cannabisnews.com: 'Cannabis' Acts as Antidepressant 





'Cannabis' Acts as Antidepressant 
Posted by CN Staff on October 13, 2005 at 18:16:19 PT
Mental health experts warn against cannabis use
Source: BBC News 
United Kingdom -- A chemical found in cannabis can act like an antidepressant, researchers have found. A team from Canada's University of Sasketchewan suggest the compound causes nerve cells to regenerate. The Journal of Clinical Investigation study showed rats given a cannabinoid were less anxious and less depressed. But UK experts warned other conflicting research had linked cannabis, and other cannabinoids, to an increased risk of depression and anxiety.
 " This is a very big leap of faith " - Professor Robin Murray, Institute of Psychiatry They suggested this could be because different cannabinoids acting at different levels have contradictory effects. Cannabinoids have been shown to relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and pain relief in humans. They are naturally present in the body, as well as being found in cannabis.  'Complicated Effects' The Canadian researchers gave rats injections of high levels of one artificial cannabinoid, HU210, for a month. The animals were seen to have nerve cell regeneration in the hippocampus, which is linked to memory and emotions. The hippocampus has been shown to generate new nerve cells throughout a person's or an animal's life, but this ability is reduced if cells are engineered to lack a cannabinoid receptor protein called CB-1. In the Canadian study, rats given the cannabinoid were also found to be less anxious, and more willing to eat food in new environments - a change which would normally frighten them. However, research has previously linked use of the drug cannabis to long-term damage to mental health, and to increase the risk of mental illness in those who are already genetically susceptible. In addition, short-term high doses of cannabinoids had also been shown to produce anxiety-like effects in rats and depression-like effects in mice. But other studies had found that low-doses of cannabinoids helped to reduce anxiety in rodents. The Canadian team said: "These complicated effects of high and low doses of acute and chronic exposure to cannabinoids may explain the seemingly conflicting results observed in clinical studies regarding the effects of cannabinoid on anxiety and depression."  'Raw Cannabis is Risky' Professor Robin Murray, of the Institute of Psychiatry, questioned whether the anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects seen in the animals would be replicated in humans. He said: "This is a very big leap of faith as they have no data on humans, and the supposed animals' models of anxiety and depression that they use don't have much in common with the human conditions." Paul Corry, Director of campaigns and communication at Rethink said: "Cannabinoids are an exciting new area for medical research, but it is important to recognise that there are over 60 active ingredients in cannabis - synthetic cannabinoid may be showing evidence of nerve regeneration. "But as also pointed out in this study, the effects of cannabis on the brain are complex and produce conflicting evidence. "For most people with severe mental illness, raw cannabis remains a risky substance. "All medical research needs to be checked before it would make a difference to the hundreds of thousands of people living with severe mental illness in the UK." Source: BBC News (UK Web) Published: Thursday, October 13, 2005Copyright: 2005 BBC Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Contact: newsonline bbc.co.uk Related Articles:Marijuana May Spur New Brain Cellshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21186.shtmlMarijuana Compound Spurs Brain Cell Growth http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21185.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #14 posted by runderwo on October 14, 2005 at 16:50:50 PT
goneposthole
Ha! You needed a second one in order to observe the one you had all along.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by Hope on October 14, 2005 at 11:33:06 PT
" I now have two brain cells"
Goneposthole...that's wonderful. Thank you. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 14, 2005 at 10:00:22 PT
Goneposthole 
You should be a Stand Up Comic! LOL!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by dongenero on October 14, 2005 at 09:34:05 PT
spin on the findings
It is interesting to note that whenever positive or beneficial findings result from research on marijuana, various "experts"(such as the U.K. researchers commenting above) come out of the woodwork to qualify and question the findings.However, when negative findings result,(such as the mental illness reports in the U.K.), you never see a qualification that perhaps they are wrong and that cannabis may in fact be harmless.Bias? Spin? Well, of course.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by goneposthole on October 14, 2005 at 07:10:42 PT
good news
I can happily conclude that I now have two brain cells. The more the merrier. I'm taking the day off in celebration of the new and improved cranial capacity. laugh all you want.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by dongenero on October 14, 2005 at 06:51:04 PT
Here is a pretty thorough version
Marijuana Compound Spurs Brain Cell Growthhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20051013/hl_hsn/marijuanacompoundspursbraincellgrowth
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by siege on October 14, 2005 at 06:49:16 PT
Professor Robin Murray: 
You have a every hard set of guide lines to go by, you have to step out side the box! have you every been to a country that has CANNBIS as there main sorce of ( food ), if not then you should. you will learn that as the U S gov. and distroyed the research. did that the one that have eaten cannabis With 0.1 1/2 to 0.2 1/4 T H C in it, for thousand of years have a different  type of  Immune System  then the people that don't eat cannabis, anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects are at different threshold then the one's that eat cannabis.
