MMJ is the abbreviation for medical marijuana, which is the medical utilization of the naturally occurring whole cannabis plant for therapeutic purposes, the most common of which is the reduction of pain. As more individuals partake of this natural plant in a medicinal fashion, opportunities continue to arise which allow new studies of its effects, and not surprisingly, we continue to see great benefit from this new trend.
Data from 22 MMJ patients from a larger ongoing longitudinal study was available for analysis in this paper published in Frontiers In Pharmacology. While the primary purpose was to evaluate brain function in MMJ patients, it was additionally found that after 3 months of MMJ treatment, those participants taking opioids reported a 47% reduction in use.
And in the 15 participants who qualified for functional brain MRI analysis, their results showed improved task performance and activation patterns. In fact, in one area of the brain, the increased activation patterns was so significant that it resembled healthy controls used in previous studies. Perhaps not surprising to some, the patients also self-reported improvements in depression, sleep, impulsivity and quality of life.
