Cannabis is a drug that promotes an intoxicating sensory state. Exactly this effect, the legislature has recently also allowed for medical use. However, cannabis as medicine has so far only been made possible within a very narrow legal framework and for certain medical indications. Severe cases of epilepsy in children, multiple sclerosis or unbearable pain in advanced adult cancers can be exemplary and medically justified indications.
What makes hemp a cultivated plant?
The hemp plant, from which the THC-containing intoxicant cannabis can be obtained, is an ancient ornamental and cultivated plant. Evidence shows that cultivated hemp was used as a useful plant by the Chinese as early as 2800 BC. Archaeologists found a textile fragment in a tomb from the Chou Dynasty, which is now considered the oldest hemp product in human history. In China, paper was also made from hemp fiber between 140 and 87 BC. It is therefore obvious to look for the origin of the hemp plant in Central Asia. The hemp plant was used until modern times as a raw material for the production of paper, for the manufacture of ropes and rigging components or for dressing materials. Since 1985, increased efforts to significantly expand the use of the hemp plant have become apparent by manufacturers of food or cosmetics from organic farming. As a result, various commercial hemp varieties are legally in cultivation in the EU for such products. The THC-free cultivars require hardly any herbicides due to their lush growth habit. They are considered pest-resistant and relatively easy to grow. Hemp is particularly interesting for the production of biomass. The fiber of this plant genus has always been used for the production of carpets, bags and clothing. In the construction industry, the hemp plant is considered a supplier of renewable raw materials. The hemp oil can also be used. The aromatic seed can be used as a spice. However, the most famous use of the flowers became as an intoxicant called cannabis, hashish or marijuana. The typical leaves with the sawtooth edge are universally known among drug users as cannabis identifiers. Today, the hemp plant is widespread in the temperate and tropical climates of the earth. Certain temperatures and light conditions are important for growing hemp. However, hemp containing THC is illegal, as is the possession of larger amounts of hashish. Cannabis is considered a gateway drug that encourages harder and more dependent drug use.
Active ingredients and mode of action of the medicinal plant?
For the sake of precision, the hemp species “Cannabis sativa” in its wild and cultivated form should be distinguished from the “Cannabis indica” variety as well as the not quite sure independent species “Cannabis ruderalis”. Depending on the plant part, the intoxicating THC or tetrahydrocannabinol occurs in different concentrations. The user finds the highest percentage of THC with about 20 percent THC content in the still unfertilized female inflorescences of a hemp plant. In the male plants, the THC content is significantly lower. How THC acts in a person’s body depends on the type, duration and frequency of cannabis use and the dose supplied. The positive effect of cannabis in certain symptom situations must be medically proven. Medication with cannabis preparations or private cannabis cultivation for medical purposes must be approved by a doctor. Patients with severe disease processes can be supplied with the drug as a medical preparation in liquid form. Patients who cannot smoke cannabis can have the drug baked into cookies. Especially for seriously ill children, the liquid preparation is the best method of administration. This is dosed in the form of individual drops. Drug users smoke cannabis – together with tobacco as a “joint” or in a so-called “bong” or hash pipe – or eat it, for example in the form of cookies with cannabis baked into them. In addition, the effect of THC is also influenced by psychological factors, interaction with alcohol or medication, and the social environment. The ingredient of the sativa variety makes you high and euphoric. The ingredient of the indica plant tends to calm the consumer. In the German Hemp Association, the positive effects of the drug are described as follows.Cannabis unfolds a euphoric but also relaxing effect in the body, enables new perspectives on old familiar things, activates and initiates leaps of thought. At the same time, it disrupts short-term memory, alters time perception and increases the intensity of sensory perceptions. It makes the heart beat faster and slows down movements. It also eases the pain of seriously ill patients and relieves their anxiety.
What diseases can cannabis alleviate?
Cannabis can alleviate constant spasticity and severe brain spasms in epilepsy and mitigate their damaging effects on the overall organism. In this way, medicine provides a little more quality of life to sufferers with severe disease patterns. Medical cannabis has a relaxing, sedative and pain-relieving effect. The active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) in the medical cannabis preparation are responsible for this. Medical cannabis with standardized THC levels has so far only been prescribed for unbearable pain. It can be prescribed for acute flare-ups and pain from multiple sclerosis, severe nausea – for example, during prolonged chemotherapy – or certain cancers. In addition, it can be prescribed for severe vomiting or cachexia. Furthermore, through studies, researchers recognize helpful effects in some forms of cancer, in psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder endogenous depression or schizophrenic psychosis. Legal administration of standardized cannabis preparations could also be useful for inflammatory pain syndromes such as arthritis or ulcerative colitis or for certain autoimmune diseases. However, medical use for such conditions would currently have to be won by court order. The long duration of negotiations and a multiple medical assessment is hardly reasonable for cancer patients in the last stage or for patients with progressive multiple sclerosis.
| Our tip: In the article CBD for headaches, we reveal how cannabidiol can be used to relieve headaches and why the remedy provides effective protection against unpleasant migraine attacks. |
How to take cannabis legally
In the Federal Republic, there have long been considerations to legalize cannabis use under certain conditions. This would be particularly useful for broader medical use. The idea was for a state “cannabis agency” to be opened in 2017, which would coordinate and control cultivation, quality assurance and supply according to strict guidelines and legal requirements. It would also issue licenses. However, the vote on the establishment of the agency and the expanded legal use of medical cannabis was surprisingly removed from the agenda of the last Bundestag session in December 2016. As a result, the corresponding bill will presumably not be submitted to the Bundesrat for a vote in February 2017 either. The possible reason for the deletion could be the massive opposition to the bill from the physicians’ associations and the German Medical Association. Their lobbyists let it be known that the aforementioned associations are not willing to support the prescription and cost coverage of medical cannabis. So far, only 600 to 700 patients can legally benefit from medical cannabis. A man suffering from cancer was able to obtain a cultivation permit in court. Until now, medical cannabis has been a prescribable drug in precisely dosed preparation forms under strict indications. Extracts of Cannabis sativa as well as Cannabis indica extracts are in use as medical hemp. Cultivated hemp is only used as a raw material for the production of approved medicinal products. The reason: cultivated hemp has only a low and pharmacologically ineffective THC content.
Side effects of cannabis use
According to the German Hemp Association, side effects of cannabis use can include panic attacks and anxiety, psychotic symptoms (horror trip) and paranoia. Confusion, disorientation and fixed ideas can also occur. Memory lapses and movie tears, prolonged blackout, and hallucinations and heightened sensations have also been reported by many users. In addition, a lack of adequate awareness of the environment may occur, and physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and nausea or even circulatory collapse are also possible. These experiences depend on the quality and quantity of the drug consumed.The frequency of cannabis use can also have an impact. If the drug is consumed together with tobacco, the known consequences of inhaling tobacco smoke are increased risk of lung cancer, asthma, heart attack or COPD. Long-term cannabis use impairs users’ ability to concentrate, coordinate, and think, or their cognitive abilities. They feel overwhelmed more quickly when accomplishing various tasks. Whether long-term cannabis use has neurotoxic effects has been a matter of debate.
Cannabis – the medicine of the future
In the future, medical cannabis could be used on a much broader basis. It may be a much more suitable medication than much of what the pharmaceutical industry has come up with so far, because of its fewer side effects in certain medical conditions. To what extent medical cannabis will become a legalized success story remains to be seen.
