GS Paper III

News Excerpt:

Recently, researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada floated a new clinical trial to examine whether cannabidiol could be used to treat bipolar depression.

• Given the paucity of agents to treat depressive episodes in bipolar disorder, this trial has the potential to uncover a novel treatment to treat the debilitating depression associated with the condition.

About the cannabinoid system:

• The human cannabinoid system has two cannabinoid receptors, called CB1 and CB2. 
• CB1:
  • The naturally occurring substrate of the CB1 receptor is anandamide, a compound whose name comes from the Sanskrit word ‘ananda’, meaning bliss.
  • CB1 is found diffusely throughout the CNS. 
    • The CNS is involved in the release of various neurotransmitters, including dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin. 
  • CB1 is like a traffic cop: it controls the levels and activities of other neurotransmitters.
  • The CB1 receptor is relevant to the drug’s mind-altering effects.

• CB2:

• CB2 is found in the spleen and testes and to a lesser extent in the central nervous system (CNS). 
• To stimulate these receptors, our bodies produce molecules called endocannabinoids. 
• These are endogenous: they occur naturally within the body. 
• The endocannabinoid system (ECS) comprises a dense network of chemical signals and cellular receptors. 
• The cannabis plant works its effect by hijacking this machinery.
• The cannabinoid system modulates a host of bodily functions, including pain, memory, psychomotor control, sleep, and appetite. 
• High doses of recreational cannabis use can disrupt short-term memory.

Effects on anxiety and mood: 

The mood effects of cannabis are complex.

• One 2009 study was able to conclude that people with bipolar disorder who used cannabis had more manic relapses, adhered less to medications, and had worse psychosocial outcomes compared to non-users. 
• Research has also found that cannabis use can independently increase the risk of bipolar disorder and/or advance its onset in some individuals.
• Indeed, while cannabis can have psychotic effects on anybody upon consumption, the individual predisposition depends on their experience with the drug, the context in which it is consumed, and crucially, how prone the individual is to psychosis.
• For example, one 2018 study sought to understand the rates of conversion to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in those who had already been diagnosed with substance-induced psychosis. 
• Around 48% of cannabis users converted to either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder within three and four years, respectively, of having received a diagnosis of substance-induced psychosis.
• People with established psychotic illnesses, such as schizophrenia, have a very high predisposition to manifest psychotic symptoms when imbibing cannabis, despite it being on anti-psychotic medication. 
• Cannabis use in youth can also advance the onset of schizophrenia by seven to eight years in genetically vulnerable individuals.
• There has been a long-standing debate in psychiatry: whether people who have used cannabis and have later developed schizophrenia manifest the disorder only because they used cannabis.  
• As of today, there is high-quality evidence for a consistent association between cannabis use in youth and later psychotic symptoms.

Status of cannabis cultivation in India:

• Cannabis, marijuana or ganja as it is commonly known, has a centuries-old history in India. 
• In 1985 however, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act or the NDPS Act banned the use of the resin, flowering and fruit tops of the plant.
• In 2018, Uttarakhand became the first State in India to legalise the cultivation of cannabis for industrial and scientific purposes. 
• Controlled cultivation has also been allowed in parts of other States including UP and Madhya Pradesh.
• Himachal Pradesh has also proposed legalizing cannabis for medical and industrial purposes.
• In Odisha, where weed is still legal, people can buy marijuana for recreational use. 
• In India too, there is now a growing industry for hemp products and cannabidiol or CBD: in just 3 years at least 50 new startups are reported to have come up in the country.

Significance of cannabis plant:

• The cannabis plant has a tremendous amount of medicinal value and its potential for industrial usage can hardly be overstated. 
• China is investing a few billion dollars in developing different strains of the marijuana plant towards several objectives. It has proper factories for processing marijuana. 
• It has unlimited usage in diverse fields, including in the field of semiconductors.
• The cannabis plant is something natural to India, especially the northern hilly regions. 
• It has the potential of becoming a cash crop for poor marginal farmers. 
• If proper research is done and cultivation of marijuana encouraged at an official level, it can gradually become a source of income for poor people with small landholdings. 
• That is one part. The other part is, even if you are growing paddy, you can grow marijuana on the margins.
• India should ideally focus on marijuana’s medicinal use. It is known to help people with eye ailments, cancer, and joint pain.

Conclusion:

• The frequency and potency of cannabis use have exploded in the last two decades, prompting broader debates about the decriminalisation of cannabis.
• This is partly because of the resurgence of interest in cannabis as medicine. 
• Jurisdictions around the world are legalising medical use of cannabis; some have also legalised recreational use. 
• Many of them are in the West but other countries are taking note as well.
• If India were to ever decriminalise cannabis, policymakers should ensure it isn’t commercialised and that there are protections against use by children, adolescents, and those with established mental illnesses – the populace most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of cannabis.