The Effects of Cannabis on Anxiety

Cannabis has been known to be an extremely viable alternative to many of the most popular prescribed medicines for various conditions. One of the most promising treatments that cannabis has been able to offer has been through the treatment of anxiety and related conditions. A new survey has shown that one in six Americans takes some sort of medicine for a psychiatric condition, thus the mass reliance on prescription pharmaceuticals as their only form of relief.

The report states that “in 2015, over 30% of overdoses showed some presence of benzodiazepines, medicines prescribed to treat anxiety. Cannabis is reported by its proponents to be an effective alternative to traditional anxiety medications, with fewer side effects.” The effects of cannabis on these varying conditions have been well reported but the federal legal standing of the drug has made it difficult to do the research needed and to continuously support these new ideas. One of the main proponents of the movement to use cannabis for the treatment of anxiety has been Emily O’Brien, the founder of Mondo Meds, a user-friendly natural cannabis powder that can help to solve the issue of anxiety and treat it for periods of time.

O’ Brien states that she has created this product to help individuals who need to use cannabis in their daily lives, be able to do so without the worry of becoming foggy or out of it. The company uses the idea of microdosing, essentially taking small doses of the plant as opposed to higher and more potent doses. She states that her product helps because “not everybody reacts well to THC even at low doses, but everyone can benefit from microdosing. Not least because pharmaceutical anxiety medication is being prescribed at a higher and higher rate every year, and the side effects are incredibly detrimental and could even lead to death.”

Many of the drugs prescribed to help treat anxiety are not only detrimental to the health of the individual but they also often are ineffective and highly addictive. O’ Brien continues to state that microdosing has a large amount of potential due to the fact that “The quick absorption rate of a quickly dissolving product like ours means it takes effect within two to 10 minutes, allowing users to titrate their effective dose and giving more control back to the consumer. We want people to find their minimal effective dose (MED), or just enough to feel the euphoric feeling but not enough to feel high. A THC high can in fact increase anxiety among some users, so we give people the easiest and most controllable method of consuming cannabis.”

There are certain terpenes or chemicals within the cannabis plant that can be targeted to treat various conditions. The best combination they have found of these terpenes continues to be ” (b-caryophyllene, myrcene, and a-pinene), and our nonpsychoactive formula Mondo CBD combines full-spectrum CBD, combined with theanine. Theanine is an amino acid found in green tea that’s a very effective mood booster and wellness compound.”

All in all, the effects of cannabis to treat anxiety have been shown to be highly effective. The market on this type of research in the cannabis industry is still very much in its early stages which means that there is a long way to go before these products are able to be fully brought into the market. Only time will tell how products like the one mentioned above will play out in the broader market on cannabis. The next few years will be extremely incremental to developing more growth on the medical side of cannabis.