Cannalogue, a medical cannabis e-platform company wants to study the effect of cannabis on Covid-19’s symptoms and has sought permission from Health Canada for the same. They want to test if the severity of the Coronavirus symptoms can be reduced by the CBD compound in cannabis.
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“The naturally occurring immunomodulatory property of cannabinoids may dampen the signals that produce the exaggerated inflammatory response from the host in response to COVID-19,” said Dr. Mohan Cooray, the CEO of Cannalogue.
Dr. Cooray is not just a CEO of the company, but also works as a gastroenterologist at Toronto’s Michael Garron Hospital. He was quoted as saying that his company is in constant touch with Health Canada to since last December to begin the trials.
Dr. Cooray believes that they may be able to reduce some of the severe symptoms that they are seeing in a few of the local fatalities. He certainly believes that the administrations takes things into consideration and gives them permission soon.
Many believe that cannabis could worsen the effect of the virus. This is based on a study testing the effect of THC on mice infected with influenza. The study found that THC sharpened the load of the virus and significantly reduced the capacity of the immune system to fight the virus.
However, THC and CBD are different compounds found in cannabis and no study has yet been conducted on the effectiveness of the latter to stimulate the immune system. “CBD is different, however, and it warrants further investigation,” Dr. Cooray says. ”
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The Coronavirus pandemic has a mortality rate of around 4.4 percent and the numbers are exponentially rising globally. Under the circumstances, any test aiding the cure of the disease is worth a shot, the company believes.
Dr. Cooray said that he started noticing the therapeutic abilities of cannabis when he was pursuing post-graduate studies in internal medicine at McMaster University.
“When I started my practice, over five years ago, I was very skeptical about the role, if any, of cannabinoids in digestive diseases. I didn’t think this stuff worked at all,” he says.
His skepticism was challenged when he noticed how well cannabis worked for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He is hoping that a similar breakthrough can be reached with meticulous study on Coronavirus as well.
He is clear that he is making no claims about the efficacy of the drug unless all tests have been conducted and people should jump to no conclusions. If permission is given, he is ready to go all-out from a medical standpoint to test whether CBD can have any impact on patients who are suffering from symptoms of Covid-19.
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He signs off saying, “We have made it very clear to the leadership at Health Canada that we are more than committed to this and we are more than prepared to execute it from a medical technology standpoint. Time is of the essence and we are ready to go.”
