There are undeniable health benefits of cannabis, and that’s what is moving the drug towards federal legalization. Some of the top health benefits include easing pain, and it also helps deal with insomnia. But the most important ones are related to the psychological help it can provide, including help in dealing with anxiety, mild to severe depression, and even PTSD. But is it beneficial for anesthesia administration and surgery too?

Cannabis or marijuana can help an individual find peace and enjoy their life to the fullest. However, if someone uses other drugs to manage a certain condition, cannabis can actually have some very negative effects. Cannabis and anesthesia are one such combination that can prove detrimental to health.

Anesthesia and Cannabis

Anesthesia before surgery helps your body relax into a state of self-induced sleep. This can become highly unreliable for cannabis users, and a cannabis user might ‘wake up’ before time. Cannabis users are advised to disclose all information about the usage of cannabis even if it is not in use in the near past, reported Leafy.

The anesthesia administering doctor will know how to manage the cannabis in your system and what dosage will be just fine for you. But to decide accurately, the doctor will need a complete disclosure. Anything less might make his calculations inaccurate, and you’ll be posing a risk to your own life.

An individual might be worried about disclosing cannabis use, particularly if it is against the laws of the state. A physician, nurse, and other healthcare support staff cannot disclose sensitive information under the oath of law.

The information may only be disclosed if it poses a threat to the life of someone and can only be disclosed to law enforcement agencies. The staff can also disclose the information in order to comply with a direct order from the court of law.

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Cannabis directly affects cardiovascular and respiratory systems and increases the risks involved when an individual is under the influence of anesthesia.

The problem is still solvable only if the patient discloses everything to the doctor beforehand so that the doctor can take appropriate action. The social stigma attached to cannabis usage is now gone, and more than a dozen states have already declared it to be a legal drug.

Are THC and CBD Different under Anesthesia?

Cannabis is not just one drug; it has a number of active components, of which CBD is considered safe for medical uses, and THC is the Euphoric or recreational drug. The effects produced by both these components are quite different. Hence, it is important that the doctor knows the type of drug that you use so they can take appropriate action accordingly. The information should also contain information like frequency of use, periods of break, any effects, and the ways in which the drug is taken. Ingesting is usually many times more strong than smoke.

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This difference is so important that anyone failing to disclose these things can pose a threat to their lives. This is because THC is assumed to increase heart rhythms and increase blood pressure. On the other hand, CBD slows down the heart rate and helps keep the blood pressure down. The differences don’t just stop there.

According to studies, THC stimulates appetite but can actually lead to slowed gastric motility with continued use. Moreover, THC and anesthesia elicit similar responses from the body. So, if the body has already developed some kind of tolerance to THC, the same tolerance will apply to anesthesia. This means that such an individual will need higher doses of anesthesia to exhibit the response needed.

A neurological condition named migraine is common across the globe. Researchers are working to find new and more effective methods, including the use of marijuana to treat migraines. Physicians adopt various treatment strategies to treat the condition or reduce the pain individuals experience during migraines.

Migraine in Simple Words

A neurological condition in which people experience episodes of intense pain in the brain is called migraine. Apart from the pain, people also experience nausea, tingling, vomiting, numbness, and difficulty speaking. Some patients develop sensitivity issues to visual changes and slight light and sound alterations. As a result, such individuals get irritated when they are exposed to high-intensity light and sound.

Pain intensity varies, and it lasts for hours or days continuously. Types of pain can be different; some patients experience throbbing or pulsating pain, others experience radiating pain, and it usually occurs on one side of the brain.

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There are various types of migraines, and the percentage of people affected by each type also varies. People may suffer from acute or chronic migraines. The neurological condition can develop in any individual irrespective of age. The cause of the condition varies from person to person. Family history, genetics, stress, and other factors contribute to the development of migraines in people. Some people begin to use marijuana on their own to treat migraines.

People with migraines develop depression and get agitated on smaller or smaller changes. The pain experienced during migraines causes problems in sensations, movement, vision, and speech. Patients with migraines with different symptoms use marijuana, THC, or CBD-containing substances to cure their migraines.

Procedure Used to Conduct the Study

Physicians do not recommend the use of CBD or THC products or products containing both CBD and THC for migraine treatment. They lack evidence of cannabis effectiveness in treating neurological conditions.

