the aerodigestive tract and other forms of lung disease;

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/15/10/1829.short

.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23802821

.

An unusual, but very clinically significant, adverse response to cannabis smoking is the development of hyper-emesis;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22150623

.

While it is relatively rare, this side effect can be a serious issue for someone relying on smoking plant cannabis to reduce side effects of cancer treatment, etc.

Finally, the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in treating a number of medical conditions is well established. If the individual beneficial cannabinoids are isolated, dose is regulated, and a less harmful route of administration is employed, many of the concerns about medical cannabis can be mitigated.

For example; Sativex (an oral spray containing precise doses of phytochemical THC and CBD, which is absorbed across sublingual and buccal mucosa) mimics the benefits of smoking/inhalation (immediacy of effect, and ease of dose titration) while avoiding the problems associated with burning plant material and inhaling the smoke (possible impacts on respiratory function, and problems with inconsistency in potency between different samples of plant cannabis);

http://www.gwpharm.com/Sativex.aspx

.

CBD oils, such as Epidiolix, have no psychoactive effect at all, are absorbed across mucous membranes (avoiding the smoking route once again) and show great promise in treating pediatric epilepsy;

http://www.gwpharm.com/therapeutic-areas.aspx

.

Thanks for posing this question Marcelo. I hope the links I've provided are useful.

Regards,

Paul.