Armchair experts who know just a little — but not much — about Cannabis sometimes just get it wrong. They often claim that “CBD is medicine and THC is for fun.” But while non-psychoactive CBD is, indeed, quite useful medicinally, so is THC. A new study underlines that truth by showing smoking high-THC marijuana flowers is more effective against nausea than any form of CBD.
Cannabis has hundreds of “active ingredients,” mostly cannabinoids. But the two most prominent—and the only two most people have heard of — are THC and CBD, reports Forbes.
“Medical marijuana” laws usually specifically allow people to access products containing THC. But the conventional wisdom is still that THC is the molecule that gets you high; CBD is non-psychoactive and promotes healing.
Federal law allows CBD under the hemp exemption but still bans more than a tiny amount of THC. Some CBD companies have made overstated product claims. A few got warnings from the Food and Drug Administration.
But make no mistake about it. THC is also medicinal. And Cannabis users looking for quick, effective relief from nausea need more THC, and less CBD.
Largest Study of Its Kind: THC Works
It’s what has been described as “the largest study of its kind.” Researchers at the University of New Mexico have been tracking Cannabis users’ symptoms, cannabis product selections, and subsequent experience of relief (or not).
Patients using the herb to soothe nausea found relief in as quickly as five minutes. Researchers also Those smoking joints of Cannabis flower achieved more relief — and more quickly — than with vaporizers or edibles. This certainly calls into question the wisdom of some states’ medical marijuana laws which ban both flowers and smoking.
“In sessions using flower, higher tetrahydrocannbinol and lower cannabidiol were generally associated with greater symptom relief (eg, within 5 min),” the study authors reported.
Simply put, the study found that products with higher THC content were more effective than products high in CBD. In fact, users of cannabis products high in CBD achieved on average less symptom relief. Don’t believe me? Just check the research published in April in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.
“[P]erhaps our most surprising result was that THC, typically associated with recreational use, seemed to improve treatment among consumers of Cannabis flower, while our CBD, more commonly associated with medical use, actually seemed to be associated with less symptom relief,” said researcher Jacob Vigil. Dr. Vigil is an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and a study coauthor.
The new study results showing THC’s medical effectiveness are supported by earlier research.
