Hemp for Health

by Chris Conrad

  Alcoholic beverages must be ingested in grams rather than milligrams, and they provide empty calories that can take the place of healthy food, resulting in a loss of protein and vitamins, and in some people a thiamin deficiency that can lead to atrophy of the brain. Alcohol also has direct toxic effects on the liver, upper respiratory tracts, and brain. Its destructive nature, heavy commercial promotion, and the ease with which disinhibition can be reached have made alcohol responsible for massive social and criminal problems. Marijuana, on the other hand, is not associated with any of alcohol’s serious physical or sociological problems.

  SEDATIVE EFFECTS OF CANNABIS

  A very large number of drugs can be listed in the categories of anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics, and general anesthetics. The differences between various sedatives are largely matters of the onset and duration of action. It is important, therefore, to study the drug over a range of doses, because the effects that appear at any one dose level may mislead. Marijuana is a drug which is pharmacologically similar to sedatives, but it does not necessarily follow that these sedative effects are induced regularly, or even at all, as marijuana is used socially in our culture. However, a significant relationship has been established through quantitative animal experiments and controlled clinical observations.

  Both sedatives and marijuana follow a distinct progression of effects at doses of increasing size. Stage 1, small analgesic doses, causes the subject to experience relief of anxiety or a positively good feeling, and possibly some drowsiness. As dosage increases, psychomotor performance, concentration, and short-term memory become progressively impaired. Stage 2 begins with the appearance of excitement and ends with the loss of consciousness. In between, the highest cortical centers are increasingly depressed, and lower centers and more primitive behaviors are released from the inhibition that ordinarily controls them from above. Stage 3, the knocked-out level of surgical anesthesia, is easy to reach with cannabis in laboratory animals but almost unattainable in humans. Stage 4, medullary paralysis, is difficult to achieve in animals and has never been demonstrated in humans.

  Frequent consumers of marijuana show reverse tolerance; they achieve higher plasma levels after a test dose and excrete the dose over a longer period than do infrequent consumers.12 However, the abrupt substitution of a placebo after an extended period of receiving extreme doses of THC, not marijuana, led one subject to exhibit signs of hyperexcitability or stimulation—low-level withdrawal symptoms.13 That response indicates a potential for some minor tolerance to develop with extremely heavy cannabis use.

  OVERALL COMPARISON

  Resinous cannabis involves many subtleties and cannot be accurately classified with a uniform dose level. Psychotomimetic effects are possible at high oral doses, particularly using pure THC or concentrated resin extracts, but these doses are rarely attained or sought after by consumers. An acute psychoactive agent, cannabis resembles alcohol qualitatively but does not produce the same gross effects on the central nervous system, general physiology, and behavior.

  Cannabis is pharmacologically unique and distinct from the hallucinogens, opiates, barbiturates, and amphetamines. It may be closer to the sedatives than any other readily identifiable classification of drugs. In small doses, stimulation is followed by sedation. Because of significant differences between cannabis and even the sedatives, cannabis should comprise its own class of substance, and should be grandfathered into the pharmacopoeia as a traditional medicinal herb.

  Chapter 6

  The Resinant Brain

  Whereas Ayurvedic healers consider the human soul as a factor in maintaining good health, Western physicians prefer to focus on the human brain. That brain is about 5 percent fat, most of which is located along the surface membranes, where much of our mental activities occur. Cannabinoids are fat soluble. When a compound attaches to a cell membrane, it changes the activity within the membrane, which in turn alters the way the cell processes information. The modified data is then dispatched throughout the nervous system. Because cannabis also goes directly to the organs, it can simultaneously reduce symptoms in multiple parts of the body in a variety of subtle but effective ways.