there hole body is different, I will not go in to it know. but DO the RESEARCH MAN! and go from there. my grandfather was in the research Team. thank you sir.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on October 14, 2005 at 05:19:19 PT:
More about the study here
From the Globe and Mail:Study turns pot wisdom on head: http://tinyurl.com/bboqmGo quick before they archive it...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on October 14, 2005 at 04:36:28 PT:
The stack of studies disproving anti lies grows
taller and taller and taller...and heavier and heavier. You'd have to get one very stout-legged table to handle the weight if they were printed single sheet and laid on it.And still the antis screech: "NO MED-I-CAL US-ES! NO MED-I-CAL US-ES!"One court case, that's all I ask. Just one lawsuit to bring this ever growing pile of truth into the courtroom and be forcibly dropped on the (rhetorrical) heads of these willfully ignorant hypocrites. The weight alone could snap their lying necks and crush their skulls on the way down. And the smarter of them know it. Oh, speed the day!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by CorvallisEric on October 14, 2005 at 04:07:17 PT
Professor Robin Murray
Professor Robin Murray. Professor Robin Murray. Professor Robin Murray. There, that's one more than in the article. Obviously, he's sooo much more important than the actual study director whom the article didn't even name.I'm annoyed because I listen to the BBC a lot and like it a lot. Part of their style is to harshly prod everyone they interview, especially in government, unlike the oh-so-polite NPR.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by billos on October 14, 2005 at 04:00:10 PT
                    Ekim
Did you read the article on McWilliams? How about the part where Ryan Sager says....""To drug warriors, medical marijuana is nothing but a Trojan horse -- fronted by the chronically and terminally ill -- that hippies want to use to quietly begin legalizing drugs. To hippies -- well, when the drug warriors are right, they're right.""Does this strike a sour note with anyone else?It amazes me how an advocate of medicinal cannabis still retains and believes the stigma that pot and Hippies go together, and screw "them" for wanting to smoke recreational cannabis. Since when have the "Drug Warriors" ever been right anyway?Just amazes me.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by unkat27 on October 14, 2005 at 03:01:37 PT
Cannabis Acts as Antidepressant?
That's what I keep telling the people who have been trying to convince me to come in off the ledge.
Satire by Sumghai
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by ekim on October 13, 2005 at 18:52:52 PT
who would arrest the May0r
Source: Tech Central Station (Web)
Author: Ryan Sager
Published: December 02, 2004
Copyright: 2004 Tech Central Station 
Contact: editor rhsager.com
Website: http://www.techcentalstation.comAs the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of state medical marijuana laws, Americans might want to pause to remember a man named Peter McWilliams. McWilliams was killed by the federal government on June 14, 2000.No federal agent put a gun to McWilliams' head or beat him up or threw him into the line of fire, but he died at the government's hands, nonetheless, as sure as if he had been locked in a cell and denied food and water.
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/Peterm.htmDepression what the -- Who in their right mind does not feel depressed thinking of the power that is held over any that consume Cannnabis.
with the kick ass Weeds --Whoo will make the long awaited for Story of Peter and Todd and Renee and Scott plus scores of Others. 
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/Peterm.htm
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on October 13, 2005 at 18:36:04 PT
Mayor Bloomberg agrees with the assessment
'When asked whether he had ever smoked pot, he declared last year, "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it."'Doesn't sound like it depressed the Mayor of New York.
Mayor Bloomberg
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment