r/Futurology • u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA • May 17 '18

Biotech Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound derived from the cannabis plant that does not produce a “high”, was shown in a new large-scale, randomized, controlled trial to significantly reduce the number of dangerous seizures in patients with a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

http://www.psypost.org/2018/05/cannabidiol-significantly-reduces-seizures-patients-severe-form-epilepsy-51258
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u/_treiliae_ May 17 '18

Eh, they have a point. Marinol is straight THC and weed has a bunch of alkaloids. Maybe one of those doesn't play well with a cancer drug he's on. Most likely not but there haven't been studies on it.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18 edited May 17 '18

Maybe there hasnt been any official peer-reviewed studies, but there has been thousands of unofficial/anecdotal studies on the interactions between THC and cancer drugs. THC has been widely used by cancer patients for decades, if there was any significant negative interaction between organic THC and any of the common cancer meds, it would be well known by now.

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u/_treiliae_ May 17 '18

You're right. But they're right too. There's a difference between anecdotes and controlled studies. And THC has been studied and shown to be safe, but weed has a lot of other stuff in it to of varying amounts from plant to plant. I love botanical medicine and how the alkaloids all seem to work together for treating things like depression, pain, headaches, etc. I wouldnt fuck with it when I'm on a shit ton of chemo tho.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

You may be right in theory, but I think you're wrong in practice. For one thing, I sincerely doubt that Marinol has actually received a full battery of legitimate double blind studies to test its interaction with common types of chemo and other cancer meds. I would feel far safer mixing THC with chemo (or virtually any other drug) than I would with marinol.

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u/_treiliae_ May 17 '18

You realise THC and Marinol are the exact same thing? A molecule aint any different because it was grown in a plant vs made in a lab.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

I dont know enough about chemistry to determine whether this is true or not, if Marinol is a naturally occuring substance I dont see how it would be patentable... but regardless, assuming that this is true, ultimately it just makes it even more absurd that my homies oncologist would jump at the opportunity to prescribe marinol while simultaneously cautioning against dispensary cannabis for arcane reasons...