In this Thursday’s (2) edition of the Medical Correspondent chart, on the New Day, neurosurgeon Fernando Gomes spoke about the use of medical marijuana, after the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) authorized the use of another product based on cannabis in Brazil – in all, eight have already been released.
The oral solution of a substance with cannabidiol will be manufactured in Colombia and sold in pharmacies with a specific medical prescription. In an interview with CNN, neurosurgeon Patrícia Montagner defended the practice, but criticized the lack of studies on the subject in medicine.
“Unfortunately, thousands of patients with serious, disabling and often refractory diseases are far from a safe therapeutic possibility, capable of controlling symptoms and improving their quality of life. In this scenario, qualified medical education in the area is essential”, he stated.
Lack of knowledge also affects the general public. In a poll on Instagram from CNN, 51% of respondents said they did not know what medical cannabis is.
For Fernando Gomes, the debate is often fueled by prejudice linked to the recreational use of marijuana. “When talking about medicinal cannabis, we refer to substances that make up the plant and that have an influence on the functioning of the individual’s body.”
“We have a system called endocannabinoids, which are substances and neurotransmitters that have receptors on specific cells in the body itself. If you give a little more of this substance [cannabis] that naturally already exists inside the human body, the individual shows changes in its functioning”, he explained.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the medical use of cannabidiol may be indicated for the control of epilepsy and the treatment of anxiety, in addition to serving as an anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic and for antitumor properties.
The neurosurgeon stated that, in these cases, the substance is not capable of causing dependence and does not have serious side effects. “You use it with a proper prescription. Cannabidiol can, at best, make a person a little sleepy. It’s different from THC [principal substância psicoativa da planta].”
Gomes also clarified that, although it can be used in the treatment of different clinical conditions, marijuana is not able to cure a patient, and minimized social stigma. “It’s a drug that comes to modulate the body’s functioning, and it doesn’t necessarily represent a cure for a certain disease. At least, we don’t know any of this until now.”
“There is confusion here. It is not just the individual to pick up the plant, make a cigarette and smoke it. There’s a lot of serious work behind it all, a lot of research and, above all, the knowledge that our bodies have ‘your’ cannabis, the endocannabinoid system, and modulate that system. It doesn’t make sense to have this prejudice”, he said.
Reference: CNN Brasil