  Cannabinoids have not been found to harm brain cells or nerve tissue. Dr. Igor Grant compared twenty-nine pairs of cannabis smokers and non-smokers in the 1970s and concluded that “A battery of the most sensitive neuro-psychological tests now available could demonstrate essentially no differences between moderate users and non-users of marijuana.” Subsequent research has continued to find no significant differences between the control population and marijuana users, even in the case of heavy and very heavy users.1

  In the fall of 1988, a group of St. Louis University Medical School researchers announced their discovery of a receptor site on the membrane of mouse nerve cells.2 THC, considered the most powerful compound in cannabis resin, was found to attach to the brain at these points. Two years after this cannabinoid-specific protein receptor was reported, a group at the National Institute of Mental Health pinpointed the DNA that encodes the same receptor in rats. It is now known that people have the THC receptor, too. In the human brain, these cannabinoid-receptors are clustered in several areas. The cerebral cortex, the primary area, is also the home of higher thinking, perception, emotions, and cognition. Other clusters appear in the hippocampus, the section of the brain associated with memory; the cerebellum and striatum, which are associated with movement; and the basal ganglia, an area involved in movement control and coordination.

  This produces the psychoactive effect of cannabis, as well as its amazingly broad effect on neuralgic and musculoskeletal functions throughout the human body. Research at the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that the arrangement of these receptor sites indicates that THC analogs and antagonists might eventually serve to ease symptoms of movement disorders like the tremors of Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea.3 Cannabinoids could also possibly affect the transfer of data between the three memory centers: immediate, short-term, and long-term. The limbic system of the brain surrounds the upper stem and includes the hippocampus. Long-term memory is thought to reside in the mid-brain and cerebral cortex. Short-term memory is associated with the upper brain stem. Immediate memory is a function of the cortex. The possibility of using cannabis to treat memory disorders like Alzheimer’s has yet to be adequately explored.

  Once the human brain’s receptors were identified, researchers extrapolated that there must be a natural, internal chemical that connected to the cannabinoid-receptor and sent biochemical signals cascading through the nerve cell to produce its effect.

  ANANDAMIDE

  In 1992 William Devane and Raphael Mechoulam of Hebrew University identified the natural brain molecule that binds to the cannabinoid receptor. Mechoulam, famous for his discovery of delta-9-THC in the 1960s, pursued a strategy of investigating other chemicals that, like THC, are fat soluble. By separating these substances from those that are water soluble, his group extracted from pig brain an oily, hairpin-shaped chemical substance that attached to the cannabinoid receptor. They called it anandamide, from the Sanskrit word ananda, for “eternal bliss.” A small sample was sent to Roger Pertwee, a pharmacologist at Aberdeen University, who had devised a sensitive test for cannabinoids that monitored a substance’s ability to stop muscle-twitching in mouse tissue, when dropped on certain nerves. Pertwee ran his tests on Mechoulam’s experimental substance. “We didn’t know what it was—just that it was a greasy substance.” But the anandamide depressed the twitch just like THC, and that December the results were published in the journal Science. The results of follow-up studies showed that anandamide acted like a very precise key that would lock only onto cells containing the receptor. Once anandamide attached to the cells, it triggered biochemical changes similar to those of THC and related chemicals. Not only did the substance fit the same lock as THC, it also seemed to open similar neurological doors.

  The discovery of this lipid-soluble fatty acid was hailed as a maj
or breakthrough. Researchers are still trying to identify which membranes cause the psychoactive effects of resinous cannabis, in efforts to formulate new compounds that attach to the anandamide molecule and lock onto those specific sites. That could presumably allow the compounds to bond with the brain and block the effect of the THC while having their own distinct effect. Scientists hope that such a substitute will also be useful for chemically triggering therapeutic activity within the brain to mimic or expand upon the health benefits of cannabis.

  Two additional natural anandamides have recently been found. According to Mechoulam, all three known anandamides bind to the same receptor. They are actually a family of closely related compounds, which is common with other fatty acid derivatives in the body, such as prostaglandin and the leukotriens. The anandamides seem to have the same biological activity, and research is ongoing as to possible differences. When anandamides are injected into the brain, the concentration of cortical steroids goes up. There are indications that the steroids themselves may act on the cannabinoid receptor, presumably bringing down its activity.

