The author of the game-changing Cannabis Health Index returns with a book designed specifically for general readers who want to understand how THC and CBD can benefit them. While CBD is the new buzzword for health and wellness, many researchers and practitioners believe that the symbiotic relationship between THC and CBD, known as the entourage effect, allows for greater therapeutic benefits for patients. Unfortunately, when it comes to optimizing that ratio to a particular health condition, it is often a process of trial and error for medical patients. Your Cannabis CBD:THC Ratio provides detailed information on how to find the best ratios of CBD:THC and covers the preferred ratios of these two primary cannabinoids for ten prevalent medical conditions —including cancer, chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia, and many others. Blesching’s unique chemotype-based system takes into account CBD:THC ratios, the various forms of cannabis medicine available to consumers, and the subjective therapeutic dosages, presenting a complete evidence-based methodology. -- Uwe Blesching, PH.D.
Significant changes have taken place in the policy landscape surrounding cannabis legalization, production, and use. During the past 20 years, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis and/or cannabidiol (a component of cannabis) for medical conditions or retail sales at the state level and 4 states have legalized both the medical and recreational use of cannabis. These landmark changes in policy have impacted cannabis use patterns and perceived levels of risk. However, despite this changing landscape, evidence regarding the short- and long-term health effects of cannabis use remains elusive. While a myriad of studies have examined cannabis use in all its various forms, often these research conclusions are not appropriately synthesized, translated for, or communicated to policy makers, health care providers, state health officials, or other stakeholders who have been charged with influencing and enacting policies, procedures, and laws related to cannabis use. Unlike other controlled substances such as alcohol or tobacco, no accepted standards for safe use or appropriate dose are available to help guide individuals as they make choices regarding the issues of if, when, where, and how to use cannabis safely and, in regard to therapeutic uses, effectively. Shifting public sentiment, conflicting and impeded scientific research, and legislative battles have fueled the debate about what, if any, harms or benefits can be attributed to the use of cannabis or its derivatives, and this lack of aggregated knowledge has broad public health implications. The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids provides a comprehensive review of scientific evidence related to the health effects and potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis. This report provides a research agendaâ€"outlining gaps in current knowledge and opportunities for providing additional insight into these issuesâ€"that summarizes and prioritizes pressing research needs.
At the last Annual Representative Meeting of the British Medical Association a motion was passed that `certain additional cannabinoids should be legalized for wider medicinal use.'' This report supports this landmark statement by reviewing the scientific evidence for the therapeutic use of cannabinoids and sets the agenda for change. It will be welcomed by those who believe that cannabinoids can be used in medical treatment. The report discusses in a clear and readable form the use and adverse effects of the drug for nausea, multiple sclerosis, pain, epilepsy, glaucoma, and asthma.
This book presents a well-balanced view of the potential medical use of cannabinoids in pain. It comprehensively covers the current challenges with medical cannabis utilization and provides recommendations for research and future directions. Organized into nine sections, the book begins with an introduction to medical cannabis, including its history, regulations, and the general attitudes of pain physicians on cannabis. Section two explores the biological effects of marijuana via the endocannabinoid system and its complex structure of receptors and enzymes. Sections three, four, and five then delve further into pharmacology and the mechanisms of action applicable to cannabinoids in managing pain. Timely and socially conscious, section six examines the benefits of substituting opioids with cannabinoids for preoperative management. Echoing the book's well-rounded content, sections seven and eight consider the challenges with medical cannabis, including safety and quality control, brain development risks, vaping hazards, and withdrawal. The book then closes with a look at the future of cannabis in medical research. Thoroughly and equitably composed, Cannabinoids and Pain is an invaluable resource for primary care physicians, pain and palliative care physicians, and oncologists.
A volume in the Emerging Issues in Analytical Chemistry series, The Analytical Chemistry of Cannabis: Quality Assessment, Assurance, and Regulation of Medicinal Marijuana and Cannabinoid Preparations provides analytical chemistry methods that address the latest issues surrounding cannabis-based products. The plethora of marketed strains of cannabis and cannabinoid-containing products, combined with the lack of industry standards and labelling requirements, adds to the general perception of poor quality control and limited product oversight. The methods described in this leading-edge volume help to support the manufacturing, labelling, and distribution of safe and consistent products with known chemical content and demonstrated performance characteristics. It treats analytical chemistry within the context of the diverse issues surrounding medicinal and recreational cannabis in a manner designed to foster understanding and rational perspective in non-scientist stakeholders as well as scientists who are concerned with bringing a necessary degree of order to a field now characterized by confusion and contradiction. - Addresses current and emerging analytical chemistry methods - an approach that is unique among the literature on this topic - Presents information from a broad perspective of the issues in a single compact volume - Employs language comprehensible to non-technical stakeholders as well as to specialists in analytical chemistry
This comprehensive sourcebook combines evidence-based insights from more than 1,000 studies from cannabinoid and consciousness research to present a convincing case for the powerful healing effects of medical marijuana on over 100 chronic symptoms and diseases. Written by a former paramedic with a PhD in alternative healthcare, this in-depth reference shows that the subtle shifts in awareness commonly observed in cannabis-using patients vastly contribute to these compounds' therapeutic potential. The Cannabis Health Index is organized into condition-specific chapters, with eye-catching ratings of cannabis efficacy for each symptom, along with recommendations for use, and sidebars that suggest related mindfulness-based practices that enhance the body's own ability to heal. Organized alphabetically from aging to wound care, with sections on a variety of conditions including infections, cancer, cardiovascular health, eye diseases, inflammatory diseases, neurological diseases, and much more, the Index reveals that the huge body of scientific studies focused on cannabis is a tremendously under-utilized repository of knowledge. In synthesizing the findings of these studies, Blesching brings clarity to the process of making informed decisions about cannabis as a valid treatment. Informative, user-friendly, and practical, The Cannabis Health Index presents striking evidence that cannabis is remarkable safe and effective when used within the proper therapeutic window, especially compared with the risks of managing chronic symptoms with pharmaceuticals.
