New study reveals that Marijuana can help treat psychosis

 key problem in treating patients with psychosis is that they are often reluctant to take antipsychotic drugs which often common with several side-affects. But cannabis-based treatments could provide an alternative form of medication to patients.

There are at least 113 active chemical compounds in cannabis. The most famous of them is tetrahydrocannabinol, more popularly known as THC. This component is what causes the euphoric, sometimes hallucinogenic high that comes with smoking pot. Evidence suggests that long-term abuse of marijuana and THC can lead to something called 'marijuana-induced psychosis'.

A new study has found that another component of the herb, called CBD, might have the exact opposite effect, and can play a key role in treating psychosis without the use of side-effect heavy anti-psychotic medications. While THC, the most abundant active component in marijuana is responsible for some harmful effects, such as paranoia and anxiety, CBD appears to reduce these symptoms.

This suggests that CBD might be useful as a treatment for psychosis and other mental health disorders. Cannabidiol, or CBD, a key substance of marijuana and can account for up to 40% of the plant's extract has now been the subject of a breakthrough placebo-controlled clinical trial, a first of its kind for the drug.

The results of the study, which were published in early December in the American Journal of Psychiatry, concluded that CBD could significantly reduce psychotic symptoms. Psychotic disorders affect two to three per cent of the total world population.

They usually begin in early adulthood and the symptoms can be lifelong and extremely painful and frustrating. Patients typically experience paranoia, auditory and visual hallucinations like hearing ‘voices in their head’ and sometimes a crippling lack of motivation that can even lead to suicide attempts.

In the new study, 88 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were divided into two groups. One group was treated with 1,000 milligrams of CBD whereas the control group received a placebo drug. During the six-week trial, all patients continued to take whatever antipsychotic medication they were already prescribed. Meanwhile, the patient's psychiatrists assessed their symptoms and overall condition regularly over the study period. Neither the researchers nor the psychiatrists knew whether the patients were receiving CBD or the placebo.

The research trials, led by Philip McGuire, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at King’s College London, found that patients in the CBD group were more likely to be rated as improved by their psychiatrists, and they reported lower levels of positive psychotic symptoms to the researchers as compared to the patients who received the placebo.

"While it is still unclear exactly how CBD works, we know that it acts in a different way to antipsychotic medication, so it could represent a new class of treatment," McGuire wrote in an article for the Conversation. "The absence of side effects is also potentially important, as a key problem in caring for patients with psychosis is that they are often reluctant to take antipsychotic drugs because of concerns about side effects."