Regarding its medicinal actions, and according to prestigious reports from such as, for example, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, or the Health Canada, there is scientific evidence that cannabis, through its most paradigmatic cannabinoid, A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is effective for the treatment of symptoms associated with various diseases, especially chronic pain of different etiologies, nausea and vomiting in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy, spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients and sleep disorders in patients with certain diseases.
To these therapeutic applications, let's say classic, are added other more recently studied ones, among which the use of another cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), stands out to attenuate seizures in childhood epilepsies, as well as to reduce the psychotic risk of THC and therefore make the use of cannabis safer.
These effects of cannabinoids together make it possible to mitigate different symptoms simultaneously and, therefore, kill several birds with one stone. A clear example is the palliative treatment of cancer patients, in whom, with cannabinoids, nausea and vomiting, pain, loss of appetite, anxiety and insomnia can be combated.
Apart from the therapeutic effects, for any medication in general and psychotropic drugs in particular, we must weigh its harmful effects. The safety profile of cannabis and cannabinoids in the clinical context is more than reasonable and side effects such as drowsiness, disorientation, confusion, fatigue, dry mouth and tachycardia that appear in a few patients usually fall within the accepted ranges for others. medications.
With these contextual details, and without any intention to trivialize the use of cannabis, it is usually associated with lower health risks for adults than other psychotropic drugs such as opioids, psychostimulants, benzodiazepines and barbiturates, as well as, let's not forget , that our two legal drugs are alcohol and tobacco.
SATIVEX AND MORE MEDICAL CANNABIS
From the official authorities of our country we do not even want to hear about the right to the recreational use of cannabis and with respect to its therapeutic use we are told that why do we want medicinal cannabis if we already have Sativex. This only medication approved in Spain, which contains THC and CBD in its composition, for the symptomatic treatment of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, is listed as Gary Cooper “Only in the face of danger.”
The question, gentlemen rulers, is not “Sativex or cannabis”, but “Sativex and cannabis”, as, logically, many of the countries around us that have already regulated the medicinal cannabis in a more open and comprehensive way, since the therapeutic possibilities are numerous and cannot be limited only to a single product approved, today, by the health authorities of our country.
Although this constitutes a small advance, it should be noted that it is very limited and with many “buts”, according to the opinion of the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis (OECM) and other patient groups.
In this sense, Health leaves marijuana buds out of its project to regulate medicinal cannabis and greatly limits its use, since it can only be prescribed by specialist doctors and not primary care doctors and will only be dispensed in hospital pharmacies and not in community pharmacies. Both issues are a big mistake for patient associations, since they greatly limit patients' access to medical cannabis treatments.
In short, we are moving forward, but very little by little, in relation to other countries around us, so be patient and let's see if said Royal Decree is finally approved.
