The purpose of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is to coordinate rigorous scientific studies to assess the safety and efficacy of cannabis and cannabis compounds for treating medical conditions.
2017 National Academies Report
CMCR Legislative Report
2000 IOM Report
1999 IOM Report
Rachel Rabkin Peachman, Consumer Reports, February 26, 2019
When a child is sick and conventional medicine isn’t helping, parents understandably often turn to alternative treatments. Recently, that includes cannabidiol, aka CBD, which is a cannabis compound found in marijuana and hemp that’s being touted as a remedy for everything from pain and arthritis to seizures and sleep problems. Unlike the cannabis plant’s other well-known compound, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD does not get users high, it’s nonaddictive, and it has a low risk of side effects—which makes it seem like an appealing option for children.
While CBD is being used widely by adults, the best evidence for it comes from studies focusing on children with certain kinds of epilepsy. And increasingly, parents are giving CBD to their children to manage a range of other conditions, such as autism and anxiety.
Kathryn Ryan, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., January 29, 2019
Smoked cannabis as an adjunctive second-line therapy to treat chronic peripheral neuropathy can be both effective and cost-effective. The results of a new study simulating its use in one million patients are published in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research website.
In the article entitled “A Cost-Effectiveness Model for Adjunctive Smoked Cannabis in the Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Pain,” David Grelotti, MD, University of California San Diego (La Jolla) and coauthors from UCSD, University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (San Diego), and Columbia University (New York, NY) created a computer simulation to compare the cost of usual first-, second-, and third-line care with those supplemented with smoked cannabis. They modeled efficacy and adverse events based on clinical trial and other existing study data, and derived cannabis cost from retail market pricing.
Read the full press release here
NBC News, January 3, 2019
It used to be the stuff of stoner comedies and “Just Say No” campaigns. Today, marijuana is becoming mainstream as voters across the country approve ballot questions for legalization or medical use.
In response, state governments are testing ways to ensure that the integration of this once-illicit substance into everyday life doesn’t create new public health risks. These efforts are sparking a difficult question: At what point is someone too high to get behind the wheel?
The answer is complicated. Brain scientists and pharmacologists don’t know how to measure if and to what extent marijuana causes impairment.
Read the rest of the story here
Alex Hannaford, BBC, November 22, 2018
There’s vape oil, pain-relief cream, patches, sweets (gummy bears, sour snakes, rainbow bites – take your pick), capsules and compounds.
Cannabidiol, or CBD as it’s better known – a naturally occurring extract of the cannabis sativa plant – is now so ubiquitous in the US, you’d be forgiven for thinking there are few places it's not available and few ailments it cannot treat.
Users say they take it for everything from muscle aches and anxiety to arthritis, epilepsy and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
And let’s not forget Fido. There’s CBD oil for him too – with added bacon flavour.
Igor Grant, MD
Marijuana as Medicine: Can We See Past the Smoke?
North American Cannabis Summit presentation January 2019 (PDF)
Igor Grant, MD
Introduction/Overview
CMCR Symposium, June 2018
Daniele Piomelli, MD, PhD, PharmD
The health impact of cannabis
CMCR Symposium, June 2018
Ziva Cooper, PhD
Therapeutic potential of cannabis for pain alone and as an adjunct to opioids
CMCR Symposium, June 2018
Iain McGregor, PhD
Medicinal cannabis research down under: Introducing the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics
CMCR Symposium, June 2018
Thomas Marcotte, PhD
Cannabis and public safety: The challenge of cannabis-impaired driving
CMCR Symposium, June 2018
Ryan Vandrey, PhD
What's in real-world cannabis?
CMCR Symposium, June 2018