Adrian Devitt-Lee is Project CBD’s chief science writer and a PhD candidate in applied math at the University College in London. He is the co-author of several articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Physiology, F1000Research, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, and Physica A.
There has been a spate of recent articles on exercise and cannabis. Part of the runner’s high is attributable to endocannabinoid release. In Colorado, cannabis users are more physically active, on average. And in a recent review, Chinese scientists at Shenzhen University describe how the endocannabinoid system may mediate the numerous cognitive effects of exercise.
Opioids leave much to be desired in medical treatment. They are highly addictive, very lethal, and not all that effective for treating chronic pain. Cannabis, particularly THC, is promising for its opiate-sparing properties: preclinical work indicates that cannabis synergizes with the painkilling effects of opioids and reduces the development of tolerance (perhaps because of this synergy) but does not increase opioid-induced respiratory depression which leads to death. Moreover, states that legalize cannabis see a decrease in opioid prescriptions.
UPDATE: See our more recent critique of this publication.
In compiling a list of conditions that CBD may help, we examined hundreds of peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.
