Let me recommend to you the documentary "WEED" to watch.
The difference between pot and pot specifically grown to have high CBD content is like the difference between corn and corn syrup. Most marijuana, even medical marijuana, is not going to contain enough CBD content to be effective at treating certain ailments.
In the case of kids with Dravet Syndrome, the difference is drastic. Smoking medical marijuana all day long is not helpful at all, but smoking marijuana bred for CBD potency is downright curative, at least at preventing seizures.
Charlotte Figi has dozens of grand mal seizures a day if left to her own devices. The average medical marijuana does not help her, but CBD-potent marijuana effectively quells her seizures. A little bit of oil extracted from CBD halted the grand mal seizures.
The downside is that practically nobody is growing this type of marijuana, and specifically, we're breeding most medical marijuana to have higher THC content at the expense of CBDs.
In this case, yes, pharmaceutical-grade products are possibly superior, especially as they can begin regulating it and testing its actual effectiveness towards treating chronic issues like Dravet that "smoking pot" doesn't necessarily impact at all.
That's an early trial, probably more to prove safety than efficacy. The Phase 2/3 trial they said they're doing now will at least start to nail down both---or not, or to what degree and for whom, as clinical trials do.
Side note: I've not studied it (know only one person, who's stable with existing drugs), but just from what I'm reading about CBD and Dravet Syndrome it's clear, and not surprising that epilepsy is a symptom with multiple causes. In this subset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_epilepsy_with_febr... researchers researchers have found no less than 4 genes who's mutations can result in different diseases.
Caffeine is probably a good example of how weed should be handled. Caffeine is actually way more dangerous (OD'ing on it is something that is actually reasonably possible). If you want precision doses of caffeine, you can certainly buy it in pill form produced by reliable laboratories. On the other hand, buying it in 'natural' products such as coffee beans is perfectly legal. Don't want to mess around with the inconsistent results from raw product but don't want it in pill form either? The Coca Cola Company has got you covered there.
The difference between pot and pot specifically grown to have high CBD content is like the difference between corn and corn syrup. Most marijuana, even medical marijuana, is not going to contain enough CBD content to be effective at treating certain ailments.
In the case of kids with Dravet Syndrome, the difference is drastic. Smoking medical marijuana all day long is not helpful at all, but smoking marijuana bred for CBD potency is downright curative, at least at preventing seizures.
Charlotte Figi has dozens of grand mal seizures a day if left to her own devices. The average medical marijuana does not help her, but CBD-potent marijuana effectively quells her seizures. A little bit of oil extracted from CBD halted the grand mal seizures.
The downside is that practically nobody is growing this type of marijuana, and specifically, we're breeding most medical marijuana to have higher THC content at the expense of CBDs.
In this case, yes, pharmaceutical-grade products are possibly superior, especially as they can begin regulating it and testing its actual effectiveness towards treating chronic issues like Dravet that "smoking pot" doesn't necessarily impact at all.