The research investigators intend to enroll 90 participants for fulfilling the purpose of the study, reports Kpbs. People of age limits between 21-65 who have migraines each month and do not use opium or are not habitual drug users can apply for participation. Participants that fulfill qualification criteria can become part of the research investigation.

These participants will be divided into four groups, and each group will receive four different treatments. The first group will receive CBD-based treatment, the second group will get THC-based treatment, and the third will get a combination of CBD and THC for treatment. However, the fourth group will only receive a placebo.

Administration of marijuana constituents containing products occurs through a vaporizer. According to Dr. Shuster, people with migraine symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, or gastrointestinal discomfort, can get better by consuming vaporized cannabis.

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Monitoring the effectiveness of THC, CBD, and marijuana-containing compounds in treating patients with migraines occurs. Observing the effectiveness of the compound and further studies can enable researchers in designing and determining the dosage regimen of marijuana.

What Researchers Found Through their Study

US San Diego Health took the initiative to conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of marijuana in treating acute migraines. The researchers found that despite multiple FDA-approved treatment methods available in the market to cure migraines, people use more marijuana, CBD, or THC-containing products to treat their migraines.

Nathaniel Schuster is an investigator at UCSD Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Schuster works at UCSD Health as a headache neurologist and pain management specialist. According to Nathaniel Schuster, patients have been self-treating migraines and using marijuana-containing substances on their own.

In the future, it is hoped that more facilities will be available for researching cannabis in the U.S. Last Friday, it was reported that The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is looking forward to producing a diversity of facilities by issuing licenses and updating one university’s decades-long monopoly for the supply of cannabis. 

Cannabis Has Its Worth

It will be surprising to know that only one university has a license for the supply of cannabis since 1968. The University of Mississippi had the privilege of getting the license for supplying marijuana to the U.S. for study. Medical researchers have been working tirelessly to explore more about the therapeutic activities of marijuana, for instance, in the treatment of chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.  

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DEA website states that several manufacturers who had given applications to get licenses for growing cannabis to use it for research purposes have received a memorandum of agreement (MOA). It takes almost six months for the arrival of the memos after the agency announced a final rule elaborating how the program works. A huge shift is marked after years of delayed license applications. 

In 36 states, marijuana consumption is legal for therapeutic purposes, and 17 states allow the recreational use of cannabis.  

A Turning Point in Marijuana Research 

Sue Sisley is the president and principal investigator of Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI). Sisley received one of Friday’s memorandum of agreement. She states that the use of marijuana is a victory for scientific freedom, causing them euphoria. It gives a chance to use marijuana in research and transport it around the world. 

The processing of license applications takes years, that is why DEA gets sued by SRI in 2019. According to The Wall Street Journal, DEA has given memos to two other candidates, the Biopharmaceutical Research Company and a physician in York, Pennsylvania, Steven Groff. 

Physician Sisley is an adjunct professor at Humboldt State University; she states that that the National Center for the Development of Natural Products at the University of Mississippi is currently licensed for growing cannabis which is producing impure cannabis. The cannabis grown by the University of Mississippi is not potent enough to be used for research. 

However, other researchers have a different view about this matter; they state that there is nothing wrong with the currently available marijuana. They say that licenses should be granted to other applicants to meet the demand of supply and produce a variety of cannabis for research. 

Expanding Cannabis Growers

Igor Grant is the director of the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego. He states that to conduct efficient research and to have a better understanding of marijuana, there is a need to enhance its production in a more diverse variety. 

In 2016, the administration of then-President Barack Obama declared an increase in the number of cannabis growers. After this declaration, three dozen of people applied for a license of cannabis production. Unfortunately, nothing happened except that their applications gathered dust throughout the administration of President Donald Trump. 

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According to the regulation of Friday’s memo, the cannabis growers will sell marijuana to DEA and provide it to other researchers and the National Institute of Health-funded. Under some circumstances, marijuana growers can supply it directly to labs but in small quantities. 

Larry Houck states giving DEA the responsibility of cannabis purchasing, possessing, and directing its use in research would be a huge leap. However, this was good news for cannabis researchers and their lawyers. 

Shane Pennington says that the memos of December 2020 bring an end to the monopoly of unlawful 50-year government, enabling to conduct of more scientific research on the medicinal use of marijuana.