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    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
    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.

    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 explore associations of acute and sustained use of legal market edible cannabis products on pain, cognition, and quality of life in a group of cancer patients.

    Methods:

    In this observational study, cancer patients completed a baseline appointment, a two-week ad libitum cannabis use period, and an acute administration appointment that included assessments before cannabis use, one-hour post-use, and two-hour post-use. Participants completed self-report questionnaires related to the primary outcomes and the Stroop task as a measure of objective cognitive function.

    Results:

    Twenty-five participants [mean (standard deviation, SD) age = 54.3 years (15.6); 13 females (52.0%)] completed all study appointments and were included in the analysis. Sustained cannabis use was associated with improvements in pain intensity, pain interference, sleep quality, subjective cognitive function, and reaction times in the Stroop task, but no change in general quality of life was observed. High levels of cannabidiol (CBD) use during the two-week ad libitum use period was associated with steeper improvements in pain intensity and sleep quality. Participants reported improvements in pain intensity and increased feelings of subjective high after acute use. High levels of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use during the acute administration appointment was associated with steeper increases in feelings of subjective high. Improvements in pain were associated with improvements in subjective cognitive function.

    Conclusions:

    This observational study is among the first of its kind to examine associations between legal market, palliative cannabis use, and subjective and objective outcomes among cancer patients. These early findings concerning pain intensity, sleep quality, and cognitive function can help to inform future, fully powered studies of this important topic (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03617692).

    Gregory Giordano ... Angela D. Bryan
    Published: April 26, 2023 Explor Med. 2023;4:254–271
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emed.2023.00138
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    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 explore associations of acute and sustained use of legal market edible cannabis products on pain, cognition, and quality of life in a group of cancer patients.

    Methods:

    In this observational study, cancer patients completed a baseline appointment, a two-week ad libitum cannabis use period, and an acute administration appointment that included assessments before cannabis use, one-hour post-use, and two-hour post-use. Participants completed self-report questionnaires related to the primary outcomes and the Stroop task as a measure of objective cognitive function.

    Results:

    Twenty-five participants [mean (standard deviation, SD) age = 54.3 years (15.6); 13 females (52.0%)] completed all study appointments and were included in the analysis. Sustained cannabis use was associated with improvements in pain intensity, pain interference, sleep quality, subjective cognitive function, and reaction times in the Stroop task, but no change in general quality of life was observed. High levels of cannabidiol (CBD) use during the two-week ad libitum use period was associated with steeper improvements in pain intensity and sleep quality. Participants reported improvements in pain intensity and increased feelings of subjective high after acute use. High levels of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use during the acute administration appointment was associated with steeper increases in feelings of subjective high. Improvements in pain were associated with improvements in subjective cognitive function.

    Conclusions:

    This observational study is among the first of its kind to examine associations between legal market, palliative cannabis use, and subjective and objective outcomes among cancer patients. These early findings concerning pain intensity, sleep quality, and cognitive function can help to inform future, fully powered studies of this important topic (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03617692).

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