Mission Statement
At Medcann Foundation, we aim to provide support and information to any person who is inquiring about the medicinal use of Cannabis as an alternative to using conventional pharmaceuticals for treating pain and a variety of other health conditions. We strictly adhere to Health Canada regulations. |
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Cannabis, also known as Marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years. In the third century China used cannabis as an anesthetic and also to help alleviate nausea. Recorded documents show that ancient Egyptians used cannabis as pain medication, and in ancient India cannabis was used for insomnia as well as pain relief.
Dr. William O’Shaughnessy introduced the medicinal values of cannabis to western societies in the 1800’s. It was used primarily to ease muscle spasms and as a pain reliever. Cannabis as a medicine became common throughout much of the world by the 19th century. It was used as the primary pain reliever until the invention of aspirin. Later in that century researchers discovered that smoking Cannabis relieved intraocular pressure that is a cause of blindness in glaucoma patients. In the 1970’s the use of medicinal Cannabis was expanded to help prevent the wasting syndromes and chronic loss of appetite associated with chemotherapy and AIDS.
In the 1970’s a synthetic version of THC (the primary active ingredient in Cannabis) was synthesized to make the drug Marinol. Patients reported several problems with Marinol, however, that led many to abandon the pill. Patients complained that the violent nausea associated with chemotherapy made swallowing pills difficult. Marinol has also consistently been more expensive than herbal cannabis. Some studies have indicated that other chemicals in Cannabis may have a synergistic with THC.
Health Canada approved the use of Medicinal Cannabis in July 2001. Those eligible included patients suffering from "acute pain", "violent nausea and/or other serious symptoms caused by the following conditions: multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, disease of the spinal cord, cancer, AIDS/HIV infection, severe forms of arthritis and/or epilepsy.
Approved by Health Canada under a licence with conditions (NOC/c) for prescription use in April 2005, Sativex is the world's first pharmaceutical prescription medicine derived from the cannabis plant. The product is approved in Canada as adjunctive treatment for the symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis, and more recently for pain due to cancer.
Today physicians and Health Canada have recognized the medical benefits of Marijuana for a vast array of medical conditions.
For further information regarding conditions that are currently being prescribed Medicinal Marijuana please contact us.
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