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Back Cover Story: Study Finds That Medical Cannabis Consumers Use Less Healthcare

Continued from page 40
“The most surprising outcome was and efficacy of cannabis as a therapeutic can get larger sample sizes to enable us to
opponents of medicinal cannabis.” that cannabis users reported significantly for most health problems for which evaluate health outcomes for individual
More than 800 medical cannabis users fewer ER visits and hospitalizations com- cannabis is believed to be helpful.” health conditions, and specific types of
and more than 460 people not using the pared with controls,” says Dr. Vandrey. As more states begin to legalize cannabis products such as high THC ver-
drug medically were surveyed in this The key takeaways in his mind were cannabis as a therapeutic, Dr. Vandrey sus high CBD products. We are also con-
study. From the data, the researchers that cannabis use was generally associat- says that there is an obligation for those ducting laboratory studies to determine
found that the medical cannabis users ed with better health and quality of life states to measure the impact of those how route of administration, dose,
reported about an 8% better quality of outcomes, and less healthcare utilization. medical cannabis programs. chemotype, and formulation impacts
life on average, along with an approxi- “Though I was skeptical of these out- “Too few states are actually funding drug effects, measuring the interactions
mately 9% reduction in pain scores and a comes at first, the fact that we saw the research to evaluate how these programs between cannabis and other medications,
12% reduction in anxiety scores. same changes within the same individuals are impacting the individuals accessing and studying the interaction between
When it came to health care resources, over time if they newly initiated or cannabis,” he says. cannabinoids and terpenes.”
compared with nonusers, medical stopped medicinal use of cannabis sug- His team next plans to look at the
cannabis users reported using 14% fewer gests that these are valid effects,” he says. effects of medical cannabis on epilepsy,
prescription medications, and that they “All that said, this is far from a placebo- anxiety and autism in future studies. For more information, visit
were 39% less likely to have visited an controlled clinical trial. Additional “I am currently involved in a lot of www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/news-
emergency room and 46% less likely to research with specific cannabis products studies that are relevant to this topic,” he room/ and search for Medical Cannabis
have been admitted to a hospital in the use for targeted health conditions is still explains. “We are continuing to collect Consumers Use Less Healthcare.
month before being surveyed. needed to fully demonstrate the safety data in this study, and our hope is that we

Back Cover Story: Cannabis and COVID-19

Continued from page 40 cannabis such as tinctures and capsules. ing with the ability of the virus to bind to duction of interferon, a protein that acti-
Another concern is coughing, which The positive effect of cannabinoids in the cell receptors. Several strains reduced the vates immune cells and prevents viruses
can disperse COVID-19 pathogens into lung should also be considered. number of available virus receptors by from replicating. These are preliminary
the air. Medical marijuana patients who Can cannabis or CBD help prevent or up to 73 percent. Reducing the number studies, and more research is needed to
are prone to coughing should minimize treat COVID-19? It is important to note of receptors produces a lower chance of determine whether we can consider the
the risk of infecting others by not smok- that cannabis is not approved by the getting infectedinfection. cannabinoids in medical marijuana and
ing when others are nearby. FDA for the prevention or treatment of The anti-inflammatory properties of CBD products as legitimate candidates
• If I become infected, does cannabis any disease. Studies have been limited several cannabinoids are well-document- for prevention or treatment of COVID-
use risk making the disease course and more research is needed to bring us ed in medical literature. CBD in particu- 19 infections.
worse? The available evidence does not real answers. Nonetheless, we can draw lar has potent anti-inflammatory proper- To summarize, there is no reason med-
suggest any additional risk of COVID-19 some conclusions based on a combina- ties, reducing cytokine production and ical marijuana and CBD products cannot
severity for those using medical marijua- tion of new research and the existing modulating immune cell responses. continue to be used safely despite the
na or CBD products. Similar to tobacco pharmacological knowledge of cannabi- These properties may reduce the pandemic. Neither medical marijuana
products or any other inhaled substance, noids. “cytokine storm” that causes respiratory nor CBD products are recommended for
cannabis smoke can cause irritation and There is some preliminary evidence to distress and death in many COVID-19 the prevention or treatment of COVID-
microscopic injury to the lungs. suggest that cannabis or CBD can pre- patients, and many believe CBD could be 19, but the available evidence suggests
Although we recognize that inhalation is vent infection from the coronavirus and a candidate for treating COVID-19 relat- cannabinoids are more helpful than
preferred by some patients based on their that, in cases of infection it may reduce ed inflammation. This is consistent with harmful in preventing infection and in
need for immediate relief, it is important the severity of the resulting illness. what we know about cannabinoids and mitigating the most severe symptoms of
to understand the risks. Any inhaled Researchers studied more than 400 why they work in inflammatory condi- the disease. All medical marijuana and
substance may affect the respiratory sys- strains to determine the potential of tions such as rheumatoid arthritis. CBD CBD products should be used in consul-
tem. To avoid lung irritation, patients cannabis to prevent infection by interfer- has also been shown to increase the pro- tation with your qualifying physician.
may wish to consider using oral forms of

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