  While the most famous receptors to be found are in the brain, a peripheral receptor has been found in the spleen. Mechoulam suggests that this receptor may have something to do with the immune system.4 There is also a receptor in the testes. A paper in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that both THC and anandamide affect the activation of the sperm before it fertilizes the egg, but the relevancy of that information has not been established. As yet, no data have identified any harmful consequences.

  IMPROVING NEUROLOGICAL RESPONSIVENESS

  Cannabis can ease the neurological and muscle problems associated with diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS).5 Some 350,000 people in the United States are estimated to have MS. Nationally, 8000 new cases are reported each year. The condition occurs more frequently in women, and most cases are diagnosed between the ages of thirty and fifty. In progressive stages, it interferes with the patient’s ability to walk, stand, or control limbs and fingers. Cannabis has been demonstrated, in measured response laboratory studies, to relieve MS-related cramps, spasticity, and ataxia.6 This helps individuals regain control over their limbs and allows them to function in routine physical activities that many of us take for granted, such as being able to walk with relative ease and comfort.

  These neurological benefits apparently extend to amputees who experience the phantom limb effect, as well as to persons with certain rare abnormalities, such as multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis and nail-patella syndrome. In such cases, cannabis and its extracts relieve pain and depression, serve as antispasmatics, and perform a variety of other functions.7 Cannabis has also been used to quiet the tremors in paralysis agitans, and to bring great relief in cases of spasm of the bladder due to cystitis or nervousness.8

  Resinous cannabis has been documented to help in controlling spasticity caused by spinal cord injury.9 Richard is a Texas entrepreneur who knows this from personal experience. He is a paraplegic who gets around using a wheel chair, but has muscle spasms in his lower limbs. Richard began to smoke cannabis soon after the accident to cope with his depression, and quickly realized that it also helped control his spasms. When he began to grow his own herb, his attitude improved greatly, and his dry sense of humor returned. Facing his situation with renewed courage and optimism, he determined to be as self-sufficient as possible and learned how to drive a car by hand. Richard opened a store to sell industrial hemp products alongside cannabis smoking accessories, and later formed a buyers club to provide medicine for a few other patients. His use of cannabis enables Richard to continue to be a contributing member of society.

  Cannabis can also suppress epileptic seizures and ease recovery after an episode. THC has been found to have a synergistic effect with diphenylhydantoin and Phenobarbital in reducing the frequency, length, and severity of seizures.10 Still, it must be noted that in some cases cannabis use may have triggered epileptic episodes, so caution should always be exercised in this regard. Valerie Corral is a California woman who suffered serious injuries and head trauma in an automobile accident. Afterwards, she began to experience gran mal epileptic seizures. Her systematic use of cannabis enabled her to do three things: avert seizures before they occurred, mitigate the degree and intensity of any seizures that did occur, and speed up the recovery process after a seizure. Since beginning this therapy, her condition has been stable for years. Valerie still has cortex trauma and ongoing neurological problems, but she has learned to recognize the onset of a gran mal seizure as being preceded by the appearance of visual auras around objects. Smoking cannabis reduces the auras and stops her attacks from occurring. Although she still gets the auras, Valerie has been able to avoid having any major seizures for many years. She has been arrested on several occasions for her medical use of cannabis, and has repeatedly had the privacy of her home violated. One arrest went to trial in Santa Cruz. Her testimony, along with that of her family, her doctors, and other medical experts, convinced the jurors that Valerie needs to use cannabis and is not a threat to society, so she was acquitted. She and her husband Michael struggle to maintain a stoical attitude toward her situation, and have become caregivers who operate a medical marijuana growers’ cooperative for patients. They were active in the campaign for the California Medical Marijuana Initiative, Proposition 215, and received recognition as a nonprofit health-care provider shortly after its passage in 1996.

