Page 34 - Time Special Edition Alternative Medicine (January 2020)
P. 34
The Healing
Power of
Cannabis
Recent research shows that pot has promise in treating many
ailments, including seizures, PTSD, nausea and especially pain
BY ALEXANDRA SIFFERLIN
wHen dr. orrin devinsky decided He wanted specific kind of safe that was so large that the uni-
to study whether cannabidiol—a compound from versity had to bring in engineers to ensure its weight
cannabis also known as CBD—could help people wouldn’t cause it to cave into the floor. The DEA
who suffer severe seizures, he didn’t realize just how then returned to inspect the safe and the building’s
difficult a feat it would be. Coming up with how the security system one more time.
study would be conducted was the easiest part. Ul- It may seem excessive, but all the regulatory
timately, the researchers would study whether tak- hurdles that Devinsky and his team had to clear
ing CBD over a 14-week period could reduce seizure are standard when it comes to studying marijuana,
frequency in children and adolescents with Dravet which the federal government still considers an ad-
syndrome—a rare and severe form of epilepsy. dictive and easy-to-abuse substance. “It’s a big deal
After Devinsky, the director of the Comprehen- every time the drug gets sent in,” says Devinsky.
sive Epilepsy Center at NYU Langone Health, and So far, the results of Devinsky’s studies indi-
his colleagues got approval for the research from cate that CBD is in fact an effective treatment. In a
NYU and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2017 study published in the New England Journal
the team applied for approval from the U.S. Drug of Medicine, the team reported that CBD reduced
Enforcement Administration (DEA). “The DEA by 39% the number of seizures experienced by pa-
sent men with guns to my office to inspect,” recalls tients with Dravet syndrome. CBD, which does not
Devinsky. Whatever room the CBD was to be kept contain the psycho active attributes that induce a
in needed to have a secure lock. Not only that, but high, has been shown in studies to act as an anti-
the hospital itself had to have a special alarm sys- convulsant. “I think we’ve established that the drug
tem. The researchers had to keep the cannabis in a works,” says Devinsky. “For some people the effects
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