Hey everyone!🌿 It has been a hot minute since I've posted any cannabis education, life got a little more busy and took a lot of my attention. I'm still navigating through that time of being busy so I'll post cannabis education as I am able. There is a silver lining with all this busyness, I've done a lot more research on how cannabis interacts or can be useful in certain situations in daily life that I should be able to post about in the future. But let's get back to the topic at hand, my favorite subject, cannabis education. In the last several posts I've shared, I've been briefly talking about the different cannabinoids found within the cannabis plant, how they could potentially be useful in certain health situations, as well as what kind of things we need to cautious of. We've talked about CBN, CBG and CBGA among others, with the last two cannabinoids on my list to discuss being THC and CBD. These two cannabinoids are probably the most popular cannabinoids and have the most research done, relative to the other compounds in cannabis. However, THC happens to be one of the primary reasons that cannabis is on the Schedule I list and is a hotly debated subject. Let's get into what we know about THC and how it could potentially be helpful or not...
Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, is also known as delta9-THC and is the primary cannabinoid that is characterized as psychoactive due to its ability to cross the blood brain barrier and cause the high that traditionally comes from consuming marijuana. There are different compounds like delta8-THC which are very similar to THC (the double bond in the chemical structure is in a different location), however they are semi-synthetically made from other cannabis compounds. While THC is mainly responsible for the "high" that comes from cannabis, it can also be useful in several different situations.1 Research has shown that THC can be useful for glaucoma, nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, pain, seizures and spasticity.2 The current research that supports this does show that the amount of THC consumed for these health issues is far less than what might be consumed recreationally, with starting doses lower than 30-50 mg via the oral route.1 While research is still ongoing, the possibilities are amazing of what THC could help with. The anecdotal research that we do have (from the many years that people have been consuming cannabis as medicine without research) seem to point that cannabis could be useful in situations like: blood sugar and blood pressure control, weight loss or weight gain (depending on which cultivar that is consumed), anxiety, depression and syndromes that deal with social interaction. I'm quite excited to see what research we see in the future.
Now, we can't talk about just the amazing things that THC could be useful for. To truly consume cannabis as a medicine, we need to be aware that there are potential negative side effects or interactions that could make cannabis a medicine to stay away from. The WHO lists out the potential side effects of cannabis as: headaches, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, hallucinations, increased heart rate and disorientation, etc.2 You might say wait a minute Christina, you just said in the last paragraph that THC can be useful in treating nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy, but in then you say increased nausea and vomiting is an actual side effect of THC, how does that work? Well the answer is that it is completely dose dependent. What this means is that if there is a person who has absolutely never tried cannabis in their past and they eat say a 50 mg edible, well that person is more than likely going to experience the negative side effects up to and including vomiting. Cannabis in general does not fall under the whole: if a small amount makes me feel better even more will make me feel amazing category. One of the biggest issues that medical professionals might have with cannabis is that there is currently no standardization with cannabis dosing. Just a couple sentences ago I said that a novice cannabis consumer might "green out" (another term for experiencing all the negative side effects of cannabis) at a dosage of 50 mg for their first time, but 50 mg might be the starting dose for a person who has been taking cannabis for their chronic pain for years. The variability in dosing, the multitude of ways that cannabis can be consumed, combined with the research that we currently have can make it seem like the wild wild west of medicine. Another thing to be aware of is that cannabis can potentially have an interaction with some medications like: anticoagulants (blood thinners), CNS depressants (sedatives), protease inhibitors (antivirals) and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (antidepressants). All of the aforementioned medications are ones that will be prescribed by a provider, so you should definitely have a conversation with that provider about consuming cannabis with them.
To briefly summarize what we talked about today, THC can be incredibly useful in different situations especially concerning pain, inflammation, sleep and nausea.3 There are amazing things being done in cannabis research that I am incredibly excited to see come to fruition. However, even though there are many things that THC can be useful for, we do have to acknowledge that too much THC can be detrimental in the long run. But with the help of a cannabis nurse (like me!) you can navigate this sometimes confusing subject of cannabis as a medicine. I'd love to hear from you! Send me your questions related to cannabis as a medicine and I can provide some education. Aside from education on this platform, I also provide in person education that can take place in a dispensary, over zoom, or at a location local to me for a minimal fee. I have a cannabis journal available for purchase in my online store as well. The journal is an incredibly useful took in your journey to finding the right cannabis cultivar for your specific situation. Lastly, I'm also working on my last edit of my cannabis book that will hopefully be published in the next couple of months. I'm looking forward to providing more cannabis education and interacting with you reader! As always let's continue to explore, learn, and embrace the possibilities that these amazing cannabinoids can help us with! 🌿💚
References
Sharma P, Murthy P, Bharath MM. Chemistry, metabolism, and toxicology of cannabis: clinical implications. Iran J Psychiatry. 2012;7(4):149-156.
Staff, C. (2023) Marijuana, Mayo Clinic. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-marijuana/art-20364974 (Accessed: 16 March 2024).
Parmelee, R.A., Clark, C.S. and Sommers, D.M. (2021) ‘Chapter 3: Cannabis Pharmacology’, in Cannabis: A Handbook for Nurses . Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 118–123.
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