Medical Cannabis Products in Medicine
Several pharmaceutical drugs based on cannabis, in purified and standardized form, have been made available for medical use. However, the use of herbal cannabis in medicine remains highly controversial, in part because of the lack of standardization among products to ensure safe and consistent dosing and in part because of disagreement over legalization. In the United States, for example, while the cultivation, possession, and consumption of cannabis is illegal, some states have enacted laws that legalize the use of herbal medical cannabis specifically. Examples of products that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration include cannabidiol (CBD), an active ingredient in cannabis, and certain synthetic cannabis-like drugs, namely dronabinol and nabilone. While the use of herbal medical cannabis is permitted in some European countries, it is illegal in the United Kingdom. The latter does, however, permit the prescription of a cannabis-based drug known as nabiximols (Sativex).
Medical Precautions
A major safety concern associated with medical cannabis is the possibility of medical use encouraging or transitioning into recreational use, which is associated with side effects that range from acute to chronic. Acute effects include intoxication, impaired cognition and motor function, elevated heart rate, anxiety, and psychosis in predisposed individuals. Chronic effects include bronchitis (from smoked cannabis), psychological cannabis dependency, loss of motivation, and cognitive deficits. By and large these effects seem to disappear on abstinence.
