Page 28 - Spring 2019 Journal

Gabriel Nahas actively campaigned against the medicalization of cannabis as a result of his research with populations where use of the drug was widespread and problematic.
Enforcement Administration (DEA) contin- ues to classify cannabis as a Schedule I drug (along with heroin and LSD) precisely because of marijuana’s “high potential for abuse” and its addictive qualities (described by the DEA as the “potential to create severe psychologi-
10
cal and/or physical dependence”). Although
cannabis advocates have been pushing hard for a drug schedule change or even complete de- scheduling—arguing that the DEA “has it all wrong”—a federal court reaffirmed marijuana’s Schedule I classification in 2015, opining that medical marijuana had not yet proven its safety and efficacy.11
Bertha Madras, PhD, a professor of psycho- biology at Harvard Medical School who studies how drugs affect the adolescent brain, gave testimony that convinced the federal judge not to reschedule marijuana. Madras later told Time, “Wealthy investors and fierce user-advocates have orchestrated a political campaign to medi- calize, legalize and normalize an intoxicating, psychoactive, addictive drug...in the absence of unbiased scientific evidence or adherence to rigorous drug approval processes.”12 Dr. Madras was appointed to the president’s commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis in 2017.
The late Gabriel Nahas, MD, also actively
campaigned against the medicalization of can- nabis as a result of his research with populations where use of the drug was widespread and problematic. Dr. Nahas visited isolated cultures with a high degree of cannabis use and studied the downregulation of the immune system by cannabis. In his 1979 book, Keep Off the Grass,13 he described a colleague’s interaction with a high-ranking public health official in Morocco who expressed the belief that cannabis “makes a bed for tuberculosis.” Dr. Nahas also wrote about Egypt’s request that the United Nations include marijuana in international drug control treaties because of the scourge the drug had become in Egypt.14
ADDICTIVENESS
In 1994, researchers at the National Insti-
tute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a division of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed drug dependence data from a large national survey conducted with over eight thousand participants aged fifteen to fifty-four years.15 After tobacco and alcohol, the NIDA authors found that “can- nabis accounted for more dependence than any other drug or drug group,” with almost one in ten cannabis users reporting (and perhaps under- reporting) dependence. Men were more than twice as likely to become addicted as women
CBD
The cannabis industry has aggressively promoted CBD products to naturopaths, health coaches and consumers, claiming that the products can cure everything from cancer to seizures to digestive distress. The increasing availability and apparent popularity of over-the-counter CBD products at health food stores have persuaded many consumers that cannabis is a “go-to” product with fantastic health benefits—which people are taking as a supplement rather than a drug. A typical promotion is CBD softgels given freely as a thank-you gift for help in an online event with the promise of “better mood stability, improved sleep, increased mental sharpness, a generally enhanced sense of well-being, and fewer aches and pains—all without the ‛high.’”
While CBD oil taken orally may not be “psychoactive,” it definitely has effects on the brain and is associated with side effects. Epidiolex, the first cannabis drug, is a purified form of CBD for the treatment of seizures. The drug comes with precise instructions as to dosage and use, with specific warnings against abrupt discontinuation. “When discontinu- ing Epidiolex, the dose should be decreased gradually. As with all antiepileptic drugs, abrupt discontinuation should be avoided when possible, to minimize the risk of increasing seizure frequency and status epilepticus.” The package insert lists the following side effects: hepatocellular injury, somnolence and sedation, suicidal behavior and ideation, hypersensitivity reactions and withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs.74
The findings of K. Watanabe and his research team in Japan indicate further dangers of CBD oil. The team found that when CBD comes in contact with an artificial gastric juice, it is converted into the psychoactive THC.75 When people ingest cannabis in cakes or cookies containing sugar, or in beverages containing alcohol, the stomach becomes more acidic and more likely to convert relatively benign CBD into more powerful and dangerous THC. Given these findings, it seems that the safest way to use CBD is as an oil on the skin for localized treatment—while always being on the alert for possible side effects.
26
Wise Traditions
SPRING 2019