Cannabis research

At Bedrocan we consider scientific cannabis research vital to progress medicinal cannabis to approved medicine status. To complement our cannabis plant and analytical research, we support clinical trials and offer our resources and experience to medicinal cannabis research projects worldwide. Below is a table of published research projects using Bedrocan cannabis products.

Cannabis research

Psychopharmacological studies in healthy participants

undertaken with Bedrocan products

Topic Results Author Year

Effects of standardised cannabis products

In healthy volunteers acute cannabis administration induced dose-dependent acute effects such as a rapid increase in THC and CBD blood concentrationsslower reaction times, and attention, learning, and working memory impairments. Leen et al. 2024

Cannabis & oxycodone

Respiratory depression caused by cannabis was not amplified when cannabis and oxycodone were combined. Cannabis had no effect on ventilatory control after pretreatment with placebo or oxycodone. Van Dam et al. 2023

Adolescents vs adults

Compared with placebo, cannabis increased ‘feel drug effect’, impaired  verbal episodic memory (ability of describing life events and personal experiences, and increased hallucinogenic effects. Adolescents did not differ from adults in their responses to cannabis and CBD did not balance the acute effects of THC. Lawn et al. 2023

Adolescents vs adults

Compared to placebo, blunted reward anticipation activity was found in key reward regions after acute active cannabis administration in adults and adolescents. Skumlien et al. 2023

Attentional bias & explicit liking

Cannabis induced attentional bias toward cannabis in users with no previous history of substance use disorder. CBD did not attenuate this effect. However, cannabis intoxication did not increase ratings of explicit liking of cannabis. Oliver et al. 2023

Functional connectivity

Cannabis strongly disrupted functional connectivity in the networks of the brain responsible for motor skills and decision-making process. Cannabis with THC only reduced functional connectivity in the brain’s limbic striatum network, which was not present in the THC+CBD condition. Wall et al. 2022

Anxiety

THC and THC+CBD increased temporary feelings of anxiety (state-anxiety). State-anxiety after THC+CBD was lower than after THC. THC-induced anxiety was independent of anxiety at baseline. Hutten et al. 2022

Pharmacokinetics of THC & CBD

THC elevated anandamide plasma levels. This effect was not affected by the coadministration of CBD. Englund et al. 2022

CBD impact on THC effects

No evidence has been found that CBD reduces the acute adverse effects of THC on cognition and mental health. Also, there was no evidence that it changed the subjective or pleasurable effects of THC. Englund et al. 2022

Chronic vs occasional users

Networks in the brain can distinguish between occasional and chronic cannabis users and identify acute cannabis intoxication. Ramaekers et al. 2022

Sex differences

There were no systematic sex differences in the acute effects of vaporized cannabis. It is still possible that sex differences will appear with higher THC doses or with other administration methods. Arkell et al. 2022

Schizotypal personality traits

Following THC, an increased frequency of cannabis use was associated with reduced intensity of subjective and psychosis-like effects. More frequent cannabis use was associated with higher levels of psychosis-like effects when participants were not intoxicated. However, schizotypal personality traits did not moderate the psychosis-like effects of THC. Freeman et al. 2021

Chronic vs occasional users

In occasional users, cannabis reduced connectivity in reward-related brain areas and lowered glutamate in motor task regions. These effects were related to increased ‘high feeling’ and decreased sustained attention task performance. Such changes were absent in chronic users. Mason et al. 2021

Psychotic symptoms

THC increases psychotic-like symptoms and may increase the incidence of speech illusion. CBD did not influence psychotic-like effects of cannabis. Mokrysz et al. 2020

Driving skills

Lane weaving, swerving, and overcorrecting with Bedrocan and Bediol was significantly greater at 40 to 100 minutes but not 240 to 300 minutes after consumption; there were no significant differences between Bedrolite and placebo. Arkell et al. 2020

False memory

Cannabis consistently increases susceptibility to false memories. The results have implications for police, legal professionals, and policymakers with regard to the treatment of cannabis-intoxicated witnesses and suspects and the validity of their statements. Kloft et al. 2020

Brain function

THC disrupts the brain region involved in the subjective experience of THC intoxication. CBD restores the disruption caused by THC, which may explain the potential of CBD to treat disorders such as psychosis and addiction. Wall et al. 2019

Neurotransmitter function

THC elicits subjective and cognitive alterations via increased striatal dopaminergic activity and loss of corticostriatal connectivity, which is associated with an increase in striatal glutamate. Mason et al. 2019

Driving skills

The point in time after cannabis consumption seems to play an important role concerning driving safety: significantly more driving faults were committed directly after consumption. Three hours after consumption, no significant increase of driving faults was seen. Tank et al. 2019

Brain’s reward circuit

Public advertising of alcohol or cannabis use elicits striatal activation in the brain’s reward circuit. Reduction of marketing would reduce brain exposure to reward cues that motivate substance use. de Sousa et al. 2017

Taste perception

Administration of cannabis preparations at the low doses tested does not affect sweet taste intensity perception and liking, nor does it influence food preferences in humans. De Bruijn et al. 2017

