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Prescription weed02.04.2008 Marijuana vending machines began operating in Los Angeles in January of this year. This is not a mistake or a trick of drug dealers. The machines dispense packaged cannabis as prescribed by a doctor. The access procedure is quite complicated - identification cards and fingerprints are checked. But the fact remains that marijuana is sold, even if only for medical purposes.The same story happens with drugs in medicine. First, they are discovered as a remedy, say, for cough or migraine. After some time, it turns out that in fact the "medicine" causes real addiction, and the drug is withdrawn from free access. Then, useful components are extracted from the drug and made from them a whole line of various drugs. Thus, one of the alkaloids of the opium poppy - codeine - is used as a powerful remedy against cough, and its second alkaloid - morphine - as a painkiller. In addition, after studying the molecular structure of these compounds, a number of synthetic drugs have been created - trimeperidine, tramadol, fentanyl and others. All of them are used as highly effective analgesics in emergency situations, when the victim may die from pain shock due to wounds, injuries, myocardial infarction, as well as to relieve pain, for example, with malignant neoplasms. Marijuana, although one of the most widely used and easily accessible drugs, is a slightly different story. It has not yet been possible to domesticate cannabis for medical purposes. There are serious passions surrounding cannabis. An excursion into history British colonial ambitions cost humanity dearly. Take cholera, for example, which was released from its natural Indian enclave. We can also thank the British military for the spread of marijuana - it was from the East that army doctors brought the "miraculous" drug, Indian hemp, which had been used in local medicine for thousands of years. The new drug had an impressive spectrum of action - it was used to treat epilepsy and rheumatism, and was widely used as a painkiller. Marijuana was used as an extract for oral administration or as a dried mass for smoking. Although there is evidence of the medicinal use of cannabis in Europe in the 13th century, the real boom happened only six centuries later. With the help of the British, the new medicine quickly spread across Europe and the United States. From 1850 to 1942, marijuana was included in the United States Pharmacopoeia, the official collection of documents on the quality control of drugs used in medicine. Marijuana remained in the British Pharmacopoeia until 1971. The body has its own cannabis The medical properties of cannabis have been studied quite intensively over the last half century. And the conclusion of many studies sounds quite clear - marijuana has good therapeutic potential. However, there is nothing surprising about this, because more than four hundred and fifty psychoactive substances have been found in this plant, and only sixty of them somehow affect the formation of addiction. The rest can be used for "peaceful" purposes. The results of a revolutionary study were published in the journal Nature. Scientists from the Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Institutes of Mental Health, identified cannabinoid receptors CB1 in our bodies. Most of them were found in the basal ganglia, cerebellum and hippocampus. It is CB1 that is responsible for the loss of control over motor coordination and problems with short-term memory that occur when smoking marijuana. It became obvious that the human body has long been very familiar with the psychoactive substances found in Indian hemp. It is known that inside the human body there are small biochemical laboratories in which drugs are produced. Everyone has heard about endorphin, which is released during various types of pleasure, including sexual pleasure. It turned out that people also have an endocannabinoid system, and it is represented by a number of biologically active substances. Nerve cells (neurons) contact each other and the cells of the organs they influence through special structures called synapses. This is the place where the membranes of two cells are closely adjacent to each other. When an impulse goes through one neuron and reaches a synapse, special molecules are released from its membrane - chemical carriers, the so-called neurotransmitters. They quickly cross the intermembrane space and bind to receptors on the membrane of the second neuron, after which, as a result of the partial opening of the membrane for ions, an impulse occurs in this neuron as well. If simplified to the extreme, the scheme looks like this: an electrical impulse stimulates the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic gap, and they, having reached the receptors of the "receiving" area, cause a certain response. As it turns out, the endocannabinoid system directly influences the main neurotransmitters in the brain. Thus, the neurotransmitter glutamate plays an important role in epilepsy and the death of nerve cells during stroke. Gamma-aminobutyric acid is responsible for anxiety syndrome. Neurotransmitter norepinephrine - for disturbances of homeostasis, hormonal levels, depression. Migraine, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia - neurotransmitters are responsible to varying degrees for these and other diseases and disorders. It’s not for nothing that some supporters of the medical legalization of marijuana call it “the aspirin of the 21st century” - the spectrum of action of cannabis is enormous. But this is in theory, but in practice difficulties begin. The very first difficulty is that hemp contains several hundred active components, and the concentration of these substances in the plant is a very unstable indicator. It depends on the type of plant (three main types and a huge number of hybrids), the place of origin, the time of collection, storage conditions and many other factors. And in order for any studies to be comparable, it is necessary to observe the principle of reproducibility of experimental conditions. Scientists have managed to synthesize the main active substance of cannabis — tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). But comparative studies have shown that it is significantly weaker than marijuana in its native (unprocessed) form. Apparently, the other components of the plant enhance the effect of tetrahydrocannabinol. But which ones and how they enhance it — have not yet been determined. So there is no systematized data on cannabis, and even less verified in full-fledged clinical trials. And none is expected in the near future. At least because it is impossible to create an adequate animal model on which to study the psychotropic effects of the active components of cannabis - the effect of marijuana on human behavior is too unique. And if you can’t create a