A new study from two University of New Mexico researchers, Jacob Miguel Vigil, an associate professor in the psychology department, and Sarah See Stith, an assistant professor in the economics department, has found that more relief from higher levels of THC in marijuana offered patients relief while the amount of CBD appeared to be irrelevant.
The two researchers looked over data from more than 3,300 medical marijuana patients who use the Releaf app to track how various marijuana products relieve their symptoms.
In almost 20,000 sessions recorded by patients the average symptom improvement was 3.5 points on a zero-to-10 scale, with more relief in connection to higher THC levels. Symptom relief had no correlation with how much CBD was in the product.
Stith stated, “What we are finding goes against the common dogma. The app is measuring immediate symptom relief, and it might be that CBD has a more subtle, long term effect or that to be of benefit the THC needs a threshold amount of CBD. We just don’t know, but when you compare flower and concentrates the THC is what jumps out as having an effect.”
“Despite the conventional wisdom, both in the popular press and much of the scientific community that only CBD has medical benefits while THC merely makes one high, our results suggest that THC may be more important than CBD in generating therapeutic benefits,” said Vigil. “In our study, CBD appears to have little effect at all, while THC generates measurable improvements in symptom relief.”
