Objective: Management of chronic pain is one of the most common reasons given by individuals seeking medical cannabis. However, very little information exists about the concurrent use of cannabis and prescription pain medication (PPM). This study fills this gap in knowledge by systematically comparing medical cannabis users who use or do not use PPM, with an emphasis on understanding whether concurrent use of cannabis and PPM is associated with more serious forms of alcohol and other drug involvement. Method: Data from this study were collected from a medical cannabis clinic in southwestern Michigan (N = 273). Systematic comparisons were made on measures of sociodemographics,...

v9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active component of marijuana, induced apoptosis in C6.9 glioma cells, as determined by DNA fragmentation and loss of plasma membrane asymmetry. THC stimulated sphingomyelin hydrolysis in C6.9 glioma cells. THC and N-acetylsphingosine, a cellpermeable ceramide analog, induced apoptosis in several transformed neural cells but not in primary astrocytes or neurons. Although glioma C6.9 cells expressed the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, neither THC-induced apoptosis nor THC-induced sphingomyelin breakdown were prevented by SR141716, a specific antagonist of that receptor. Results thus show that THC-induced apoptosis in glioma C6.9 cells may rely on a CB1 receptor-independent stimulation of sphingomyelin breakdown

Background: Cannabis therapy has been considered an effective treatment for spasticity, although clinical reports of symptom reduction in multiple sclerosis (MS) describe mixed outcomes. Recently introduced therapies of combined Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) extracts have potential for symptom relief with the possibility of reducing intoxication and other side effects. Although several past reviews have suggested that cannabinoid therapy provides a therapeutic benefit for symptoms of MS, none have presented a methodical investigation of newer cannabinoid treatments in MS-related spasticity. The purpose of the present review was to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of combined THC and CBD extracts on MS-related spasticity in order to...