Cannabis is an antiemetic, a drug that relieves nausea and allows patients to eat and live normally. Extracts also seem to benefit patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, stopping muscle spasms, and reducing tremors. In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the oral use of dronabinol, a cannabis derivative, for people with Aids. There is evidence that cannabis may stimulate the appetites of Aids patients with wasting disease. It may also help relieve the pain of menstrual cramps and childbirth.
Campaigners claim the drug is useful in treating depression and other mood disorders.
Cannabis analogues have been shown to prevent seizures in epileptic patients when given in combination with prescription drugs. The drug can also help in the treatment of patients suffering from glaucoma, one of the commonest causes of blindness, by reducing fluid pressure in the eye. Claims have also been made for its use in treating asthma, strokes, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, alcoholism and insomnia. However, opponents of the use of cannabis point to the fact that it damages the ability to concentrate. There are other side effects of the drug, but they vary considerably and are highly unpredictable, partly because cannabis has more than 400 active ingredients.