If you’re at all familiar with the medical cannabis industry, then you have definitely heard about cannabidiol, or CBD. Recently, CBD oil has been (rightfully) getting a lot of attention about its effectiveness for treating epileptic disorders in children. Even U.S. states known for being very conservative (like Florida and Georgia) have recently considered allowing CBD oil as medicine for children with seizures.
Yet, when it comes to extracting solely CBD, not everyone agrees with the recent trend. Is it CBD alone that makes cannabis an effective treatment for diseases such as cancer and epilepsy? Or is there a bit more to it than that?
In this fantastic podcast (embedded below) broadcasted live from last month’s Spannabis event in Barcelona, hosts David Kowalsky of the Cannabis Network Radio and Danny Danko of High Times spent some time talking about the CBD trend with doctor and researcher Guillermo Velasco of Complutense University of Madrid. Professor Velasco is currently one of the doctors responsible for finding that cannabis kills cancer cells in animal models.
“One thing that I advocate to people when it comes to cannabis as medicine is whole plant medicine,” explained Kowlasky. “You need the whole plant as medicine. People are focusing very much on CBD-only medicine in the States, with THC removed. In essence that’s just hemp paste.”
Velasco’s response to this idea is quite fascinating. At around the 24 minute mark, he explains: “In my opinion as a scientist, I’ve been working with [cannabis] for quite a long time. THC is the compound that has the most potent anti-cancer activity. CBD is helping—we tried a lot of combinations of THC and CBD because it’s good for avoiding the side effects of the therapy […] but, definitely THC is important.”
With so much debate surrounding the issue, it’s difficult to tell which side to take. One thing, however, is certain: this podcast deserves a close listen. Listen to the embedded episode below or download “Live from Spannabis 2014 Part 2” from the Cannabis Network Radio website or iTunes. Towards the end of the podcast, you might hear some familiar voices — check out what Rebecca Kelley, Leafly’s Content and Community Manager, and I had to say about the Medical Cannabis Bike Tour!
