Scientific evidence that cannabinoids may be safe and effective treatment for schizophrenia is so powerful, so compelling and so widespread that it’s almost indisputable.
A few visionary psychiatrists showed the connection about 40 years ago, when they observed high levels of Anandamide in the brain and spinal fluid of their hospitalized patients.
Why didn’t anyone follow up on this remarkable hunch back then?
Over the past few years, GW Pharmaceuticals and medical researchers in universities around the world have been looking at this complex disease through a new lens that includes: environmental; autoimmune; neuro-inflammatory; and genetic influences.
Experimental research is now moving beyond the lab and into clinical trials in multiple universities around the world, including Ivy League schools such as Yale University.
Two studies sponsored by GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK are recent examples.
While high levels of THC have been found to produce psychosis in some genetically predisposed individuals, CBD is showing remarkable results as a safe and effective treatment option for schizophrenia.
Clinical trials take time and the FDA process is lengthy.
In the meantime, and much more importantly, the human carnage of lives lost and families destroyed continues unabated.
What took us so long to start down this path? Your guess is a good as mine, but I bet we all have some pretty good ideas.
