"Statement on Medical Cannabis by the IACM for the European Parliament"

February 2019

Dear esteemed member of the European Parliament,

We are European members of the Board of Directors of the IACM (International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines). We are basic researchers working in laboratories at universities andclinicians working in a medical practice or at a University.

In our laboratories we investigate the broad therapeutic potential of cannabis compounds and related molecules and in our medical practices we see how many seriously ill people benefit from a treatment with cannabis-based medicines. The spectrum of diseases ranges from chronic pain of various origins to chronic inflammatory diseases, from neurological disorders to diseases associated with loss of appetite or nausea, from psychiatric conditions to many other medical conditions.

"CBD For Muscle Recovery? Here’s What You Need To Know"

CBD is everywhere these days, and in a variety of forms. You can find it in capsules, gummies, tinctures, oils, balms, cocktails, cookies—even coffee sold at small-town bakeries. Its market share in the health and wellness space will likely only continue to grow, with some analysts estimating its value will hit $2 billion by 2022.

CBD has a lot of purported benefits with a lot of anecdotal (and some scientific) evidence to back those claims. Everything from helping cancer patients fight nausea, to acting as a sleep aid for people with insomnia, to reducing seizures in children with a severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome.

While those seem like potentially huge breakthroughs, CBD is also said to help with smaller stuff, like helping you recover faster from workouts thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties. Before you dive into a pool of CBD oil, here’s everything you need to know.

"A Review on Cannabis Schedule I Status"

Despite the nearly century-long prohibition of the plant, cannabis is nonetheless one of the most investigated therapeutically active substances in history.
There are more than 26,000 published studies or reviews in the scientific literature referencing the cannabis plant and its cannabinoids, according to a keyword search on the search engine PubMed Central, the US government repository for peer-reviewed scientific research, with over 1,000 new studies published annually.

The scientific conclusions of the majority of modern research directly conflicts with the federal government’s stance that cannabis is a highly dangerous substance worthy of absolute criminalization.

"Unique treatment potential of CBD for the prevention of relapse to drug use: preclinical proof of principle"

Cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychoactive constituent of Cannabis sativa, has received attention for therapeutic potential in treating neurologic and psychiatric disorders. 
Recently, CBD has also been explored for potential in treating drug addiction. 

Substance use disorders are chronically relapsing conditions and relapse risk persists for multiple reasons including craving induced by drug contexts, susceptibility to stress, elevated anxiety, and impaired impulse control. This study from NCBI was published online in 2018 Mar 22 and evaluate the “anti-relapse” potential of CBD  in animal models of drug seeking, anxiety and impulsivity.
The Study...

For the study, rats with alcohol or cocaine self-administration histories received transdermal CBD at 24 h intervals for 7 days and were tested for context and stress-induced reinstatement, as well as experimental anxiety on the elevated plus maze. 

"Study Focused on Deaths from Marijuana Compared With 17 FDA-Approved Drugs"

Much of the medical marijuana discussion has focused on the safety of marijuana compared to the safety of FDA-approved drugs. On 24 June 2005 ProCon.org sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to find the number of deaths caused by marijuana compared to the number of deaths caused by 17 FDA-approved drugs. 

Twelve of these FDA-approved drugs were chosen because they are commonly prescribed in place of medical marijuana, while the remaining five FDA-approved drugs were randomly selected because they are widely used and recognized by the general public. 

ProCon.org chose:

-1 January 1997 as starting date as it is the beginning of the first year following  November 1996 approval of the first state medical marijuana laws (such as California's Proposition 215). 

-The FDA reports from 13 September 2005 to 14 Octomber 2005 included drug deaths "to present", which was the date each report was compiled for our request. We cut off the counting as of 30 June 2005 to provide a uniform end-date to the various reports.