Coronavirus and Cannabis: Is There Really a Connection?
The cannabis market saw huge surges during the pandemic as people queued outside stores to get hands on their stash of marijuana. Some argue that this sudden boom is due to the apparent benefits of cannabis.
While we’re not yet sure, there are reports that claim cannabis can treat or prevent coronavirus.
Pro-marijuana users have promoted cannabis as the ‘cure-all’ solution for years, hence it doesn’t come as a surprise that weed is being presented as a coronavirus cure.
While there’s no denying that cannabis has medical benefits, it is too early to consider it a good option to treat Covid-19, especially when the world is still struggling to find an effective treatment option for the disease.
Why Are These Reports Not Reliable?
The problem with reports or research papers that present cannabis as a reliable solution is that most of them haven’t been peer-reviewed, i.e: the results are not to be taken seriously by professionals as these papers are not considered legitimate. It’s early research that’s yet to be verified. Such papers are not considered authentic and cannot be a basis for treatment.
The paper linked above, which has been receiving the most hits, has been written by authors who have conflicts of interest. They’re associated with businesses engaged in the cannabinoid and cannabis drug development. Hence, they cannot be considered reliable.
Moreover, the experiments performed to gauge the effectiveness of the treatment are not reliable as they were performed in artificial models. No animal or human has been tested yet.
Does It Mean These Reports are Useless?
Technically speaking, these reports do not prove anything but they can provide interesting findings that warrant additional study into the topic.
Researchers can use the information found in these reports to study how cannabis affects coronavirus patients and if it can be helpful in treating the condition.
So, Can CBD Affect Coronavirus?
Companies are busy researching how CBD and cannabis products can affect coronavirus, but so far there has been no movement in the right direction.
No authentic study or report directly addresses cannabis and coronavirus.
We can safely say that cannabis does not affect coronavirus. In fact, some experts suggest that patients or infected individuals should not consume cannabis as we’re not yet sure what kind of effect it can have on a patient.
There are chances that cannabis may aggravate the condition.
Mary Biles wrote in Project CBD, “A new wave of research and mounting anecdotal evidence points toward cannabinoids having an adaptive, immunomodulating effect, rather than just suppressing immune activity.” In other words, it’s possible that cannabinoids like CBD may keep inflammation at bay when healthy, but increase inflammation when getting sick.”
You need to be very careful about what you believe. There are all kinds of rumors on the internet. You may even come across companies claiming their air purifiers can kill coronavirus in the air.
Such reports are bogus and should not be trusted. Only use authentic sources for information on coronavirus and stay safe.