If you’re like me at all, you probably don’t remember many anti-marijuanna or anti-drug advertisements (ads) popping up throughout your childhood. And if that’s the case, I’m also sure you haven’t looked at many blogs recently either.
However, if you’re more … seasoned … when it comes to the game of life, I’m sure you can recall ads popping up on the TV screen similar to those from the “Marijuanna Kills” scene from “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” which is linked below.
On the off-chance you have no clue what I’m referencing, I have also linked a compilation of anti-cannabis commercials that reflect a fairly outdated mindset surrounding marijuanna.
I don’t call the ads outdated because of the message they try to propagate; rather, I call them outdated due to the things they fail to consider. These advertisements don’t take into account the possibility of deriving therapeutic approaches to various neurological disorders from marijuanna.
The review articles “Endocannabinoids at the synapse and beyond: implications for neuropsychiatric disease pathophysiology and treatment” by Scheyer et. al. and “Current Aspects of the Endocannabinoid System and Targeted THC and CBD Phytocannabinoids as Potential Therapeutics for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Diseases: a Review” by Cooray et. al. are examples of where modern thinking surrounding marijuanna is/is headed.
Scheyer et. al.’s review goes in depth with the endocannabinoid system and explains how the system itself can be beneficial in finding novel therapeutic approaches to disorders ranging from epilepsy to substance abuse (1). Cooray et. al.’s review explains why the molecular structure of the endocannabinoid system calls for research into exactly how it functions in patients with Alzheimer's (AD) or Parkinson’s (PD). Along with this Cooray et. al. suggests the endocannabinoid system could be used as a therapeutic approach to both PD and AD induced neuroinflammation, so long as more research is done regarding the cause of this inflammation in AD and PD patients (2). While Scheyer et. al. more so suggests the possibility for therapeutic approaches regarding disorders/diseases that are not neurodegenerative in nature, this review still highlights the potential of the endocannabinoid system to be beneficially used in patients suffering from these disorders (1). A very stark contrast from the suggestion that cannabis use in the brain resembles an egg being fried.
With the possibilities of these therapeutic approaches looming in the distance the important question of what should public opinion be must be asked. Cooray et. al. notes in their study that the acceptance of cannabis based drugs for any therapies may not go over as well with some people as others (2). Should it? As Scheyer et. al. notes, research into things related to cannabis has only really boomed in the past two decades (1), and on PubMed the search term cannabis produces the majority of results from 2000-present. However, as of 3/3/23, cannabis is still federally considered a schedule 1 controlled substance while codeine, an opioid frequently recreationally abused, is schedule 2.
While we are on the topic, recent data published by Raman et. al. indicates that the introduction of medical cannabis laws (MCL) and recreational cannabis laws (RCL) in certain states seems to be correlated with a decrease in non-medicinal opioid use. This publication primarily derived its data from the DEA and found that the opioid codeine is most impacted by the introduction of these laws (3).
So, should we still be looking at cannabis based drugs as a gateway or as a new way to treat certain disorders? Should we look at cannabis, RCL, and MCL less as just “drugs” and more as a possible therapeutic approach for people suffering day to day from these various disorders? If it truly helps to mitigate the symptoms for people suffering from these various disorders and offers a more affordable treatment path, should public opinion simply be disregarded surrounding cannabis based drugs? I can’t answer these questions. I’m not a spokesperson for everyone nor a politician. The only thing I can hope to do with this blog is try and depict how mindsets surrounding cannabis or cannabis based drugs seem to be shifting whether people want them to or not.
References (in order of appearance):
1. Scheyer, A., Yasmin, F., Naskar, S., & Patel, S. (2023). Endocannabinoids at the synapse and beyond: implications for neuropsychiatric disease pathophysiology and treatment. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 48(1), 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01438-7
2. Cooray R, Gupta V, Suphioglu C. Current Aspects of the Endocannabinoid System and Targeted THC and CBD Phytocannabinoids as Potential Therapeutics for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases: a Review. Mol Neurobiol. 2020 Nov;57(11):4878-4890. doi: 10.1007/s12035-020-02054-6. Epub 2020 Aug 19. PMID: 32813239; PMCID: PMC7515854.
3. Raman, S., Maclean, J. C., Bradford, W. D., & Drake, C. (2023). Recreational cannabis and opioid distribution. Health Economics, 32( 4), 747– 754. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4652
Marijuanna Kills Clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxJ0WZdQ2IM
Anti-Cannabis Ad Compilation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EumbZzk2rXU
No comments:
Post a Comment