Australian-based Study to Treat Mental Disorders with Cannabis

A new Australian-based study will soon be looking at how cannabis can be used to treat children with anxiety and mental health issues.

The study, which is being conducted by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry, is being privately funded by the Lambert Initiative. The study will center on youths, ages 12-25, who suffer from a mental disorder and is expected to be carried out this June.

Participants who have not seen results through traditional means will be given two to four powder capsules of CBD daily for 12 weeks. If results are found, the patients could receive continued treatment.

Earlier European studies have proven that CBD can be effective in treating adults who suffer from anxiety and depression. Additional studies performed on mice have shown that CBD is non-toxic, doesn’t impact appetite or affect blood pressure, body temperature, motor functions or psychological functions.

McGorry feels that CBD could be an alternative to antidepressants and other prescription medications. “We know that in at least 50 percent of cases where young people are prescribed antidepressants that they don’t actually work,” Professor McGorry told News Corp Australia.

McGorry also pointed out that CBD treatment would not be the first form of treatment given to children. Stating, “It would be for people who haven’t had success with traditional therapies.”

The study must still has to clear a federal ethics committee later this month.

In Australia, anxiety in youths is on the rise. 15.4 percent of the country’s youth said they have experienced anxiety in the last year. One such youth, Hannah Cheers, has suffered with anxiety for over four years. Cheers was part of an antidepressant trial, but claimed that with the side effects it “wasn’t worth it”. She said she would be open to trying CBD, and that the stigma associated with cannabis was “rubbish.”

“I think that whole stigma is rubbish and people need to make decisions for themselves and their condition,” Cheers said. “I don’t think it should be anyone else’s business if it’s not hurting people.”