Hemp, cursed medicine

2003/12/21 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Medikuntza

In developed Western countries hemp is being accepted as a medicine, but there are at least four thousand years in which it is used to treat some diseases in the east. Apparently, she was brought to Europe by Napoleon and succeeded as a medicine, but after a few years, seeing that it could cause damage, she was removed from the pharmacopoeia.

Hemp continued to be used for non-therapeutic purposes. However, as pharmacology progressed, active hemp compounds were retaken, which is currently used as a drug for many diseases.

According to a recently published study, it can also help patients with multiple sclerosis. However, some components of hemp, such as THC, have seen that it helps relieve symptoms.

THC is the abbreviation for the chemical compound tetrahydrocannabinol. THC is primarily responsible for the effect of hemp: the burning sensation achieved by burning hemp and the change in perception of the environment, for example, are due to THC. This is why it is called active compound. However, hemp also contains other useful cannabinoid compounds.

THC is the compound extracted from the plant for drug manufacturing, and THC was also used to demonstrate the benefits of multiple sclerosis. Two groups of patients were formed. One was given THC and the other was given another type of hemp extracts.

Patients in both groups said they had noticed muscle improvement: 60% of THC receptors and 46% of extracts. It should be noted that patients with multiple sclerosis are paralyzing their muscles, have vibration and even pain, among others.

The compounds used in research do not cure the disease, but at least relieve symptoms. In fact, no treatment to cure multiple sclerosis has yet been achieved.

In view of the results of this study, the British Association of Multiple Sclerosis has requested the legalization of medicines based on hemp. In Britain there are patients who have permission to use hemp based drugs, such as those with cancer or AIDS, but not those with multiple sclerosis.

However, there are not many countries that allow taking medicines based on hemp. In most cases they are totally banned, and cannabis research is usually not easy.

In the USA, Canada and the Netherlands, among others, are allowed to use cannabis to eliminate chemotherapy-induced nausea and stimulate appetite for AIDS sufferers. In fact, antiemetic drugs based on THC and other cannabinoids are produced.

It is considered that cannabinoids can also be used to treat other diseases, such as reducing intraocular pressure to those with glaucoma and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson, Huntington and Alzehimer.

However, do not forget that drugs based on illegal substances such as drugs have very strict control. Not only in the case of pre-release tests, in which they are not so distinguished from the rest of the drugs, but at the time of their marketing, they are incorporated into the prescription system so that only patients in need can pick them up and avoid their use for non-therapeutic purposes.

It is necessary to differentiate between the consumption that is made in the free time for playful purposes and that which is done as medicine. When administered as a medicine by the doctor, the dose is measured, possible side effects have been taken into account and benefits are supposed to prevail over obstacles. However, when hemp is burned, strict control is not performed if it does not depend on the effect observed when it is burned. Thus, if the body cannot bear it, because the burned dose is too high, hallucinations, panic attacks and psychosis can usually appear.

However, one does not remove the other, and the consequences of street consumption have nothing to do with therapeutic ones. The introduction into the body is not the same and, as said, the dose is also important.

It is a shame that drugs that have so far yielded such good results are not in the hands of patients, especially if the only reason for this is that they are hemp based. Hemp derivatives have been shown to be effective in treating certain diseases, but it seems to be a cursed plant.

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