Cannabis : Medical Aspects

Cannabis has a long history of medicinal use, dating back thousands of years, but with the discovery of morphine, hypodermic needles and other fast acting synthetic opioids in the nineteenth and the turn of the twentieth century, cannabis use declined as a medication. For most of the past six decades, cannabis has been considered a recreational drug and considered illegal in many jurisdictions. Yet, in the past few years, its association with medicine has made a dramatic comeback. In the past several years, claims on the potential for cannabis to treat, cure and prevent a number of diseases and conditions has led some to query as to whether these claims are overstated. A game changer for medical cannabis has been the ability to consume it without a need to actually inhale it along with other negative products of combustion. Newer technologies that allow for the vaporization of the full plant has made it less of a health concern. Noticeably the evidence on medical cannabis is lacking in both quality and quantity, and therehas been a lack of good evidence on both medical risks and therapeutic benefits of marijuana. The typical recommendation for physicians is that medical cannabis should not be a first line therapy and that documentation should outline that conventional therapies were attempted, but were not successful. In this book, we look at the many aspects involved with the medical use of cannabis.