An alternative approach to alleviate pain, anxiety and insomnia is seemingly on the rise, according to an article published in the Journal of Cannabis Research last year. The use of Cannabidiol is becoming more popular as it is now available at South African pharmacies and health shops – in the form of oils, capsules, chewing gum, soft drinks and even intimate lubrication gels.
Marguerite Roets, an artist from Bathurst uses Cannabis for its calming properties. Roets believes that her anxiety and sleeplessness is under control if she uses Cannabis.
Medicinal Cannabis has been used as a remedy for thousands of years. Records exist that medicinal Cannabis has been used in and around Romania as far back as 5 000 years ago, according to a paper written by Mary Bridgeman and Daniel Abazia.
“Dagga is used because it is a medicine, but if you’re not sick it is a very safe relaxant from the nasty stresses that are experienced in everyday life,” believes Charl Henning, activist and administrator at Fields of Green for All, a non-profit organization based in Johannesburg. PHOTO: UNSPLASH/Crystalweed Cannabis
Cannabis can be used either for social, medical and/or spiritual use, according to Charl Henning, activist and administrator at Fields of Green for All, a non-profit organization based in Johannesburg.
The recreational use of Cannabis became legal under South African law in 2018, after the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the case Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Prince. The ruling states that adults may possess and cultivate cannabis for personal use.
The use of Cannabis is quite common among South Africans, said Henning. Yet people are often not aware of all the medical benefits of the plant.
“Dagga is used because it is a medicine, but also if you’re not sick – it is a very safe relaxant from the nasty stresses that are experienced in everyday life,” Henning said.
Henning believes that the vast majority of humans respond well to Cannabis, “as it keeps them in balance”. Fields of Green for All regards the use of Cannabis mainly for the therapeutic benefits. Cannabis is used for purposes such as stress, blood pressure, anxiety, and pain (i.e. arthritis), according to Henning.
Marguerite Roets, an artist from Bathurst in the Eastern Cape, uses Cannabis for medicinal purposes. SOURCE: WhatsApp/Marguerite Roets
“I use Cannabis mostly for the therapeutic benefits – I do struggle with anxiety, I do struggle with the effects of stress on my body physically. Not just at an emotional or mental level, but a physical level as well and I became aware of that very early on,” according to Roets.
The reward system of the brain is activated when cannabis is consumed, in a similar fashion as for instance nicotine, illicit substances, sugar, food, sex etc, explained Freda Scheffler, PhD candidate in psychiatry at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
“Cannabis use affects the neurotransmitter called dopamine which is involved, amongst other things, in mood regulation and attention/focus or what is referred to as the salience network,” said Scheffler.
Marguerite Roets, an artist from Bathurst in the Eastern Cape, uses Cannabis especially for anxiety. “I have been using cannabis consistently for nine years now,” Roets said. SOURCE: WhatsApp/Marguerite Roets
The risks of using cannabis
Scheffler says that they still see high numbers of patients that use Cannabis despite being advised against it. She says that Cannabis use can also be associated with poorer outcomes, as the use of it can, for example, affect psychiatric patients in a negative way and might even exacerbate their symptoms.
It is also not advised to use Cannabis during adolescent years and early adulthood, because “your brain is still developing and the evidence currently available suggests that Cannabis can have long-term negative effects on the brain”, Scheffler says.
Although Cannabis as is, is not advised by medical experts in the field of Cannabis use – such as Scheffler – she says that there is evidence that shows that Cannabidiol (CBD) might have therapeutic properties.
Cannabidiol (CBD)
Following the 2018 ruling, Cannabidiol (CBD) products have become increasingly available at most pharmacies and health shops in South Africa.
“CBD is the second most abundant cannabinoid in the Cannabis sativa plant after delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but unlike THC, CBD is not intoxicating,” Julie Moltke and Chandi Hindocha writes in the Journal of Cannabis Research.
CBD products are available in pharmacies and most health shops. PHOTO: Marianne Francis Stewart
The trade and use of CBD products are currently allowed in South Africa, because it does not contain THC. The latter is known as the psychoactive element in Cannabis. CBD has non-psychoactive properties, which in essence means that it will not cause a person to feel “high”, says Henning.
Cannabis that is used for smoking contains both THC and CBD. THC has psychoactive properties, whereas CBD has non-psychoactive properties. “Growing evidence points to the potential therapeutic use of CBD for pain and anxiety, not Cannabis per se,” said Freda Scheffler, PhD Candidate in Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. INFOGRAPHIC: Marianne Francis Stewart/SOURCE: Kenderhealth
CBD did not show any potential for abuse or dependency and is considered well tolerated with a good safety profile, according to a report released by the World Health Organization in 2017.
CBD use for pets
CBD oil is also becoming a common remedy to treat pain (including arthritis), anxiety and post-surgery recovery in pets. It is also sometimes used to restore healthy appetites in pets. This was according to the Africanpure CBD website.
A recent randomized placebo-controlled, veterinarian- and owner-blinded study done by Lauri-Jo Gamble et al., reported that CBD-oil can significantly decrease pain and increase activity in dogs with osteoarthritis. PHOTO: UNSPLASH/Alex Navarro
Anneke du Plessis, the owner of Lulu (8), a Bull Terrier, said that she believes that the CBD oil relieves Lulu’s pain. “It is a more natural way to regulate her pain and mobility than the medication from the vet,” Du Plessis claimed.
“Lulu is being given 1ml of CBD oil every night before she goes to bed. I have been giving CBD oil to Lulu for about three years especially to help relieve her arthritis.”
CBD-oil for pets can also be bought at pharmacies such as Clicks. PHOTO: Marianne Francis Stewart
A recent randomized placebo-controlled, veterinarian- and owner-blinded study reported that CBD-oil can significantly decrease pain and increase activity in dogs with osteoarthritis.
“We believe that the oil helps, because we completely forgot to give it to [Lulu] one weekend and she couldn’t manage to get up,” Du Plessis said.
Even though people believe that CBD-oil aids in pain alleviation in their pets, there are far less reliable evidence-based information available on the efficacy, dosage and safety of different delivery methods, appropriate doses and long term effects of Cannabis products for dogs, according to a paper published by the Journal of Cannabis Research.
For these reasons, the majority of veterinarians are reluctant to talk about Cannabis products with their clients even though many report observing positive signs in terms of chronic and acute pain, anxiety and seizure frequency or severity, according to the article.