State Public Health Department officials in Colorado have proposed a series of state-funded clinical trials to study the effectiveness and any dangerous side effects of cannabinoid treatment. The proposal includes $7 million in grant money to fund the studies.
The studies would include two clinical trials investigating the use of cannabidiol (CBD) to treat patients with pediatric epilepsy, two trials that will evaluate cannabis treatment for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress, and four other trials designed to test the efficacy of cannabis or CBD in treating Parkinson’s disease, brain tumors, ulcerative colitis, and general pain management.
California once funded a variety of studies into the efficacy of cannabis treatment for many other conditions, and in 2012 researchers concluded: “Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification [of cannabis] is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking.”
The proposed studies in Colorado now await grant funding approval by the state Board of Health, which will review the proposal in December. If the $7 million grant is approved, researchers will still require federal permission to move forward with the research.
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Photo Credit: Håkan Dahlström