"Appetite Stimulation and Pain Relief" (Prof. Ester Fride PhD, Institute of "Medical applications of the Cannabinoid System Behavorial Sciences", The College of Judea an Samaria, Ariel, Israel)

During the last 14 years, we have witnessed a number of major breakthroughs in the research on the marijuana (cannabis sativa) plant. These discoveries, made both in brain and body tissues, and which include specific receptors for THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the major psychoactive component of marijuana) and three main endogenous counterparts of THC (’endocannaboids), have turned research on marijuana from a relatively obscure topic to an area of wide bio-medical interest. The marijuana plant can be studied for its properties as a recreational drug, or as a plant with a wide variety of medical applications. In addition, we are finding out more and more about the physiological importance of the endocannabinoids and their receptors.

APPETITE: Marijuana has been known for centuries for its appetite stimulating properties. This characteristic has been utilized clinically to enhance appetite and body weight in conditions such as AIDS and cancer. Recent evidence indicates that the endocannabinods comprise one more player in the multitude of hormonal substances which alltogether, regulate appetite and food intake. However, we have recently shown that endocannabinoids play a critical role in the initial stages of milk ingestion in newborn mice (Fride et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol., 2001). Further experiments continue to delineate the specificity of the endocannabinoid-receptor system for neonatal growth and survival. I have suggested recently that cannabinoids may both underlie and help to improve the health status in children with cystic fibrosis (Fride J. Cann. Ther. 2002).

PAIN: Pain is a condition, which at best interferes with life’s activities and at worst, paralyzes the individual. Already in 1971, cannabis was predicted (Snyder, Science 1971) to find clinical application as a pain killer with a potential intermediate between that of "aspirin" and that of morphine. We are finding out now, that cannabis and endocannabinoids attenuate pain sensitivity in a variety of conditions, by acting both via central (brain) receptors (CB1), and via peripheral (CB1 and CB2) receptors. We are currently developing cannabis-based medicines, which are effective pain killers, yet which lack psychoactive effects including confusion, anxiety and forgetting. Candidate medicines, presently under development, will be presented.