What will the post-COVID 19 World look like for CBD and the FDA?
With COVID-19 continuing to spread all over the world, researchers are looking into numerous options for possible treatment, including existing drugs. Medical cannabis is one option that’s gained a lot of attention, but while early research shows some promise, it’s much too early to be considered a safe and effective treatment.
With current research on cannabis as a COVID-19 prevention and treatment strategy still in the very early stages, it will likely be some time before we have a clear answer as to whether these products are safe and effective options. The studies in Israel have only just been launched with no solid timeline on when the results will be out, and the Canadian researchers are still looking for partners to run clinical trials with their cannabis extracts.
JOINT EFFORT TO FLATTEN THE CURVE
Denise Vidot, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies and a trained epidemiologist. is leading the preliminary study, which involves a collaborative group of experts from the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Office of Hemispheric and Global Affairs, and Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences.
The global qualifying conditions for medical CBD, though not uniform, all include individuals with compromised immune systems and other chronic health diseases. Therefore, this is a population that we cannot forget about in our joint effort to flatten the curve this COVID-19.
Due to the continued restrictions on cannabis research in the US, there are not yet any studies in the country focusing on cannabis as a possible treatment or prevention for COVID-19. However, earlier this month, the University of Miami researchers launched a study into how the novel coronavirus is impacting American cannabis users during the peak of the outbreak.
They add that their extracts could potentially be used in a mouthwash or “throat gargle” to prevent COVID-19 coronavirus infection.
“While our most effective extracts require further large-scale validation, the study is crucial for the future analysis of the effects of medical cannabis on COVID-19,” the researchers said in an early pre-publication version of their study. “The extracts of the most successful and novel high CBD (cannabidiol). Sativa lines, pending furthermore investigation, may become a very useful and safe addition to the treatment of COVID-19 as an adjunct therapy.”
ANTIVIRAL PROPERTIES OF CANNABIS
More recently, a partnership between CBD research companies Pathway RX and Swysh Inc. and the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, found that certain Cannabis sativa extracts could be used in treatments to preventing infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 pandemic.
This isn’t the first-time cannabis has been investigated as a prevention and treatment strategy for a coronavirus. Earlier research has looked at the drug’s effect on SARS-CoV, the coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which caused an outbreak in 2003. In a 2007 study, researchers from China examined the antiviral properties of cannabis against SARS-CoV.
Risks of cannabis use during the pandemic. However, those thinking of upping their cannabis intake in the hopes of preventing or treating COVID-19 infection should take these early results with a large grain of salt. Smoking more cannabis is likely to put people at greater risk of infection, health authorities’ stress.
“The research community should be alert to the possibility that [COVID-19] could hit some populations with substance use disorders particularly hard,” the US National Institute on Drug Abuse says in a statement.
CBD MAKER
The claims for CBD’s allegedly healing powers have been so exaggerated that it’s no surprise that a CBD maker was recently warned by the New York attorney general for claiming that the molecule can fight COVID-19. There are no credible animal, species or human studies showing CBD has any effect on SARS-CoV-2 or the course of COVID-19 infection
As for those wondering if edibles, oils, and using electronic cigarettes or portable hookahs are a safer solution, there just isn’t enough research to prove these products are truly effective against COVID-19 either.
Medicinal cannabis users have been already advised to prepare for possible delays in health care delivery while the coronavirus continues to plague the U.S. The study seeks to collect data on the patterns and trends of this population during these unprecedented times.
US FDA WARNED CBD COMPANIES
The US FDA has warned five CBD companies against making claims that their products prevent or cure COVID-19. The letters are part of a wider effort to crack down on fraudulent health claims made by companies amid the worsening pandemic.
While people have asked the FDA to speed up its CBD testing and research so that more companies and products can get accredited, the FDA has reiterated that it is still doing research and testing on the compound’s health claims and that may still take a few more years. Until then, CBD companies will hang in a state of marketing -limbo. Although legal, many of the beneficial health claims associated with Cannabidiol, the anti-inflammatory cannabis compound, cannot be federally substantiated.
SIDE NOTES
While it will likely be frustrating for those who want a clear answer now, it will be many months before we know for sure whether cannabis is a safe and effective option against COVID-19.
Researchers around the world are exploring how cannabis could treat or prevent COVID-19, but the results are too early to be definitive at this time.