Exploring the Potential Benefits of Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products - Essay Sample

Introduction

Until recent times, cannabis-based products were extensively prohibited by law, which held that it has no medical benefits and presents a considerable risk of abuse. Policies have been evolving gradually, and cannabis products can now be used for clinical purposes in various states (Freeman et al., 2019). This change in policy offers exciting opportunities for clinical use in the treatment and management of health conditions. There are several medicinal products with varying efficacy, mechanism of action, and safety, but cannabidiol (CBD) oil is the most popular cannabis derivative (Martini, 2016). In the past recent years, CBD has drawn immense popularity and is today consumed and sold to manage an extensive range of lifestyle conditions and other symptoms such as loss of appetite (Hazekamp, 2018). The ever-growing demand for CBD products and the emergence of entities seeking to reap off this opportunity raise safety and regulation concerns. Regulatory issues concern CBD product producers, pharmaceutical companies, as well as cannabis growers (Freeman et al., 2019). While CBD is widely available, most interests revolve around the quality, safety, and legality of this new medical alternative. It is, therefore, vital to seek to understand CBD products through the lens of their advantages, risks, and concerns that arise in regards to the production, presentation, and consumption of CBD products like Cannabis oil.

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Presently, medicinal marijuana is a popular term, referring to the use of marijuana and it’s derivatives for medical purposes. Some medical symptoms can be alleviated using CBD products include anxiety, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease (Hazekamp, 2018). Noteworthy, while CBD has maintained a favorable safety profile, the majority of current uses of CBD are yet to be supported by clinical evidence. CBD oil is being extensively promoted as a prophylactic drug that can be used to prevent the development of certain diseases. Moreover, CBD is popularized as a potent antioxidant, which heightens protection against stress triggers (Hazekamp, 2018). These purported medicinal benefits of CBD increase the market for these products, making the relative legal and safety concerns indispensable.

If the uses of CBD oil were limited to adults, well informed, and vigorous consumers, the effects of its prevalent production and consumption would be limited and acceptable. On the contrary, CBD is actively advertised for use by the elderly (for Dementia, Parkinson’s disease Alzheimer’s), children (ADHD, autism, for example), chronically ill patients, and pets. Indiscriminate production and consumption may bring forth various health and safety issues for consumers (Hazekamp, 2018). For instance, the long term consequences of high CBD doses in children remain unclear, even though it presents exciting prospects for treating epileptic children (Hazekamp, 2018). Curbing unchecked sale and advertisement of medicinal CBD products calls for policies to stop producers and marketers from popularizing products through unproven claims.

A growing mass of evidence from systematic research on the medicinal use of cannabis-based products reveals some degree of viability in management or treatment or various health conditions. Some reviews present proof of the management of chronic pain, nausea resulting from chemotherapy, and the treatment of epilepsy (Martini, 2016). There is minimal proof indicating the effectiveness of these derivatives for other symptoms such as weight and appetite loss linked to HIV, anxiety, and schizophrenia. This limited evidence of these claims is, to some extent, attributable to the regulatory and legal constraints on research on alternative medicine (Martini, 2016). Eliminating such obstacles is vital to finding more reliable evidence to guide the clinical use of cannabis oil. Shortcomings of medical research on cannabis-based products range from biased reports or results, withdrawals from programs, and use of synthetic cannabinoids (Freeman et al., 2019). More importantly, the heterogeneity of the strains tested, in regards to active constituent levels and pharmacokinetics makes it tasking to ascertain optimal treatment formulas and dosing schedules (Freeman et al., 2019). It is consensual that there is a gap for more intensive trials for in-depth exploration of vital pharmacological dynamics like drug response and drug interaction.

The gap in research and the limited evidence of the efficiency of cannabis-based products in the management or treatment of conditions raises dispensing concerns. Apart from the insufficient information on efficacy, clinicians are reluctant to recommend or prescribe cannabis oil because it’s regarded as a drug whose form, composition dosage regimens cannot be articulated as in typical treatment formulas (Vandolah et al., 2019). Because of the different legal status of cannabis extracts in various geographical areas, these products are extensively unstandardized and unregulated, and this reflects in the availability of reliable clinical evidence supporting medicinal CBD (Vandolah et al., 2019). These issues bring forth safety concerns, with which comes the subject of legal constraints.

The legality of cannabis and cannabis derivatives is of crucial concern, especially the rising popularity as a viable medicinal alternative. The legal standing of CBD products in America is exceptionally sophisticated because various states have custom made their cannabis laws. At the same time, the federal government does not condone the consumption of marijuana products (Vandolah et al., 2019). In countries like the UK, Germany, and America, the drug has been technically labeled as a new or alternative medicine, and this requires suppliers to conform to more strict effectiveness, safety, and quality standards (Northwestern Medicine, 2020). Altogether, considering the diverse conditions and restrictions, it can be daunting to put up a fully functional legal pipeline for the production, sale, and consumption of CBD oil for medicinal purposes

The popularity of CBD derivatives is ushering in changes in the medical industry, and with that comes with improbability not only in treatment application but also in legal and safety issues. Despite these undeniable concerns over the relatively unfamiliar outcomes of medicinal cannabis use, it’s widely used for medicinal purposes is going to keep growing. More and more entrepreneurs are commercializing the naivety of individuals seeking for cannabis derivatives to manage their medical conditions (Piermarini & Viswanath, 2019). As a result, numerous products that either contain no CBD are mislabelled or include harmful elements that have found their way into this growing market. These dynamics call for holistic regulation of medicinal cannabis, from production, advertisement, prescription, dispense, and consumption.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is agreeable that the medicinal use of cannabis through products such as cannabis oil is only catching on, and with this trend comes the challenge of regulation in regards to safety and legal issues. For efficient treatment modalities that make marijuana derivatives legitimate medicinal products, there must be holistic regulations on CBD oil production and distribution. As CBD continues to gain popularity as an alternative therapeutic option for their health issues, there is a need to protect this population to make sure they have safe varieties of this alternative medication at their disposal. It is, therefore, essential to recognize and respond to the arising issues pertinent to medical marijuana by regulation and creating more awareness regarding safety and quality matters regarding medicinal cannabis products such as CBD oil. The bottom line; the therapeutic use of marijuana is unfolding; hence there is still much to be understood about the dynamics of CBD products. All in all, the medical use of CBD based products is bound to grow as new clinical evidence emerges and as policy reforms occur.

References

Freeman, T. P., Hindocha, C., Green, S. F., & Bloomfield, M. A. P. (2019). Medicinal use of cannabis-based products and cannabinoids. Business Management Journal, l114. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1141

Hazekamp, A. (2018). The trouble with CBD oil. Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids, 1(1), 65–72. https://doi.org/10.1159/000489287

Martini, N. (2016). Potion or poison? Cannabis oil. Journal of Primary Health Care, 8(2), 182-183. https://doi.org/10.1071/hc15908

Northwestern Medicine, M. R. R. (2020). What research says about CBD oil. https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/medical-advances/science-and-research/what-research-says-about-cbd-oil

Piermarini, C., & Viswanath, O. (2019). CBD as the new medicine in the pain provider’s armamentarium. Pain and Therapy, 8(1), 157–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40122-019-0117-1

Vandolah, H. J., Bauer, B. A., & Mauck, K. F. (2019). Clinicians’ guide to cannabidiol and hemp oils. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 94(9), 1840–1851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.01.003