To understand the benefits of medical cannabis and why its availability is so important, I spent a morning with Dr Andrew Agius, a Maltese family doctor with a special interest in pain management. Through his work specialising in treating patients with chronic pain, and other pain-related conditions he has become very aware of the therapeutic potential of medical cannabis. To appreciate its medicinal properties, you need to have an understanding of the endocannabinoid system which consists of a network of receptors and neurotransmitters present throughout most of our body with the role of maintaining a state of balance. In conditions such as anxiety, depression, pain and Parkinson’s, there are abnormal levels of neurotransmitters which can be regulated through the endocannabinoid system. This system is also responsible for correcting metabolic abnormalities such as in diabetes, and that is why medical cannabis can be used to treat so many different conditions.
Cannabis has been proven the safest and most effective treatment for chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, IBS and migraines – three conditions where there was previously no proper treatment available. This is because doctors found that these conditions are most likely caused by an abnormality in the endocannabinoid system and the introduction of cannabis helped to restore the balance. It can also be used to treat insomnia, period pains, diabetes and to stimulate hunger in patients with cancer or that are suffering the side effects of chemotherapy. Several clinical trials show its safety and therapeutic efficacy; the latest was by Professor Mark Ware who has been researching cannabis extensively for many years.
But when we think about all these conditions and think of the pharmaceuticals that are used to treat them such as painkillers, antidepressants, sleeping tablets, and sedatives, it is common knowledge that the side effects are less than pleasant. Nausea, addiction, and either accidental or deliberate overdose are extremely common, yet with medical cannabis, none of these risks are present.
But the most important fact of all is the proven benefits of using medicinal cannabis when treating cancer patients. Not only does it help with pain management and combat the side effects of chemotherapy and other medicines, but there are studies (some of which have been suppressed) where it has been shown to attack and destroy cancer cells while leaving the healthy cells intact. This is staggering information –- a safe, natural, cheap to produce, non-invasive treatment for cancers. Why is no one shouting it from the rooftops? Why are our governments not stepping in to provide a treatment for individuals whose families are being ripped apart by a supposedly “untreatable” disease? I wonder indeed.
When we speak of medical cannabis, it is important to make a distinction between what you buy on the streets, and what you can buy as a prescribed product. What you buy on the street can be of varying strengths, can contain other substances, or could even be synthetic. These are the things that lead to psychosis, fits, and in the case of synthetics, even death; medical cannabis is not the same.
The two main active ingredients derived from cannabis that can be used for medicinal purposes are THC and CBD. THC is psychoactive in nature but also has a range of therapeutic effects, whereas CBD has no psychoactive properties in any dose, and is suitable for a range of treatments such as treating anxiety, epilepsy, pain and others. The preparations work best when the two are combined; in fact, the CBD neutralises the psychoactive effect of the THC when it is present in a specific amount, therefore nullifying any of the “high” or euphoric side effects that are associated with THC on its own.
The problem is that this substance is stuck in a bit of a legal grey area in many parts of the world, Albania included. So where does this leave the people whose quality of life depends on this? Some are driven to the black market where they purchase products that are too strong, or the wrong balance of active ingredients that can cause unwanted side effects. Some inadvertently purchase synthetic products which can lead to fitting, mental issues, and even death. But most end up giving their money to drug dealers, drug traffickers, and individuals who use the profits to pump back into the dealing of harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Others who choose not to go down the illegal route, out of desperation, order online. They invariably end up with a product which, according to a study carried out by specialists at the Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, is 70 per cent likely to be not what they ordered and to be extremely unsafe. The remaining few are left to suffer in silence, spending their lives believing that they are stuck with their condition and that there is no cure for them.
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