CBD’s Potential To Treat Pain, Cancer, Schizophrenia, COVID And Other Conditions Highlighted In New Scientific … – Marijuana Moment

A new scientific review highlights the potential of CBD to treat and manage the symptoms of conditions like epilepsy, pain, cancer, schizophrenia, diabetes and COVID-19, among others.

The wide-ranging 11-page review takes up the broad task of trying to summarize comprehensively the impact of cannabis on human health, finding that while the field has yet to be thoroughly explored, the plant and its components exhibit neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, anti-bacterial, analgesic, and antiepileptic properties.

The study, Beneficial effects of cannabidiol from Cannabis, was published last month in the journal Applied Biological Chemistry. In addition to the overview of cannabis on human health, it delves into recent CBD research advancements, highlighting the compounds potential medical applications.

Our exploration encompasses its pharmacological properties, mechanisms of action, and the accumulating evidence supporting its use in various medical conditions, authors wrote. Additionally, we critically assess challenges and controversies surrounding CBD research, including regulatory considerations and potential adverse effects.

It features sections on cannabinoids as treatment for the form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome, as a promising pain relief alternative, as a way to manage the symptoms of schizophrenia and even as a possible inhibitor of COVID-19 infection. It also touches on the diverse anticancer properties of cannabinoids that authors said present promising opportunities for future therapeutic interventions in cancer treatment, as well as CBDs apparent effects on diabetes-related biological processes.

Cannabis exhibits neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, anti-bacterial, analgesic, and antiepileptic properties.

The studyfrom an eight-author team out of South Korea, representing Gachon University, Chung-Ang University, the Gyeongbuk Institute for Bioindustry and the National Product Institute of Science and Technologyalso acknowledges industrial applications of CBD and hemp, such as for pharmaceutical drugs, skincare products, fuel, paper, clothing, rope and even massage oil production.

While many of findings of the new review, funded by South Koreas National Product Institute of Science and Technology, may be familiar to audiences well versed in cannabis research, South Koreas drug laws remain some of the strictest in the world. Though medical cannabis was partially legalized in 2018, marijuana and CBD are otherwise prohibited.

In the United States, meanwhile, the government has begun wading into hemp research and regulation since the plant and its products became legal through the 2018 Farm Bill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, for instance, has been attempting to work more closely with hemp growers and breeders. Last year, the department released updated guidance on how to identify, describe and evaluate different varieties of the plant.

Last month, USDA also issued a new Hemp Research Needs Roadmapdivided into four areas: Breeding and Genetics, Best Practices for Production, Biomanufacturing for End Uses and Transparency and Consistency. The document reflects stakeholder input in identifying the hemp industrys greatest research needs, USDA said in a press release.

While much of it consists of a survey of research goals around hemp, the roadmap also included a proposal to develop a public-private hemp consortium, saying that collaboration is critical to ensuring value along the entire hemp supply chain.

USDA also last month said a genetically modified version of hemp produced by researchers in Wisconsin may be safely grown and bred in the United Statesand is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated plants.

The hemp variety, dubbed Badger G, does not produce THC or CBD but is designed to have higher levels of the cannabinoid CBG. Its at least the second type of genetically modified hemp to get the OK from the agencys Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) afteranother modified plant, which produces lowered levels of THC and CBC, was approved in October.

Amid state-level legalization of marijuana and the federal governments legalization of low-THC hemp and its derivative products, interest in research around hemp industry and commerce has ballooned in recent years.

In February, new federally funded research into how to distinguish hemp and marijuana in order to assist crime labs identified two new methods for differentiating the two forms of cannabis.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also put out a solicitation in 2022, seekingportable marijuana analyzers to quickly identify cannabinoid profilesand help distinguish between marijuana and hemp.

And in 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) separately announced that it was seeking a device toprovide specificity to distinguish between hemp and marijuanasince the former crop was legalized.

USDA has alsosent out thousands of surveys to hemp farmers, meant to understand how the industry is growing but also identify challenges in business and regulation. The departmentlaunched its first annual survey in 2021, and itupdated the questionnaire last year before distributing it to farmersand releasing a report with findings thatshowed significant declines in the value and production of the cropin 2022.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its part, isconsidering a proposal to allow hemp seed meal as livestock for hens.

Meanwhile, USDA has been reportedlyrevoking hemp licenses for farmers who are simultaneously growing marijuanaunder state-approved programs, underscoring yet another policy conflict stemming from the ongoing federal prohibition of some forms of the cannabis plant.

Federal hemp rules could be further amended as part of the next iteration of large-scale agriculture legislation. The 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the crop was supposed to be updated last year, but its been extended through much of 2024.

Last week, 21 attorneys general urged congressional leaders to take action on intoxicating hemp productsthat became legal through the 2018 change. Federal lawmakers should amend the definition of hemp, they wrote, and clarify that states can take their own measures to regulate the plant and its derivative products.

As Congress prepares to embark on a new five-year reauthorization of the Farm Bill, we strongly urge your committees to address the glaring vagueness created in the 2018 Farm Bill that has led to the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products across the nation and challenges to the ability for states and localities to respond to the resulting health and safety crisis, the top state law enforcement officials wrote. We urge Congress in the strongest possible terms to address this reckless policy.

Lawmakers and stakeholders are eyeing a number of other proposals that could be incorporated in the new farm bill, including measures tofree up hemp businesses to legally market products like CBDas dietary supplements or in the food supply and to remove restrictions on participation in the industry by people with certain prior drug convictions.

FDA has regulatory jurisdiction over that issue, but at the beginning of last year, the agency said it didnt have a pathway to make it happen and instead offered to work with Congress on a solution.

In response, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), filed legislation last July that wouldremove regulatory barriers that FDA claims prevents it from allowing CBD marketing.

Congressional researchers cautioned last November thatvarying policy priorities among industry stakeholders could make the task of updating the federal farm bill more difficult.

The CRS report also referenced several recent hemp bills that federal lawmakers may consider folding in to the broader agricultural legislation.

One bipartisan bill filed last Marchseeks to end what critics say is a discriminatory federal policythat bars people with prior felony drug convictions from owning or leading legal hemp businesses. Another bipartisan measure wouldreduce regulations on farmers that grow industrial hempfor non-extraction purposes.

For the time being, the hemp industry continues to face unique regulatory hurdles that businesses have blamed for the crops value plummeting in the short years since its legalization. Despite the economic conditions, however, a recent report found thatthe hemp market in 2022 was larger than all state marijuana markets, and it roughly equaled sales for craft beer nationally.

Meanwhile, internally at USDA, food safety workers have beenencouraged to exercise caution and avoid cannabis products, including federally legal CBD, as the agency observes an uptick in positive THC tests amid confusion as more states enact legalization.

21 State Attorneys General Push Congress To Regulate Intoxicating Hemp Products

Photo courtesy of Kimzy Nanney.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Originally posted here:

CBD's Potential To Treat Pain, Cancer, Schizophrenia, COVID And Other Conditions Highlighted In New Scientific ... - Marijuana Moment