Marijuana Canada

There is much interest in the medical applications of Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana). An oral spray consisting of the marijuana constituents, cannabidiol (CBD,19) and A -mzw-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, 20), has been approved recendy in Canada for the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), and it is possible that this drug will be approved elsewhere in the near future. ... 

Medical marijuana remains a controversial topic, but synthetic THC, dronabinol, marketed under the trade name Marinol, has been available by prescription since 1986. The dronabinol analog nabilone is another THC prescription drug marketed under the name Cesamet. Marinol and Cesamet, taken as capsules, have Food Drug Administration approval as an antinausea agent and appetite stimulant (for AIDS patients), but they are also prescribed for depression and muscle spasms. In 2005, Canada was the first country to approve Sativex, a cannabis spray that relieves pain in people with multiple sclerosis. 

The border between Canada and the United States has seen an increase in marijuana seizures. Production of marijuana in Canada for export to the United States is a problem, as is diversion of pharmaceuticals such as pseudoephedrine tables. 

In a study of imprisoned youth in Canada, published in the October 1999 issue of the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, many participants cited inhalants as their first substance of abuse, preceding cigarettes, marijuana, illegal hallucinogens, and opiates. 

Only two countries, the Netherlands and Canada, allow patients with certain medical conditions and a physician s approval to grow and use their own marijuana. In the United States, however, the drug remains... 

Since 1976 laws allowing the limited use of marijuana for medical purposes (medical marijuana) have been enacted in 35 states (by 2003 some of these laws had expired or were specifically not renewed by state legislators). In 2002 there were broad efforts to decriminalize marijuana use in Canada and the United Kingdom. Within the United States, most state level reforms are rendered ineffectual by overriding federal drug laws. Despite federal laws, since 1996, eight states have enacted various laws that effectively allow the limited and controlled use of medical marijuana. In those states, however, doctors and medicnal users still face possible federal criminal prosecution. 

The therapeutic uses of marijuana today arc much more circumscribed. For the most part synthetic products (such as dronabinol [trade name Marinol] and nabilonc [Cesamet]) that chemically resemble the cannabinoids have been used in current treatment efforts because they provide the active elements of THC in a more stable manner (see Joy ct al., 1999 Sussman, Stacy, Dent, Simon, Johnson, 1996). Synthetics also can provide better solubility. Unfortunately, a downside to the synthetics is the absence of the rapid effect experienced when marijuana is smoked. When synthetic THC is taken orally, it is broken down prior to entering the bloodstream and absorption thus is delayed. A recent development with promise is a cannabis oral spray (trade name Sativex), which has been approved in Canada for use as a painkiller for sufferers of multiple sclerosis. 

Chang L, Leckova K, Cloak C, Arnold S, Yakupov R, Lozar C, Warren K, Ernst T (2003) Decreased BOLD activation during visual attention tasks in marijuana abusers. International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Toronto, ON, Canada... 

A -frar s-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the major psychoactive (euphoriant) constituent of marijuana. Cannabis sativa. The synthetic form of THC (dronabinol) was approved approximately 20 years ago to treat nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, and it has been used for a lesser amount of time to treat appetite loss in patients with HIV/AIDS (44). More recently, an approximately 1 1 mixture of THC and the structurally related marijuana constituent cannabidiol has been approved in Canada for the alleviation of neuropathic pain and spasticity fcr patients with multiple sclerosis and is administered in low doses as a buccal spray (53). Ccnsiderable interest exists in using cannabinoid derivatives based on THC for medicinal purpcses, but it is necessary to minimize the central nervous system effects of these compounds. 

The Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs in Canada promoted the legalization of marijuana, recommending that it be made readily available to persons over 16 years of age. It calls for amnesty for those previously convicted of marijuana possession, approximately 600,000 Canadians. 

The issue is not whether the use of the drugs, such as marijuana, should be permitted in Canada, but whether laws should control these substances. Advocates of decriminalization cite economic fartors. Opponents cite crime rates, and studies that show that marijuana can have lasting effect on the brain. 

International laws are changing, too, as the decriminalization movement grows around the world following the success of a Netherlands program that since 1976 has essentially allowed the personal use of cannabis. Following the adoption of the new policy toward marijuana use, the Netherlands saw a 40 percent decrease in marijuana use and an even larger drop in heroin addiction. These results led many other European countries, Canada, Australia, New... 

The demand for the legalization of Cannabis sativa (marijnana) for medicinal nse has represented an interesting controversy in recent years because of the possibility of abuse [37], Cannabidiol (CBD, 8) and A -tra s-tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC, 9), two active cannabinoids of marijuana, have been approved recently in Canada as ingredients of an oromucosal spray marketed as Sativex to alleviate the pain caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). Efforts are being made to introduce Sativex to other countries in the near future [38,39]. 

Smiley, A. (1999). Marijuana On Road and Driving Simulator Studies. In The Health Effects of Cannabis (H. Kalant, W. A. Corrgall, W. Hall and R. G. Smart, eds.). Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada. 

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