Abstract
Cannabis sativa is a medicinal herb with a diverse range of chemotypes that can exert both anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects on humans. Medical cannabis patients receiving organically grown cannabis from a single source were surveyed about the effectiveness of cannabis for treating anxiety. Patients rated cannabis as highly effective overall for treating anxiety with an average score of 8.03 on a Likert scale of 0 to 10 (0 = not effective, 10 = extremely effective). Patients also identified which strains they found the most or least effective for relieving their symptoms of anxiety. To find correlations between anxiolytic activity and chemotype, the top four strains voted most and least effective were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS to quantify cannabinoids and GC-MS to quantify terpenes. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and trans-nerolidol have statistically significant correlations with increased anxiolytic activity. Guiaol, eucalyptol, γ-terpinene, α-phellandrene, 3-carene, and sabinene hydrate all have significant correlations with decreased anxiolytic activity. Further studies are needed to better elucidate the entourage effects that contribute to the anxiolytic properties of cannabis varieties.
Highlights
Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an inner state of unease, most often in anticipation of future events
Anxiety disorders may manifest in many different forms and durations, from continuous anxiety in daily life known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, to sudden and debilitating episodes of extreme anxiety known as in Panic Attack Disorder (Rynn and Brawman-Mintzer, 2004)
Participants chose from a list of the 25 most common varieties provided by Whistler Medical Marijuana Corporation (WMMC), and an “other” category for any strains not captured
Summary
Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an inner state of unease, most often in anticipation of future events. Anxiety is considered pathogenic when the emotional response is disproportionate, in duration, frequency, or intensity, to the cause, which hinders the patient to lead a normal life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Anxiety can be in response to the symptoms of other illnesses, such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and asthma (Tselebis et al, 2016). It may manifest from the possible negative outcomes of diseases such as the prospect of death for cancer patients (Mosher et al, 2016). Clinicians manage symptoms of anxiety by administering pharmacological drugs, allowing patients to return to a normal life
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