model, then you can’t check the safety of the drug. And on this score, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a very tough position. Since there is not sufficient and significant evidence of safety and effectiveness collected according to all the rules, there will be no approval for the use of cannabis in clinical practice. This was directly stated in the Administration’s statement dated April 20, 2006. And it is specifically emphasized that this is the only regulatory body in the United States that can make such decisions. No state laws, whether through referenda or legislation, may authorize the medical use of marijuana. People who obtain or grow marijuana under the provisions of such laws are committing an offense from the point of view of federal law and can be prosecuted both administratively and criminally. Apparently, this was a blow to California and some other “advanced” US states that have legalized cannabis for medical purposes. What is good To date, scientists have managed to identify a number of diseases that could be treated with marijuana-based drugs. One of the active substances in cannabis, cannabidiol, can prevent breast cancer metastasis, as scientists from the California Pacific Medical Center have found. The effect, according to the authors of the study, is achieved by blocking a specific gene, Id-1, in breast cancer cells, which is responsible for tumor spread. The big plus is that cannabidiol is not a psychoactive substance. However, smoking is not realistic to achieve a therapeutic concentration of cannabidiol in the blood, which is specifically stated in the article. Specialists from the University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) have found that tetrahydrocannabinol has good anti-allergic properties, which allows it to be used in the treatment of immunological pathologies. Scientists explained allergic reactions in experimental animals by insufficient production of endogenous cannabinoids. The introduction of tetrahydrocannabinol eliminated the resulting deficiency and normalized the state of the immune system. In addition, tetrahydrocannabinol is able to suppress the growth and spread of lung cancer. In experiments, Harvard University doctors managed to reduce the size of tumors in mice by almost half. The exact mechanism of antitumor action, however, remains unknown. Scientists only suggested that this may be due to the interruption of the life cycle of cancer cells at early stages and the cessation of blood vessel growth during tumor growth. In a study by specialists from the Hannover Medical School, tetrahydrocannabinol also showed effectiveness against Tourette syndrome. Sixteen people received the treatment, and only five of them reported minor and transient side effects. Tourette syndrome is a hereditary pathology and manifests itself in the form of tic-like twitching of the muscles of the face, neck and shoulder girdle, involuntary movements of the lips and tongue with frequent coughing and spitting, as well as coprolalia (involuntary and uncontrollable shouting of obscene words). Tetrahydrocannabinol is effective as a remedy against painful muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis. Since spring 2005, Canada has allowed the use of the drug Sativex, which contains tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol. In November 2005, Great Britain allowed the import of the same drug for 85 thousand patients with multiple sclerosis. Research conducted in March 2007 by scientists from the British National Health Service showed that the decision was, in general, correct. Of 189 people, 40% improved their objective indicators by almost a third. And what is bad? However, not everything is so clear-cut. The use of marijuana in its native form leads to the development of psychosis. Physical dependence on this drug does not develop, but the psychopathological shifts that occur with regular use of cannabis, as well as with its overdose, are more than enough to treat such a drug with great caution. Of course, there will be no schizophrenia, but delirium or paranoid psychosis can be earned. This was agreed upon by New Zealand researchers in 2006, and two groups of British researchers - in 2004 and 2007. Moreover, marijuana leaves a very powerful and long-lasting trace of its presence in the brain. As experts from the American National Institute on Drug Abuse have found, changes in cerebral circulation remain even a month after a person stops smoking marijuana. Another very big minus of cannabis is the side effects associated with smoking it. Canadian scientists studied the composition of the smoke of a tobacco cigarette and a marijuana cigarette. It turned out that the qualitative chemical composition of the smoke was approximately the same. But the quantitative characteristics for some indicators differed significantly. Thus, marijuana smoke contained 20 times more ammonia and 3-5 times more hydrocyanic acid, nitrogen oxides and cyclic amines. All of these substances are carcinogens. So, what does it mean? Yes, indeed, among the substances found in cannabis, there are several compounds that are promising in terms of creating new medicines. However, the traditional way of using marijuana - that is, smoking it - does not provide the required level of safety, moreover, the potential harm from this method of introducing the active principles of cannabis into the body many times outweighs the potential benefit. This applies, however, to any type of use of native marijuana. Even if cannabis is allowed to be used for medical purposes everywhere, it will not be the whole plant, but extracted or synthesized analogues of biologically active substances, as in the case of the aforementioned Sativex. That is, one of the main demands of the supporters of "medical legalization" - to allow patients to grow the "medicinal" plant themselves and smoke it as a form of self-medication - is unlikely to be met. In the end, marijuana will suffer the fate of the opium poppy: only that which can truly benefit humanity will be taken from the plant. Time will tell which method medicine will prefer – the preparation of extracts or the use of synthetic analogues. Pharmacological experience shows that both can take root. This depends, among other things, on the results of ongoing research. Well, “grass” has been banned in most countries of the world and will remain so. vokrugsveta.ru
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On the site Cannabis Fun Club in Russia You can find out the latest news about marijuana and hemp. In the section gardening you can learn all about growing marijuana and hemp. In the section workshop describes the methods of smoking marijuana, how to make a joint and how to make hashish. There is also a Rastafarian forum where you can clarify any question you are interested in. |
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