Cannabinoids in Neurologic Illnesses.

Marijuana has been used to treat medical disease since well before the 1800s. Recently, increased use of cannabinoids, the chemical components of marijuana, have been seen to treat neurologic illness in children and adults. Unfortunately, data are lacking in treating most neurologic illnesses except in the field of epilepsy and pain from spasticity in multiple sclerosis. Therefore, formal conclusions about the potential efficacy, benefit, and adverse effects for most marijuana based products cannot be made at this time. Further research using gold standard scientific methodology should be performed to help address potential uses and safety for cannabinoids to treat neurologic illnesses.