Cannabinoids, including CBD, may interact with prescribed drugs: Research

ISLAMABAD, August 16 (online): Researchers have published a list of 57 medications that may interact with cannabinoid products, including cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) oil. The list includes commonly prescribed medications, such as anticoagulants, pain relievers, and birth control pills.

The issue of legalizing cannabis is a divisive one. In 2013, the results of a survey suggested that slightly more than half (52%) of adults in the United States supported the legalization of cannabis.

Although cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, 33 U.S. states have now legalized one or more components of the cannabis plant. Medical cannabis is also legal in some countries.

As well as the more traditional means of using cannabis, such as smoking, there is growing interest in CBD oil, which contains only CBD and not the psychoactive component of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

CBD oil has several purported benefits, including the management of anxiety and pain. CBD oil derived from hemp was legalized throughout the U.S. in 2018. Recent data show a huge increase in the sales of CBD products in the country, from just over $100 million in 2014 to $845 million in 2019.

The growing number of cannabis-derived products on the market can deliver a variable concentration of the cannabinoids THC and CBD. This variation is a particular concern for unregulated products, as co-author of the new study Prof. Kent Vrana explains.

“Unregulated products often contain the same active ingredients as medical cannabinoids, though they may be present in different concentrations.”

There is currently very little information on how these products — even the regulated ones — may affect the function of other, prescribed medications. Prof. Vrana and his clinical pharmacist colleague Paul Kocis therefore created a list of potential interactions between cannabinoids and prescribed drugs.

They looked for cannabinoid medications that could affect how quickly the body breaks down another drug or that competes for the same target. They evaluated four cannabinoids, which included CBD-only products, as well as THC-containing products (dronabinol, nabilone, CBD, and nabiximols).

To do this, they looked at a list of enzymes that process THC and CBD and compared this against prescribing information for common medications to identify any overlaps, also known as drug-drug interactions.