“Diseases with inflammatory etiopathology have increased in incidence in recent times. Drugs used for therapeutic management of such inflammatory diseases are relieving the ailment but at the same time also countering serious life-threatening consequences. Moreover, they are costly and rarely available at all places. In this context, research and development on medicinal herbs have opened a new era in the prophylactic and therapeutic management of inflammatory diseases.
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Is Legal Pot Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organisations?
“We show that the introduction of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) leads to a decrease in violent crime in states that border Mexico. The reduction in crime is strongest for counties close to the border (less than 350 kilometres) and for crimes that relate to drug trafficking. In addition, we find that MMLs in inland states lead to a reduction in crime in the nearest border state. Our results are consistent with the theory that decriminalisation of the production and distribution of marijuana leads to a reduction in violent crime in markets that are traditionally controlled by Mexican drug trafficking organisations.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12521/full “Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall. Murder and violent crime found to have decreased most in states bordering Mexico as drug cartels lose business to regulation.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/14/legal-marijuana-medical-use-crime-rate-plummets-us-study
“Marijuana legalisation causing violent crime to fall in US states, study finds” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/medical-marijuana-legalisation-cannabis-us-states-violent-crime-drop-numbers-study-california-new-a8160311.html
]]>Cannabinoid Modulation of the Stressed Hippocampus.
“Exposure to stressful situations is one of the risk factors for the precipitation of several psychiatric disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Schizophrenia.
The hippocampal formation is a forebrain structure highly associated with emotional, learning and memory processes; being particularly vulnerable to stress. Exposure to stressful stimuli leads to neuroplastic changes and imbalance between inhibitory/excitatory networks. These changes have been associated with an impaired hippocampal function.
Endocannabinoids (eCB) are one of the main systems controlling both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, as well as neuroplasticity within the hippocampus.
Cannabinoids receptors are highly expressed in the hippocampus, and several lines of evidence suggest that facilitation of cannabinoid signaling within this brain region prevents stress-induced behavioral changes.
Also, chronic stress modulates hippocampal CB1 receptors expression and endocannabinoid levels.
Moreover, cannabinoids participate in mechanisms related to synaptic plasticity and adult neurogenesis. Here, we discussed the main findings supporting the involvement of hippocampal cannabinoid neurotransmission in stress-induced behavioral and neuroplastic changes.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29311804
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2017.00411/full
Practical considerations in medical cannabis administration and dosing.
“Cannabis has been employed medicinally throughout history, but its recent legal prohibition, biochemical complexity and variability, quality control issues, previous dearth of appropriately powered randomised controlled trials, and lack of pertinent education have conspired to leave clinicians in the dark as to how to advise patients pursuing such treatment.
With the advent of pharmaceutical cannabis-based medicines (Sativex/nabiximols and Epidiolex), and liberalisation of access in certain nations, this ignorance of cannabis pharmacology and therapeutics has become untenable.
In this article, the authors endeavour to present concise data on cannabis pharmacology related to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) et al., methods of administration (smoking, vaporisation, oral), and dosing recommendations. Adverse events of cannabis medicine pertain primarily to THC, whose total daily dose-equivalent should generally be limited to 30mg/day or less, preferably in conjunction with CBD, to avoid psychoactive sequelae and development of tolerance.
CBD, in contrast to THC, is less potent, and may require much higher doses for its adjunctive benefits on pain, inflammation, and attenuation of THC-associated anxiety and tachycardia. Dose initiation should commence at modest levels, and titration of any cannabis preparation should be undertaken slowly over a period of as much as two weeks.
Suggestions are offered on cannabis-drug interactions, patient monitoring, and standards of care, while special cases for cannabis therapeutics are addressed: epilepsy, cancer palliation and primary treatment, chronic pain, use in the elderly, Parkinson disease, paediatrics, with concomitant opioids, and in relation to driving and hazardous activities.”
