December 14, 2005

The Cannabis Connection for Treating Depression

As I've written elsewhere, marijuana has long been thought to have anti-depressant properties. Lester Grinspoon, an emeritus psych prof at Harvard, has been saying this since the 1950s. Many in the psych profession have written him off as a quack, as a result. (I've interviewed the man. He seems as rational to me as any other psych doc who, for example, trumpets the effectiveness of Seroquel.) Such is the prejudice towards pot in the medical community. Of course, many patients and docs have discovered through their own, ahem, research that pot can kick depression's ass. In states with medical marijuana laws, depression should be an approved use.

Now, here's further evidence that there is something going on with cannabanoids and the brain. The drug involved is known as URB597, a chemical cousin of cannabis without the THC. This study lends credence to earlier research that the compound could be useful in addressing depression and anxiety. I'm sure this won't cause anyone at NIMH to rush out and fudn studies on pot and depression. The White House, the drug czar and the DEA just can't hang with such free thinking. But they should, because if you are interested in having treatments that actually work, then you'll look anywhere. After all, it's not like the SSRIs and their chemical kin are doing such a thorough job of treating depression in American society.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at December 14, 2005 12:23 AM
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Comments

I believe my depression was cured in part due to marijuana. I had tried meds and therapy with no success and after surviving a suicide attempt while on meds and in therapy, I decided to stop cold turkey from the traditional methods of treating depression and used marijuana moderately for several years. It helped immediately and now 11 years later, my depression has not returned. I use marijuana occassionally if I feel myself getting mentally off track and it always brings me right back to my center. I never knew anything about marijuana being used for this purpose, it was my survival instincts and intuition that led me to my choice to use it in treating my depression. I wish I had taken notes during that time so that my experience could have been used for a study. Thank you for opening my eyes to this Philip!

Posted by: anonymous at December 14, 2005 01:32 AM

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