Half-Baked Science: A Primer on Medicinal Cannabis

Cannabis (marijuana) is among the most widely used of all psychoactive drugs. Despite the fact that its possession and use is illegal in most countries, cannabis is used regularly by as many as 25 million people in North America and Europe and by millions more in other parts of the world. There has been renewed interest in the potential medical uses of cannabis (Cannabis sativa) in recent years, with voters in several areas of Canada strongly supporting such a move. Opinion polls suggest similarly strong popular support for the reintroduction of medical cannabis in the USA, the UK, and many European countries. Expert reviews of medical and scientific evidence on this topic carried out on both sides of the Atlantic in the past few years have encouraged further clinical and scientific research 1-3. This paper seeks to give a brief review of the scientific facts, ranging from the botany of the cannabis plant and the biochemistry of the receptors it binds, to the potential uses of the plant for medicinal purposes.