  PAIN CONTROL AND MIGRAINE HEADACHE

  Cannabis can be particularly valuable for the relief of neuralgia—pain that is caused by nerve disturbance.11 Pain reduction is frequently cited in the medical literature, as well as by patients themselves, as being a primary reason for cannabis use. Cannabis is also useful in menopausal headaches, and if these headaches are associated with constipation and anemia, iron and aloe have been recommended to be given simultaneously.12 To relieve toothache, peasant farmers in Poland, Russia, and Lithuania commonly inhaled the vapors of smoldering seeding tops of hemp plants that were thrown onto hot stones.13

  This is how one patient explained her experience using cannabis both to control chronic pain and to reduce her use of pharmaceuticals. “I have CFIDS and kidney disease with several symptoms of lupus. I have been in severe pain over the past several years. I was taking narcotic pain killers for quite some time. I got side effects from most of the pain killers, and a lot of them were not good for my kidneys. Recently I began to smoke marijuana. Since I began doing this, I feel great! I have motivation. I exercise. I am in a good mood. I am not complaining that I do not feel well. . . . All I know is I got my life back. This is so much safer than the other drugs. My pharmacy bill has gone down quite a bit.”

  Migraine affects 10 percent of the population, three times more women than men. It is a severe headache lasting hours or days, frequently accompanied by blurred vision, nausea, and vomiting. Migraine may strike children, in fact 60 percent of sufferers have their first attack before age twenty. An attack in a susceptible person can be triggered by stress, menstruation, foods (chocolate, dairy, red wine, citrus, and fried foods are famous culprits), or overstimulation of the senses (bright lights, loud noise). Migraine begins as a slowly developing, throbbing pain, especially on one side of the head, accompanied by other symptoms. The intensity often recedes after vomiting. The best treatment is for the sufferer to keep track of what circumstance or activity preceded the attack, and avoid this trigger. Once an attack is underway, however, the treatment is to sleep in a dark room and combine an analgesic with an antiemetic. Cannabis naturally combines these last two features, and it may help the patient sleep, as well. Before the introduction of antipyrine and its congeners, tincture of gelsemium (an extract from the yellow jasmine plant) taken with tincture or extract of cannabis was our best remedy for the treatment of migraine.14 Further attacks can be prevented by the use of small amounts of cannabis during the intervals. Patient case histories and the limited amount of research done with CBD indicate th
at using leaf may be more effective than bud for treating migraine.

  Carol lives in the Emerald Triangle section of Northern California and manufactures various hempseed oil products, such as soaps and lip balm. She also wrote one of the first modern hempseed cookbooks. She suffers from various allergies and first experienced a migraine at the age of fourteen. “The sparkling, flickering visual effects, which were curious at first, consumed me so that I could not see the blackboard.” She left the classroom and vomited for several hours before being taken home for the day. The attacks went on for years, but were not diagnosed as migraine until college. She was then prescribed various opiate medications, and later a number of barbiturates, but she found that they made her lightheaded, sleepy, and disoriented, and otherwise interfered with her normal functioning. Her husband mentioned that he had heard that marijuana might help. To her amazement, after only one or two puffs and a short rest, the nausea and headache went away. “As soon as I noticed flickering visuals that forewarned me of an approaching migraine, I could take a little cannabis and a short nap.” That stopped the migraine from taking hold, and she could resume her normal activities within half an hour. When her older daughters began to experience migraine, she let them try cannabis, too, with impressive results.

  MODERATING PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS

  Applied research has demonstrated several psychological benefits of cannabis as a form of therapy. As mentioned earlier, psychotherapy was among the first Western uses of cannabis drugs, as employed by French military physicians in Egypt. In an 1897 review of hashish in the British Medical Journal, a physician reported that, “from a frequent observation of hemp, both subjective and objective, I can affirm that it is soothing and stimulating, being when inhaled a specially valuable cerebral stimulant. I believe it to be an exceedingly useful therapeutic agent, one not likely to lead to abuse, and producing in proper dosage no untoward after-effects.”15