The first foundational text on the clinical use of cannabis and cannabinoid therapies. Despite thousands of years of medical use and an impressive record of safety, versatility, and efficacy, Cannabis sativa has existed outside the modern pharmacopeia since the 1940s. Primarily driven by popular demand, this botanical has returned to health care, but most clinicians lack the knowledge essential for identifying candidates for treatment, guiding patients, maximizing benefit, and minimizing harm. Dustin Sulak provides health care professionals—including physicians, psychologists, pharmacists, and nurses—with an accessible and evidence-based reference that empowers them to intelligently discuss cannabis with their patients and implement cannabis and cannabinoid therapies with confidence. Based on over a decade of clinical experience and an extensive review of the literature, this detailed and scientifically accurate guide includes the history of cannabis in medicine, the foundations of endocannabinoid physiology, the pharmacological effects of cannabis’ myriad active constituents, the clinical utility of its various preparations, and specific strategies and cautions for treating the most common conditions presenting to a cannabis clinician. This guide is an essential resource for practitioners of any specialty field or experience level who wish to improve their patients’ outcomes, harness the healing potential of the endocannabinoid system, and wield a powerful solution to many of healthcare’s challenges.
The essential book on CBD as medicine This practical, accessible guide to using CBD-dominant cannabis contains a wealth of information for both first-time explorers and experienced patients who want to know more about safely treating a number of health conditions with remarkable results and low to no psychoactivity or negative side effects. CBD (cannabidiol) is a component of cannabis that can provide relief for conditions such as seizures, pain, inflammation, anxiety, depression, arthritis, and a number of other issues. This book offers guidance on various forms of the medicine such as oil infusions, alcohol-based tinctures, capsules, and CO2 concentrated extracts. The information is organized by health condition and also by recommended CBD-rich strains, which do not produce the "highs" associated with THC. With dosage suggestions, potential side effects and contraindications, and the pharmacology of the plant, this is an essential guide for both doctors and patients looking for a nontoxic alternative to opiate-based pain medications and other pharmaceuticals. While cannabis has been used for medicinal and recreational purposes for thousands of years, only in the last fifty years have scientists begun to shed light on the chemistry of the plant and its interactions with the human body. Research has led to the discovery of a whole new system in the body, the endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in mediating functions such as appetite, immunity, mood, pain response, and memory. The authors present case studies, interviews with doctors who prescribe cannabidiol products, and the latest research regarding other active phytocannabinoids and terpenoids present in cannabis that are being studied for medical use. They also address the difference between CBD products derived from industrial hemp or in a lab, versus those made from medical marijuana using the whole plant. In addition to offering the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on CBD-dominant cannabis therapy for humans, this book is the first to offer guidance for using the medicine for animals, with suggestions for dosage and delivery and useful forms and strains for common health issues in pets. Finally, the authors take a look at the future of cannabis medicine, charting trends in the legalization movement and suggesting how CBD might be used to fight the opioid epidemic.
Cannabis is globally the most commonly used psychoactive substance under international control. In 2013 an estimated 181.8 million people aged 15-64 years used cannabis for nonmedical purposes globally (UNODC 2015). There is an increasing demand for treatment for cannabis-use disorders and associated health conditions in high- and middle-income countries. This report focuses on nonmedical use of cannabis building on contributions from a broad range of experts and researchers from different parts of the world. It aims to present current knowledge on the impact of nonmedical cannabis use on health from its impact on brain development to its role in respiratory diseases. The potential medical utility of cannabis - including the pharmacology toxicology and possible therapeutic applications of the cannabis plant - is outside the scope of this report.
In addition it also examines the complex morphology, cultivation, harvesting, and processing of cannabis and the ways in which the plant's chemical composition can be controlled. As well as offering a raft of scientific information there is extensive coverage of cannabinoid-based medicines. Helping readers to identify and evaluate their benefits, chapters explore pharmacological actions and the effects that seem to underlie approved therapeutic uses, how they are currently used to treat certain disorders, and the ever-growing number of wide-ranging potential clinical applications. There is also coverage of both the legal and illegal sources of cannabis, including 'coffee shops' and 'cannabis dispensaries'. The complex issue of 'recreational cannabis' is also tackled.
