Medical Uses for Cannabis 🏥

The Reality Check

As of 2015, Within Australia, 80% of overdose deaths were linked to legally prescribed pharmaceutical drugs, such as opioids. 80. Yes 80%. That is a fact, not a made up number. Eighty.

If cannabis can reduce a child's seizures from 50 a day to just 2 or 3 a month...a 500 fold drop...isn't that at least worth a closer look?

Just watch how cannabis can help with the tremors and motor skills caused by Parkinson's disease. It's a video of a retired police captain trying cannabis for the first time.

Unlike substances such as alcohol or opioids, cannabis has a low toxicity profile and is not associated with fatal overdose, as supported by data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

To begin this article I have a public service announcement.

I AM NOT A DOCTOR, NURSE OR PRACTITIONER, OF ANY KIND.

Do not, and I repeat do not take medical advice from me or I'll turn this car right around. If you intend to treat any of your conditions with cannabis. Seek medical advice from a trained medical provider.

Below are some of the main medical conditions that people use cannabis to help treat themselves. I'm trying to start the conversation that you can have with a medically trained practitioner. The content below can give you some context going into that conversation, so you can be that bit more informed.

Bron: https://realitysandwich.com/charlotte-figi/

Imagine this: Your child, just five years old, is experiencing up to 50 seizures a day. You've tried everything, every medication, every procedure, and nothing works. Then, with one tiny drop of CBD oil under your daughter's tongue, the seizures stop. Not completely, but enough to give her a chance at a life not dominated by convulsions. This was Charlotte Figi's story, and it changed the way the world looked at cannabis.

From ancient China to 1961, when the United Nations labeled cannabis a substance with "high abuse potential and limited medical use", this plant has carried a stigma. Yet here we are in 2025, using it to ease pain, fight nausea, calm seizures, and improve lives.

So yea if we can start the conversation on how cannabis can help people with improving their quality of life, that would be cool.

The conditions that I'ma touch on where cannabis can help alleviate symptoms are:

• Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting
• Chronic pain
• Epilepsy
• Palliative care

I can't cover every condition cannabis can help to treat because it's too much to digest in one post. Some of the conditions that can be helped with cannabis that I won't touch on include, but are not limited to are Endometriosis, HIV/AIDS, Multiple sclerosis, PTSD, Anxiety, Insomnia, Alzheimer's & Crohn's disease.

Let's begin.

Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting - (CINV)

Cancer treatment is grueling, but for many patients, it's not just the disease, it's the side effects. Nausea and vomiting hit like a tidal wave, robbing people of their ability to eat, function, or even hope. Chemotherapy induced N&V is one of the most common and distressing acute side effects of cancer treatment. It occurs in up to 80% of patients and can have a significant impact on a patient's quality of life.

Imagine the worst bout of food poisoning you've ever had, you're curled up, sweating, nauseous, and begging your body to just get it over with. Now imagine that hitting you every day, without warning, and often without relief. That's what chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) can feel like.

So how exactly is cannabis helping with the effects of chemotherapy?

THC and CBD interact with your brain and gut, blocking the signals that make you feel sick. THC and CBD interact with cannabinoid receptors in the body, especially the CB1 receptors located in the brain and gastrointestinal tract. The gastrointestinal tract is important here. Activation of these receptors can inhibit the release of neurotransmitters that trigger nausea and vomiting. It also inhibits serotonin (5-HT3) receptors, which are involved in the vomiting reflex. By blocking these receptors, cannabis can reduce the sensation of nausea. They say no human, no vomiting now please.

(50/50 srs movie. Cancer patients smoke cannabis together to ease the nausea, pain & anxiety)

In randomized placebo controlled clinical trials, a balanced THC:CBD ratio (1:1) reduced nausea scores significantly in cancer patients who had exhausted all other treatments. The results indicated that the group receiving the cannabis extract had a higher rate of "complete response" (no vomiting and no need for additional medication) compared to the placebo group. They also experienced less nausea overall and preferred the cannabis treatment.

To see a loved one's quality of life deteriorate in front of you must be one of the worst things you can experience in life I'd imagine. We are all aware of what cancer and chemo does to a person, physically and mentally. I actually just finished reading When Breath Becomes Air. It's a fantastic read and a stark reminder of just how gruelling and dehumanising a serious illness can be. How treatments like chemotherapy don't just wear down the body, but chip away at your sense of identity, time, and control. Worth a read to remind you how much we overlook the simple gift of feeling like yourself. You walk away thinking differently about time, health, and what really matters.

If lighting up a joint gives them even a sliver of relief, who the hell are we to stop them? Many people give up on chemotherapy due to the side effects. They literally take away their chance of survival because it's too much pain & hassle to continue on. That in itself is a mad concept. If my friend or family member tells me they get relief from cannabis while undertaking chemo, I'm their dope dealer. Absolute nae question no matter what rules are in place. Soz x

In various studies, patients have expressed a preference for cannabinoid treatments over traditional antiemetics, often citing better symptom relief and fewer side effects.

