What's the difference between Marijuana and Hemp?
As more states legalize “marijuana” for both medical and recreational use and congress passes the “Hemp Act of 2018”, nuances on different compounds within the Cannabis plant continue to emerge.
When people think about marijuana use they often go straight to the concept of getting “high,” “stoned,” or “baked.” While marijuana users seeking to accomplish this remain plentiful, a new type of Cannabis user has arrived thanks to the hemp industry. The hemp industry is taking over production of cannabinoids, of which THC is one but other, non-psychoactive cannabinoids are more versatile and medically beneficial.
Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is a compound found in Cannabis- both in the forms that are primarily used for getting high and the forms of the plant that come from the hemp industry. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive- or “high-generating” compound- that marijuana was once solely associated with, CBD won’t get you high. Hemp plants (also from the genus Cannabis) have very low levels of THC (can contain no more than 0.3%) but contain CBD and other assorted phytocannabinoids. In truth, cannabis plants that contain higher levels of THC also can contain a lot of CBD and current processing methods have been designed to separate the two.
While CBD research remains on the novel side of science, abundant data are emerging in support of CBD to improve anxiety, chronic pain, migraine headaches, sleep, inflammation and some autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis. In addition, copious work on the body’s own “endocannabinoid” system- part of the nervous system that functions using receptors that are also receptive to exogenous cannabinoids like CBD- exist supporting the notion that, while THC can be detrimental over the longer term and getting “high” might not be the best path forward for academic/intellectual success, CBD may actually be neuroprotective and benefit the nervous and inflammatory systems in ways that impact both the brain and the body.
So where do we see the greatest benefits of CBD in women’s health at this stage? If you look through the search engine that houses all medical science publications (pubmed) there are limited published data on specific issues within gynecology or women’s health. However, extrapolating from the data that do exist, CBD holds promise in some areas of women’s health where conventional medications work pretty poorly and/or have side effects or risks that women do not want to experience. These issues include: pain related to endometriosis, dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramps), PMDD (formerly known as PMS), mastodynia or breast pain towards the end of the menstrual cycle, sleep, anxiety, headaches and potentially hot flashes and other symptoms related to menopause. When combined with other botanicals (herbs), dietary changes, and other lifestyle factors, women can become empowered to improve their health using remedies from nature. Therefore, the future of hemp- and phytocannabinoids in general- is VERY bright in improving women’s health. —C. Hoffman, MD
