The Malta Independent on Sunday
Stresses that Malta is only country in Europe without legalized CBD oil
Does CBD oil make you stoned in the traditional sense? How does this all work?
Helena Grech A doctor who is advocating the right to prescribe CBD oil, a component of the cannabis plant, as a way of helping certain patients manage their pain, cannot understand why the discussion on the subject is now being included in the talks regarding the use of recreational drug use.
Dr Andrew Agius, who runs a private pain clinic in Malta, has seen the “miraculous” effect of CBD oil with his eyes when treating a patient who had been disabled for 10 years due to fibromyalgia.
Studying a patient for more than a decade, who had been completely unresponsive to medicine while suffering from the terrible disease, and seeing that same 34-year-old woman make such a drastic U-turn by using cannabinoids such as CBD oil was something that he just could not ignore.
The patient, who is also a mother of a nine-year-old, eventually stopped using medicine altogether, and remained using the CBD oil, and even applied to start her own business to sell the oil herself since her quality of life had improved so drastically. She was never allowed to do this however, since the authorities promptly informed her that the all-natural treatment that allowed her to get out of bed in the morning, care for her child and become an active member of society is illegal.
Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Agius explained that because the law passed in the early 20th century covered anything and everything coming from components of the cannabis or hemp plant, any products are illegal. This includes beauty products, clothes, literally anything that is derived from the plant itself.
Agius stressed that Malta is the only country in Europe where CBD oil is illegal. Depending on what country you reside in Europe, CBD oil with THC levels less than 0.3 or 0.2mg can be sold over the counter.
What is a cannabinoid, and how does CBD fit into it?
Agius explained that cannabinoids are components of the cannabis plant.
“The ones we know most about are CBD and THC, but those are just two therapeutic components that can help with various ailments and even treat various conditions. Besides The stoned feeling comes from the THC. Any preparation of a cannabinoid mixture would have a tailor-made ratio of CBD and THC. Some patients, who need an equal mixture of both, need more CBD and some need more THC, depending on what the condition is and what is needed for its treatment.
A high THC and low CBD mixture can cause a person to feel stoned, especially if they aren’t used to its effects.
Those who need THC regularly become semi-immune to that sideeffect. It is a good effect of THC, however, because some people need it to feel better.
What works and what doesn’t is very individual, with certain illnesses meriting certain mixtures of the cannabinoids. At first, doctors will usually try to use the lowest levels of THC possible and more CBD to avoid any classical stoned feelings. Depending on whether this mixture is working on the person, the preparations are altered accordingly.
A lot of THC without CBD is not recommended because this can cause symptoms from certain mental illnesses in individuals under 18 if there is already a predisposition to such illnesses. When there is a more equal mixture of CBD and THC, these chances are reduced for those young individuals with certain predispositions.
Pain specialist Dr Andrew Agius believes that medical professionals do not want to learn about it because it will complicate their life; that is my impression because I cannot see any other reason to resist this.
“There are precautions that need to be taken for people with mental illness, for people with schizophrenia. The risk of psychological dependency is small — less than caffeine — but the risk is there. There will be no physical withdrawals, but some people who take it on a regular basis for whatever reason could become dependent on it and might not sleep well for a few days, and may experience some irritability and anxiety, but it all wares off.” those there are many others being researched and new things are being learnt every day.”
In the past, research in the plant was difficult due to the strict prohibition against it worldwide. Today, as more and more countries have relaxed their laws, from both a medicinal and a recreational perspective, far more research can be carried out than ever before.
Cannabinoids and pain
Agius was a GP for 15 years, and for the first 10 years focused on family medicine. From there, he went into stress-related illnesses and three years ago, he began specialising in physical pain.
“I saw the relationship between stress and pain, as chronic stress can very often lead to painful conditions.”
Two years ago, he started specializing in chronic pain doing an overseas course by correspondence, which led him to open the pain clinic.
“It is the only private pain clinic. The approach taken here is trying to find the root of the problem and trying to treat the patient in the most conservative way, using the most natural remedies possible such as exercise.
“I have managed quite a few patients by setting then up with the right exercise routine and diet, especially by making sure they take the right vitamins.”
He explained that stress usually manifests itself as headaches.
“What can also happen is that if there is chronic stress or even very stressful events sometimes, this can lead to damage in the pain controlling area of the brain, which leads a person to being hypersensitive to pain and other things, such as food, light and noise. It even affects a person’s immune system which causes a person to become sick quite often.
“It is these people who can really benefit from cannabinoids.”
The fight to get CBD oil recognised
“Towards the beginning of last summer, this CBD story started when an English doctor approached me as he had heard of my pain clinic. He wanted to come to Malta to treat patients with CBD. He was doing some research in his clinic in the UK, and they were treating patients, together with a pharmacist, with synthetic CBD oil.
“I found this interesting and I started looking into it. I found the natural version in Malta either online or from health-shops. When I started looking into the legal side of it, some people from the Medicines Authority told me they were not involved because it is not a medicine. Other pharmacists and sources said it was legal.