Here’s a fun fact for you… marijuana has had restrictions in the United Kingdom since 1928. It’s been a Class B drug since 1971 – alongside drugs that include ketamine and speed [1]. This means a potential 5-year prison stretch for possession. Yet the UK is the world’s largest exporter and stockholder of legal cannabis [2].
To put this in numbers, the United Kingdom exports 67.7% of the world’s legal cannabis. That’s 2.1 tonnes. The nearest competitor is the Netherlands at 0.5 tonnes or 16.4%. Additionally, the UK owns 78.2% of stocks in legal marijuana. Clearly, the high rollers of the UK believe in the business side of cannabis.
Medical Marijuana: Big Business but Limited Access
Medical marijuana is making noise worldwide, including in the UK. However, for the most part, it comes with restrictions. In the US, the laws are a ‘bit arse about face’. Its use is legal in 46 out of 50 states but still illegal under federal law [3]. In this game, federal law trumps state law when it wants to [4]. Furthermore, certain state legislations seem to hurt small farmers and help big corporations [5].
In the UK, the majority of MPs support the legalisation of cannabis for medical use [6]. Yet medical marijuana remains as restricted as the Queen’s bedroom [7]. For instance, a GP can’t prescribe it; only a specialist hospital doctor can. Currently, it’s prescribed for a few special cases:
- Children with rare severe forms of epilepsy
- Adults with vomiting or nausea caused by chemotherapy
- Adults with muscle stiffness caused by multiple sclerosis
10 Health Benefits of Medical Marijuana
Arthritis
Cannabis has a potent anti-arthritic effect. Taking 5mg per kilogram of body weight or 25mg per kilogram a day of CBD can block the progress of osteoarthritis [7]. This is through its combined immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory actions. Additionally, a cannabis-based medication called Sativex has shown good results with Rheumatoid arthritis, improving pain quality of sleep and disease activity [8].
Cancer
Long-term cannabis use is believed to increase the risk of lung cancer [9]. However, cannabinoids may hinder the production of cancer cells, stimulate autophagy and apoptosis, and stop new blood vessels and secondary cancer growths from forming [10][11]. This has led to support for injecting THC and/or CBD directly into cancerous tumours [12].
Chronic Pain Relief
Over a year, cannabis users reported improvements in pain symptom distress, mood disturbance, and quality of life [13]. Side effects were particularly on the nervous system and psychiatric disorders. Similar results include pain reduction and a better quality of life with only a few side effects [14].
Cognitive Decline
Cognitive decline is a painful part of aging with no effective treatment. However, a 2017 study showed that THC restored brainpower in aging mice [15]. Likewise, cannabis might provide clinical benefits in age-related diseases associated with brain inflammation such as Alzheimer’s disease [16].
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
CBD is an anti-inflammatory [11]. Cannabis may improve disease activity in those with Crohn’s disease, providing better chances of complete remission [17][18].
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD patients using cannabis reported more than a 75% reduction in symptom scores [19]. This includes improvements in global symptom severity, PTSD hyper-arousal symptoms, sleep quality, and a lower frequency of nightmares [20].
Schizophrenia
Studies support medical cannabis as an alternative therapy to antipsychotics for treating schizophrenia [21][22].
Spasticity
Medical cannabis is approved for treating muscle stiffness in multiple sclerosis. A marijuana-based spray to the mouth shows promise for motor neuron disease spasticity [23].
Seizures
There is strong evidence that CBD improves seizure control in specific epilepsy syndromes [24].
Insomnia
Over a third of adults in the UK suffer from insomnia, which includes issues with falling or staying asleep. Medicating with marijuana could avoid daytime consequences like tiredness, decreased concentration, and impaired work performance [25][26].
Achieving These Benefits
Many research papers do not include product characteristics, like how subjects received cannabis, its dosage, or cannabinoid content. For instance, edibles or oral capsules have the lowest bioavailability at around 6-10% [27][28]. Inhaling cannabis has a higher bioavailability (11 to 45%) [29], with smoked THC around 30% bioavailability.
Final Thoughts
This highlights that cannabis as a whole plays a part in any potential health benefit. THC and CBD might work together to create a greater effect than either could alone. While medicating with marijuana comes with side effects, these are usually not serious and may reduce with frequent use [30].
With all that said, the UK law currently criminalizes cannabis use, even with supporting evidence of its benefits. The momentum is shifting as more countries relax their cannabis laws, but realistic studies are still limited. Until then, commercial CBD products are the closest alternatives to medical marijuana.
Click here to find out the best CBD products available on the market now. [Article coming soon]
SIDENOTE: The Releaf App™ allows patients to track and manage their cannabis consumption under real-life conditions. This app could play a vital role in changing cannabis laws worldwide. You can download the Releaf App™ by clicking here.
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