CBD Cheat-sheet: Cannabis for Health

Abstract

Cannabis sativa L. preparations have been used in medicine for millennia. However, concern over the dangers of abuse led to the banning of the medicinal use of marijuana in most countries in the 1930s. Only recently, marijuana and individual natural and synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and antagonists, as well as chemically related compounds, whose mechanism of action is still obscure, have come back to being considered of therapeutic value.

However, their use is highly restricted. Despite the mild addiction to cannabis and the possible enhancement of addiction to other substances of abuse, when combined with cannabis, the therapeutic value of cannabinoids is too high to be put aside. Numerous diseases, such as anorexia, emesis, pain, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease), epilepsy, glaucoma, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, obesity, and metabolic syndrome-related disorders, to name just a few, are being treated or have the potential to be treated by cannabinoid agonists/antagonists/cannabinoid-related compounds.

In view of the very low toxicity and the generally benign side effects of this group of compounds, neglecting or denying their clinical potential is unacceptable – instead, we need to work on the development of more selective cannabinoid receptor agonists/antagonists and related compounds, as well as on novel drugs of this family with better selectivity, distribution patterns, and pharmacokinetics, and – in cases where it is impossible to separate the desired clinical action and the psychoactivity – just to monitor these side effects carefully.

A detailed review of multiple uses: Therapeutic uses of cannabinoids

Many drugs used today can cause addiction and are misused and abused, for example: opiates,cocaine, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, cholinergic agonists, ketamine,, dopaminergic agonists, amphetamines, and others.

Nevertheless, they are still an important part of our pharmacopeia. Marijuana was used for centuries as a medicinal plant, but during the last century, because of its abuse and addictive potential, it was taken out of clinical practice. Now, we believe that its constituents and related compounds should be brought back to clinical use. The reasons are: (i) the therapeutic potential of CB1 agonists is huge, as described in this review; (ii) for local action, topical CB1 agonists, or agonists that do not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, can be used; (iii) cannabinoids acting specifically on CB2 receptors, which cause no psychoactivity, may be used on peripheral targets (such as osteoporosis which is only one of many examples); (iv) there are additional, new cannabinoid targets distinct from the CB1/CB2 receptors which do not cause psychoactivity; (v) there are cannabinoids, such as CBD, which do not cause psychoactivity, but have various therapeutic effects.

The endocannabinoid system is a very complex one and regulates numerous processes, in parallel with other well-known systems, such as the adrenergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic systems. Neglecting the potential clinical uses of such a system is, in our view, unacceptable; instead, we need to work on more selective agonists/antagonists, more selective distribution patterns, and in cases where it is impossible to separate between the desired clinical action and the psychoactivity, to monitor these side effects carefully.

Share this article