The world of cannabis has evolved and continues to change at a rapid rate. Gone are the stereotypic stoner and pothead images. Cannabis is now consumed regularly by virtually every demographic. In fact, by the end of 2022, 52 million Americans consumed cannabis and 91% of American adults favored legalizing cannabis use. Why? There are many different answers to that question and most center around health and wellness.
Recent research helps shed light on some of the issues cannabis consumers are trying to address: the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study showing that 1 in 4 adults (25.9%) with chronic pain is turning to cannabis for pain management; the American Medical Association (AMA) found that chronic pain patients who received medical marijuana saw significant reductions in opioid prescriptions; a study done at the University of Colorado Boulder examined the effects of cannabis use, and found it decreased brain inflammation and improved cognitive task performance in adults aged 60 to 88.
Breast cancer research by Hadassah Medical Center reported a sixfold improvement in killing breast cancer cells when using specific medical cannabis products in combination with standard oncology treatments and drug protocols.
For combat PTSD sufferers, a study published by the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs states that the vast majority of US veterans “reported positive outcomes for pain, sleep, and emotional problems because of cannabis use”.
And last week, Psychology Today published an article claiming that childhood trauma reduces the number of cannabinol receptors, partially explaining the high rate of cannabis use in traumatized individuals. Interestingly, the association between cannabis use and childhood trauma was statistically significant more so for women.
Research on the use of cannabis for health and wellness has only scratched the surface – there is so much more to be learned and understood. Meanwhile, the use of cannabis continues to increase across the US. And how easy is it to obtain safe, pesticide-free cannabis? We’ll talk about that in our next post.