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Cannabis: A Candidate for Treating Anxiety

By 

Anmol Prithani


Cannabis is now being made legal across countries and states, and more people are becoming upfront about its usage in popular culture and media. There is also an ongoing debate for widespread legalisation of cannabis for medical purposes. In my post, I will be analysing cannabis as a potential treatment for the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and examining an interesting paradox — after a certain threshold, cannabis is known to cause paranoia and anxiety as well. 

Let us first understanding the components of the cannabis plant. Cannabis has two major cannabinoid components —- Tetrahydracannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD). THC is the primary psychoactive component that gives users a “high”, whereas CBD is 40 per cent of the plant and is believed to have calming and pain-relieving properties. Therefore, CBD is the active component in treating anxiety whereas THC is the psychoactive component that is important for recreational use. 

In a report, scientists analysed the use of cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of GAD and other anxiety disorders in the report Neurotherapeutics, where they wrote, “Overall, current evidence indicates CBD has considerable potential as a treatment for multiple anxiety disorders, with need for further study of chronic and therapeutic effects in relevant clinical populations.” It is important to keep in mind that this study is only true for CBD and not Cannabis derivatives and products containing THC as well. Additionally, many consumers have now started using ‘hemp oil’ or ‘CBD oil’ which are sold by retailers and pharmaceuticals (which are free from THC) for anxiety and pain. One such user, Dr. Claudia T. Felty, wrote in her blog, “Prior to taking CBD my brain felt like a snow globe that had been shaken. Glitter is in every direction… After CBD, it’s like the glitter has all settled to the bottom and I can look at life through a clear lens.” Many pharmaceuticals do sell cannabis-based products that only contain CBD such as topical creams, gels and oils as alternatives for pain medication which contain very low amounts of THC. 

Yet, there is contrasting clinical evidence in terms of the relation between CBD and anxiety. In another study, in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, they concluded “In contrast to previous studies, there was no evidence of any benefits of cannabidiol on anxiety or persecutory ideation in healthy volunteers with high trait paranoia. However, a larger sample will be required for a definitive study.” Therefore, it is clear that there is not much concrete research on a large-scale to make conclusive statements. 

However, many users who do use CBD for anxiety as self-medication recommend it to other people. 
They self-report a significant decrease in depression and anxiety immediately after their consumption of it. In a survey by Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research in 2018, it was revealed that almost 62 per cent of users used marijuana to treat a medical condition with pain, depression and anxiety being the top three conditions.  However, as this was a survey and ‘self-reported’, I believe there is a likelihood of results being skewed and biased. Users may have been lying to support the legalisation of Marijuana or by being afraid of the legal repercussions of its usage and justifying it. 

Yet, the drug has low dependence and addiction levels. It is also relatively safer than other drugs because although the brain has many cannabinoid receptors across different regions involved with memory, pain-sensation, appetite and mood, they do not exist in the part of the brain responsible for breathing. Thus, there is no risk for ‘overdose’ with cannabis usage but there might be long-term effects on the memory and brain, and fatality with other instances like driving while being in an altered mind state.

Therefore, while there is not enough scientific and psychological experimental research on the long-term affects of Cannabis for the treatment of GAD, personal anecdotes from a variety of population have indicated a temporary relief from anxiety. While there is yet to be more research on the long-term effects and mind-altering qualities of cannabis, CBD cannabinoid such as those in gels, oils and creams without THC should be explored more as it does not give patients a “high” and could prove to be safer. 



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