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Addiction is a chronic condition that qualifies for medicinal cannabis as a treatment option. In this online lecture, Mark Hardy (Medical Director, CA Clinics) talks about how CBD and THC can help with addiction, what addictions medicinal cannabis can treat, and the current evidence for reducing cravings.

In the presentation, Mark speaks about the indications for medicinal cannabis which include chronic pain (including neuropathic pain), anxiety disorders, movement disorders (including multiple sclerosis), cancer and chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and epilepsy. There is also a plethora of other conditions for which evidence is being gathered for the use of medicinal cannabis – including addiction.

The justification for using any medicinal cannabis product is that the condition is chronic – that is, we wouldn’t use it for an acute condition, such as a toothache. It needs to have been there for some time. It must be a condition which is medically, surgically or psychiatrically diagnosed.

In addition, a previous treatment needs to have been attempted so that patients are not using medicinal cannabis first line before they have tried traditional and known treatments.

In this online lecture, Mark focuses on the benefits of medicinal cannabis for addiction. Addiction is a chronic condition which is usually subject to multiple medical, psychological and other treatments. So we can think about addiction as a medical condition or as a psychiatric condition.

Cannabidiol CBD can reduce anxiety and improve sleep – which would lead us to think that we might find a window in which we could use CBD for addiction. The evidence is explored in the full online lecture.

Watch the video now:

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Learn more about medicinal cannabis in primary care with HealthCert’s NEW online Professional Diploma of Medicinal Cannabis program.

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