Few medical issues are debated more often and fiercely than the relationship between covid19 and Cannabis. If you’ve been on this planet for at least 2 years, then you must be familiar with both terms. You’ve probably tried to listen to all the reports, studies, researches, etc on the subject to understand the facts. But you’re confused. Not for the first time, you ask, Can cannabis help with covid19?
In this article, I will provide an answer purely based on the medical facts currently at our disposal. If you read to the end, this will be the last time you’ll ever ask that question.
Understanding Covid 19 Situation and Cannabis
Before I examine the different schools of thought on this issue, I will define the key terms, for the sake of clarity.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid19) is a respiratory illness that infects the respiratory human tract. It was first identified in humans toward the tail end of 2019. Since then, it’s rapidly degenerated into a global pandemic which has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5.5 million people.
Cannabis, on the other hand, when used in this article, refers to any of the about 540 chemical substances gotten from the plant Cannabis Sativa. Worldwide, there are over 200 million users of cannabis. Its use has divided opinions with some countries enforcing strict penalties against Its sale and use, while others have decriminalized or even legalized the consumption of cannabis.
Now, back to the debate. Many researchers have claimed that cannabis can help with Covid19. Others have opined that such claims are at best conjectures because of the absence of any dependable research to prove that cannabinoids (CBD and THC) have any effect on Covid19.
Medical Cannabis Influences During The Pandemic
When the Covid19 pandemic struck the world, most people, in anticipation of an imminent lockdown, stocked up as many necessary provisions as they could get.
But, there was another kind of stockpiling going on – of cannabis. While it is not clear how the coronavirus pandemic affected the availability of the product, sales reports from March and April of 2020 show a spike in purchases in the United States.
A study conducted by Veriheal (in collaboration with other reputable research institutions) between January 2020 and March 2021 suggests that as the number of covid19 cases increased, so did the demand for medical cannabis.
You see, there’s something even more interesting about the results of this study. According to the study, 55% of medical cannabis patients use the substance, not to relieve physical pain, but just to ‘feel happy’.
In another study, 41.3% of all respondents admitted to having increased their use of medical cannabis during the pandemic. This increase in the demand for medical cannabis during the pandemic is not unconnected to the hypothesis that cannabis can help with Covid19.
Can Cannabis Help With Covid 19 and How?
You may have heard different sides in the debate and wondered to yourself, “does Cannabis help with Covid19?”
This is the crux of this article. A laboratory study conducted in January 2022 found that cannabis compounds could potentially prevent Covid19 from getting into healthy human cells.
Another study, conducted by researchers at the University of Nebraska suggested that CBD, which is a chemical derived from cannabis, may help with Covid19. According to the study, they could fight cytokine storms. Now you’re probably wondering what Cytokine storms are and why fighting them is such a great thing for them.
It is a situation where an infection causes the body to release more cytokines (natural proteins that are part of our immune system) than is needed. This could result in inflammation, nausea, and other symptoms. According to the research, this one-way cannabis helps with covid19.
Despite these reports, experts still believe that these theories should be made subject to further testing because the human body is far more complex than Petri dishes.
Cannabis and Covid 19 – The Imperceptible Benefits
We now know that cannabis doesn’t particularly help with Covid19. However, it has some other imperceptible benefits to a person’s health and general well-being. CBD can serve the following benefits:
It provides support for the body’s immune system.
It can act as a bronchodilator because it helps in the treatment of clogged bronchial muscles in the lungs.
Research has shown that cannabis is an effective Antibiotic for fighting powerful bacteria.
Perhaps one of the most common reasons why people use CBD is because of its powerful anti-inflammatory effects, making it a good option for a pain reliever.
What the Experts Have To Say
As mentioned earlier, whether cannabis can help with Covid19 has divided opinions – even among the experts. Some are optimistic like Fikadu Tafesse of the health and science university of Oregon who said, “I never thought it would affect [coronavirus] infections. There’s so much nature can provide us”. He went on to say that this could be helpful for “cancer patients and individuals with autoimmune diseases who are not able to produce antibodies even if they’re vaccinated”.
On the other hand, Sylvia Martins, who is an epidemiologist at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health cautions against any “hype” of the results of untested cannabis research.
Can A Covid 19 Patient Inhale Cannabis Smoke?
There’s enough evidence to prove that the smoke from cannabis, if inhaled, can negatively affect the respiratory system of humans.
It is even worse for a person already infected with covid19 because it could increase the respiratory symptoms of covid19 patients.
The Risk Factors (Things To Consider)
While we wait for further breakthroughs in research concerning how cannabis can help with Covid19, there are so many risk factors that are tied to the smoking of cannabis.
They include:
Inhibition of the immune system
Severe lung and pulmonary illnesses
Negative impact on respiratory health
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease mental health problems.
The Bottom Line
Conclusively, we have addressed the question; “can cannabis help with covid 19?” and from our findings, there is no solid evidence that cannabis can help with covid19. On the contrary, many more studies are showing that vaping cannabis may worsen symptoms of the virus in a person. If you use cannabis for medical reasons, please be sure to consult your healthcare provider with any concerns you may have about its usage about covid19.
META TITLE
Does cannabis help with covid19? (New research reports sheds light)
META DESCRIPTION
Does the use of medical cannabis prevent or reduce the symptoms of covid19? Read this article to find out the relationship between cannabis and the coronavirus.
2022-1-25-1643089966