• Special Issue Topic

    Beyond Weed: Clinical Applications of Cannabis and Cannabinoids

    Submission Deadline: October 15, 2022

    Guest Editors

    Dr. Staci Gruber E-Mail

    Director, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core; Director, Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND), McLean Hospital; Associate Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School, USA


    Dr. M. Kathryn Dahlgren E-Mail

    Assistant Neuroscientist, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core, Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND), McLean Hospital; Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, USA


    Dr. Kelly Sagar E-Mail

    Assistant Neuroscientist, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core, Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND), McLean Hospital; Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, USA


    About the Special Issue

    Cannabis has been used medicinally across countless cultures for thousands of years, and a recent cultural shift re-embracing plant-based medicine has resulted in growing efforts to legalize cannabis and cannabinoid-based products. Although decades of research have focused on potential harms related to recreational cannabis use, particularly in younger populations, a paucity of empirically sound data exists regarding the impact of cannabinoids when used for medical purposes. As increasing numbers of patients turn to cannabinoids as an alternative or adjunctive treatment, additional studies specifically examining the risks and benefits of medical cannabis use and cannabinoid-based treatments are clearly warranted. Although the term “cannabis” is often used to describe anything from the plant Cannabis sativa L, this term represents an extremely diverse array of constituents and compounds. Accordingly, given the unique effects associated with individual cannabinoids or combinations of cannabinoids and other constituents, it is critical that cannabinoid-based treatments being evaluated are well-characterized in terms of their source, composition, dose, and route of administration.

    Investigators are invited to submit original research, reviews, meta-analyses, commentaries, or perspectives for this special issue of Exploration of Medicine entitled “Beyond Weed: Clinical Applications of Cannabis and Cannabinoids.” This issue will be focused on assessing potential clinical applications of cannabinoids for a range of medical conditions and symptoms, including but not limited to pain, inflammation, cancer, neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, and sleep disturbance. Manuscripts examining clinical outcomes, safety, dosing, efficacy, expectancy effects, and other topics relevant to clinical applications of cannabinoid-based treatments will be considered. This collection of articles will add critically important, unbiased scientific evidence to the literature, which can ultimately play a key role in informing public health policies and guiding clinical care decisions related to the use of cannabis and cannabinoids for therapeutic purposes.

    Keywords: cannabis, cannabinoids, medical marijuana, treatment, clinical outcomes, safety, public health

    Call for Papers

    Published Articles

    Open Access
    Review
    Cannabidiol, cognition and schizophrenia: a narrative review
    Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder affecting about 1% of the population. It is characterised by multiple symptoms which are mostly responsive to treatment with antipsychotic medications. Cog [...] Read more.
    Trevor R. Norman
    Published: February 07, 2024 Explor Med. 2024;5:48–58
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2024.00204
    View:419
    Download:22
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Review
    Treatment of malignant diseases with phytocannabinoids: promising observations in animal models and patients
    Amazingly, almost 50 years after the first demonstration of anticancer effects of cannabinoids in vitro and in vivo, well-designed clinical trials that definitively prove tumour-inhibiting effects i [...] Read more.
    Gerhard Nahler
    Published: December 06, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:847–877
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00182
    View:488
    Download:16
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Perspective
    A U.S. Food and Drug Administration perspective on cannabis research and drug development
    Since the early 1970s, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received over 800 investigational new drug applications (INDs) for, and pre-INDs pertaining to, research of cannabis or cannabi [...] Read more.
    Cassandra L. Taylor, Schuyler A. Pruyn
    Published: October 31, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:813–821
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00179
    View:4064
    Download:255
    Open Access
    Original Article
    A large-scale survey of cannabis use for sleep: preferred products and perceived effects in comparison to over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids
    Aim: Cannabis use for sleep-related problems is on the rise; however, little is known about the cannabis products people are using for sleep or the perceived effects of cannabis in comparison to  [...] Read more.
    Amanda Stueber, Carrie Cuttler
    Published: October 25, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:709–719
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00171
    View:6884
    Download:116
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Review
    Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) for the treatment of Long COVID symptoms: current and potential applications
    Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can result in a range of persistent symptoms impacting everyday functioning for a considerable proportion of patients, a condit [...] Read more.
    Hannah Thurgur ... David J. Nutt
    Published: August 31, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:487–503
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00158
    View:3825
    Download:50
    Open Access
    Original Article
    Cannabinoid-based medicines in clinical care of chronic non-cancer pain: an analysis of pain mechanism and cannabinoid profile
    Aim: Among treatments for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), cannabinoid-based medicines (CBMs) have become extremely popular. Evidence remains modest and limited primarily to delta-9-tetrahydrocann [...] Read more.
    Lucile Rapin ... Michael Dworkind
    Published: June 30, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:363–379
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00148
    View:952
    Download:27
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Original Article
    Exploring medical cannabis use in individuals with a traumatic brain injury
    Aim: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common neurological condition, which can present with a wide range of neuropsychological symptoms. Treating this broad spectrum of symptoms represents a sig [...] Read more.
    Elizabeth N. R. Schjelderup ... Alasdair M. Barr
    Published: June 30, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:393–408
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00150
    View:917
    Download:38
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Original Article
    Cannabis use in cancer patients: acute and sustained associations with pain, cognition, and quality of life
    Aim: Given the myriad of negative sequalae associated with cancer and its treatment, the palliative use of cannabis by cancer patients is increasingly of special interest. This research sought to e [...] Read more.
    Gregory Giordano ... Angela D. Bryan
    Published: April 26, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:254–271
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00138
    View:7221
    Download:233
    Times Cited: 0