cannabis

Cardiovascular and Autonomic Effects A consistent, prominent, and sudden effect of marijuana is a 20 to 100 percent increase in heart rate lasting up to 2 to 3 hours (Hollister 1986a, 1988a; Jones 1985) and white widow . After higher smoked or oral doses postural hypotension and associated faintness or dizziness can occur upon standing up from a supine or prone position. Tolerance to these effects appears after only a few days of two to three times per day dosing (Benowitz and Jones 1981; Jones 1985). Typical is a modest increase in supine blood pressure. Cardiac output can increase 30 percent when supine. Peripheral vascular resistance decreases with the greatest drop in resistance in skeletal muscles.

Preclinical evidence suggests a possible role for cannabinoids in the treatment of the epilepsies, particularly generalized and partial tonic-clonic seizures of white widow feminized. There is scant information on the use of marijuana or other cannabinoids for the actual treatment of epilepsy. Individual case studies have reported some benefit of smoked marijuana in treatment of dystonic states. Smoked marijuana or oral THC administrations for Parkinson's disease or Huntington's chorea have not been effective. Cannabinoids have shown efficacy as immune modulators in animal models of neurological conditions such as experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) and neuritis.