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is relentless. It doesn't care if you've got work to do, kids to care for, or dreams to chase. For millions worldwide, it's a daily battle that never ends.

Chronic pain can be defined as any pain that has been constant for over 3 months and has not gone away. It can result from various conditions such as injuries, surgeries, musculoskeletal problems, cancer, or sometimes without an apparent physical cause. It can significantly affect a person's quality of life, interfering with daily activities, work, and social interactions.

It affects approximately 20% of people worldwide. The most common causes of chronic pain include osteoarthritis and back pain.

Cannabis interacts with the body's endocannabinoid system (ECS), targeting CB1 and CB2 receptors to alleviate chronic pain. CB1 receptors, primarily in the brain and nervous system, are activated by THC, reducing pain signals and altering pain perception, often creating a sense of distance from the pain.

CB2 receptors, found in the immune system, are stimulated by cannabinoids to decrease inflammation by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines. This anti-inflammatory effect helps address the root cause of pain in conditions like arthritis. Additionally, cannabis alters how the brain processes pain, making it less intrusive and more tolerable, significantly improving quality of life.

So why use cannabis to help treat chronic pain?

This touches on what I spoke about in the endocannabinoid system article. Cannabis is used as a second line, or end of line treatment at the moment. What that means is that we don't go looking for cannabis straight away when we are experiencing some of the issues listed above.

With that what has happened historically in the past with certain other medications that are prescribed to treat chronic pain, certain opioids to be exact, is that they have yielded some interesting statistics to say the least.

Let's talk numbers:

• In the U.S., 130 people die every day from opioid overdoses.
• Within Australia, 80% of overdose deaths are linked to pharmaceuticals like opioids.

Bron: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

These statistics are gut wrenching, especially when you consider how many of those lives might have been saved with alternative treatments like cannabis. Unlike opioids, cannabis doesn't suppress your respiratory system. In other words, it won't stop you from breathing.

Netflix's "Painkiller" gives a haunting look at how we got here, but cannabis offers a way out, a path to manage pain without risking lives.

Epilepsy

Charlotte Figi isn't alone. Around the world, 50 million people live with epilepsy, and for many, standard treatments don't work.

There is currently no cure for epilepsy, only treatments that can help with the severity and frequency of the seizures.

To understand how cannabis helps patients with epilepsy watch this video. It's about Charlotte Figi, a child with a catastrophic type of epilepsy who went on to inspire the CBD movement. Charlotte was a five year old girl who was having 50 drug resistant epileptic seizures per day. Per day….

She was then treated with a high CBD formulation now known as Charlotte's Web. What happened when she began to take this CBD formulation?

Notice how I mention CBD specifically. When we discuss how cannabis can help with epilepsy we are really speaking about the CBD compound. If we are to think of the main reasons as to why cannabis has been allowed to be used as a medical aid for people, this story would be one of the if not the main reason.

It broke the stigma around cannabis showcasing it wasn't this evil drug that made you murder your partner & jump out of rooftop buildings to your death.

So how does it actually work?

Well if you want to nerd out, here is what happens at a scientific level. CBD inhibits LPI, which normally amplifies nerve signals and can promote seizures. It acts as a functional antagonist of GPR55, a receptor involved in neuronal excitability and not only blocks excitatory signals but also strengthens inhibitory signals that counter seizure. Along with this it breaks the positive feedback loop by disrupting the cycle where seizures increase the LPI to GPR55 signaling, which in turn promotes more seizures.

I do enjoy breaking down the technical aspects of cannabis, diving into the intricate ways it interacts with our bodies. I just don't think it's that digestible information for everyone. If it's something people are interested in let me know and I can explore this more x

It's not a complete fix or that it covers all of epilepsy, but we can see it can be huge help to people who are in need of help.

Palliative Care

Palliative care is about dignity, ensuring that people facing life limiting illnesses can live their final days with as much comfort and quality as possible.

I think it's a cool concept that all of us are slowly dying at different rates. Like something is coming for us, it just might not happen for another 2/14/41/72 years and we don't know what's going to get us. Cancer, freight train, heart attack, John Wick. Is there a ticking time bomb inside? Who bloody knows. You're slowly dying as you read this, something is eating away at our lifes in the background…. Nomnomnomnom.

Here's the harsh reality: Every single one of us is dying, just at different speeds. For those in palliative care, the end is closer, but it doesn't mean they should suffer unnecessarily.

Cannabis is helping here too. It eases pain, restores appetite, and calms the anxiety that often accompanies terminal diagnoses. Getting all hippy on yo ass, it does affect the way you perceive your world. It can give you a greater appreciation for life and come to terms with what your situation is.

Final Thoughts

Maths ain't mathsing for why cannabis is banned the way it is globally and how it's viewed by people with regards to how safe it is. The numbers above show this.

This conversation. Let's keep it going

Referenties

Als Je Het Tot Hier Hebt Gehaald...