Cannabis: From Pariah to Prescription [Hardcover]

This book is a reprint of Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, Volume 3, Numbers 3 and 4( 2003).

It is mostly aimed at making widely available the results of the careful clinical trials of cannabinoid sprays (ie, solutions for spraying in the nose or mouth, not smoke or tablets) in humans done by GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK as a necessary preliminary to putting their groundbreaking products on the market. Russos two excellent articles at the beginning and end provide a contrast to the three very dry but necessary and precise clinical articles.

It is certain that there must be many health and disease states (ie, inherited neurological or behavioral syndromes) associated with the endogenous cannabinoids, but the totally irrational and scientifically illiterate forces in control of western countries for the last 50 years have blocked research on all psychedelic compounds, as well us the many other important uses of the hemp plant (rope, clothing, paper, food, oil, building materials, soaps, etc) while permitting the massive socially and environmentally damaging use of tobacco, alcohol and caffeine products to flourish (perhaps mainly because it is the wealthy who control these hugely profitable addictions).

Russo and GW are the first to do controlled clinical experiments on solutions of cannabidiol and THC (the two most abundant Cannabis active agents) together. As I first pointed out in my own book on marijuana chemistry 30 years ago (now out of print but available on p2p), this is critical since CBD is always present in natural marijuana and it modulates the effects of THC. Other researchers have never used them separately or together in a spray form. This is critical as both smoke and pill forms are nearly impossible to control and titrate (administer in controlled doses) and this has been a major barrier to medical use. In this way , GW Pharmaceuticals hopes to make a major impact on the medical use of cannabinoids and have entered them into the drug licensing process in many countries as treatments for multiple sclerosis and other problems.

An enormous amount of research is in process on synthetic, marijuana derived and endogenous (naturally occurring in the brain) cannabinoids. This is primarily due to the discovery of the endogenous anandamides and their receptors. There are thousands of compounds that can stimulate and inhibit the activity of CB1 and CB2 receptors and the list of potential therapeutic actions is nearly coextensive with human physiology, behavior and disease. GW has greatly stimulated this field by developing advanced oral applicators which can carefully monitor the dosing and even send the data wirelessly to a central data collection point in a hospital or over the net.

Because of their wide range of actions and extremely low toxicity, it is likely that there will be numerous applications for cannabinoids including many in pediatrics and pregnancy. Of course all this is arriving to the great chagrin of the US and other governments who have long insisted (with no proof and in face of compelling evidence to the contrary) that the cannabinoids were dangerous drugs with no medical use. Many have pointed out that the absurdity and inhumanity of the official position and the next few decades will provide ample evidence of their importance as they enter the mainstream of physiology and medicine.