Posted on December 20 2017
If it seems like there has been a flurry of positive news about the medicinal benefits of cannabis, you're not mistaken. It seems like every time we turn around there's another article about the amazing effects of cannabis, because it's true. The slow march towards legalization of cannabis has had a profound effect upon the scientific research community. For years scientists were not legally able to cultivate or possess the plant, which means that scientists were frustrated with their inability to explore the medicinal value of the plant.
The growing movement of legalization both in the U.S. and abroad has enabled a diverse group of scientists to study this prehistoric plant from a variety of angles.
According to the current issue of The American Journal of Phsychiatry (December, 2017), researchers have concluded a clinicial trial in humans with amazing, positive results. According to the study, research in both animals (previously) and humans now indicates that cannabidiol (CBD), one of the main chemical compounds in cannabis, has antipsychotic properties. The study explored both the safety and effectiveness of CBD as a treatment for schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that interferes with a person's ability to think clearly, manage emotions, and behave appropriately, especially in interactions with other people. People suffering from schizophrenia often cannot distinguish reality from fiction, suffer from confusion and may end up having psychotic breaks from reality where they hear voices nobody else hears, and see hallucinations.
In this new double-blind parallel-group study, some patients were treated with CBD while others received a placebo. The group given CBD was shown to have lower levels of positive psychotic symptoms and were "more likely to have been rated as improved and not as severely unwell."
The results indicate that CBD had a beneficial impact upon patients with schizophrenia, without any significant negative side effects or downsides. CBD may represent a new class of treatment for psychotic disorders, in additional to the ongoing research into CBD as a treatment for epilepsy and other illnesses and disorders.
The author of this article believes we are just at the very precipice of our understanding of cannabis and its myriad compounds. Continued legalization of cannabis will continue to open the floodgates of research into this amazing plant.
