The use of cannabis as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder: Anecdotal evidence and the need for clinical research

Author(s): Bakalar, J. B.

Journal/Book: J Psychoactive Drug. 1998; 30: 409 Clayton St, San Francisco, CA 94117. Haight-Ashbury Publ. 171-177.

Abstract: The authors present case histories indicating that a number of patients find cannabis (marihuana) useful in the treatment of their bipolar disorder. Some used it to treat mania, depression, or both. They stated that it was more effective than conventional drugs, or helped relieve the side effects of those drugs. One woman found that cannabis curbed her manic rages; she and her husband have worked to make it legally available as a medicine. Others described the use of cannabis as a supplement to lithium (allowing reduced consumption) or for relief of lithium's side effects. Another case illustrates the fact that medical cannabis users are in danger of arrest, especially when children are encouraged to inform on parents by some drug prevention programs. An analogy is drawn between the status of cannabis today and that of lithium in the early 1950s, when its effect on mania had been discovered but there were no controlled studies. In the case of cannabis, the law has made such studies almost impossible, and the only available evidence is anecdotal. The potential for cannabis as a treatment for bipolar disorder unfortunately can not be fully explored in the present social circumstances.

Note: Article Grinspoon L, Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, 74 Fenwood Rd, Boston,MA 02115 USA

Keyword(s): bipolar; cannabis; depression; lithium; mania; marijuana

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