Adolescents vs adults

Adolescents felt less ‘stoned’ and reported fewer psychotomimetic symptoms than adults. Adults, but not adolescents, were more anxious and less alert during the cannabis use session. Mokrysz et al. 2016

Decision-making & reward learning

Cannabis acutely induced a transient amotivational state and CBD influenced the effects of THC on expected value. Lawn et al. 2016

Cannabis & alcohol

Alcohol facilitated feelings of aggression whereas cannabis diminished aggressive feelings in heavy alcohol and regular cannabis users. De Sousa et al. 2016

Cannabis & cocaine

Interference of cannabis and cocaine with cognitive impulse control and functional corticostriatal connectivity depends on a specific genotype. Ramaekers et al. 2016

Neurocognitive function

Executive function, impulse control, attention, psychomotor function and subjective intoxication were significantly worse after cannabis administration relative to placebo. Ramaekers et al. 2016

Cannabis & cocaine

Cannabis and cocaine demonstrated opposing effects on the early and late phases of error monitoring. Spronk et al. 2016

Cognition

Cannabis does not seem to improve creativity and it can decrease error awareness and impair dopaminergic functioning. Kowal et al. 2016

Cannabis & cocaine

Cannabis yielded slower reaction times, impaired accuracy and response inhibition. Cocaine produced opposing results. Spronk et al. 2015

Verbal memory

Acetylcholine plays an important role in cannabis-induced memory impairment, whereas similar results for glutamate were not observed. Theunissen et al. 2015

Psychedelic symptoms

Cannabis increased dissociation and psychedelic state, as well as fatigue, confusion, depression and anxiety, and decreased arousal, positive mood, vigor, friendliness, and elation. A broad association between trait impulsivity and psychedelic subjective drug experience appears to be absent. Van Wel et al. 2015

Reversal learning

Acute effects of cocaine and cannabis on reversal learning as a function of COMTand DRD2 genotype. Spronk et al. 2015

Subjective effects

Cannabis containing high percentages of THC had a strong effect on the rating of subjective effects. Hunault et al. 2014

Driving skills

Cannabis smoking, even at low THC blood concentrations, decreases psychomotor skills and alters the activity of the brain networks involved in cognition. Battistella et al. 2013

Cannabinoid concentrations

THC, and also THC-A, shows a sharp, high concentration peak just after smoking, with a rapid decrease in these levels within 3 hours. Fabritius et al. 2013

Psychomotor function

Single doses of cannabis impaired psychomotor function and increased response errors during impulsivity tasks in heavy cannabis users. Van Wel et al. 2013

Chronic vs occasional users

Chronic cannabis users develop tolerance to some of the impairing behavioral effects of cannabis. Theunissen et al. 2012

THC & alcohol

Chronic cannabis users develop tolerance to the impairing effects of THC on neurocognitive task performance. Yet, chronic cannabis users did not develop cross-tolerance to the impairing effects of alcohol, and the presence of the latter even selectively potentiated THC effects on measures of divided attention. Ramaekers et al. 2011

Doping by athletes

In addition to THC-COOH, the pharmacologically active THC and THC-OH should be used as target analytes for doping urine analysis. In the case of light cannabis use, this may allow the estimation of more recent consumption, probably influencing performance during competitions. Brenneisen et al. 2010

Chronic vs occasional users

THC significantly impaired performance of occasional cannabis users on critical tracking, divided attention and the stop signal task. THC did not affect the performance of heavy cannabis users except in the stop signal task, i.e. stop reaction time increased, particularly at high THC concentrations. Ramaekers et al. 2009

Cognitive & psychomotor effects

Both response times on cognitive tasks and motor control worsened linearly with increasing THC dose. The number of errors in the short-term memory and sustained attention tasks as well as heart rate and ratings of feeling high linearly increased with increasing THC dose.  Hunault et al.  2009

Pharmacokinetics of THC

The linear association between THC dose and THC serum concentration also applies for high THC doses. Hunault et al. 2008

Pharmacokinetics of THC

Smoking cannabis with higher THC contents was associated with a dose-related increase of the serum concentrations of THC, physical effects, and psychomotor effects. Mensinga et al. 2006

Motor control

High potency marijuana consistently impaired executive function and motor control. Ramaekers et al. 2006

Driving skills

Serum THC concentrations between 2 and 5 ng/ml establish the lower and upper range of a THC limit for impairment. Ramaekers et al. 2006

Cannabis research

Clinical studies in patients

undertaken with Bedrocan products

Topic Results Author Year

Cannabis & oxycodone

The combination of cannabis and oxycodone did not provide additional benefits over either treatment alone for managing fibromyalgia pain, except for a reduction in the number of opioid tablets consumed. Van Dam et al. 2024

Effects of standardised cannabis products

In patient studies, medicinal cannabis treatment reduced pain intensity across a wide range of chronic pain-related medical conditions. Leen et al. 2024

Sex differences

Treatment with Bedrocan® via the SyqeAir Inhaler shows no gender differences in effectiveness, safety and pharmacokinetics. Although men consumed a higher absolute dose of cannabis compared to women, the dose was similar for both sexes when corrected for body weight. Palmieri and Vadalà 2023

Alzheimer’s disease

Treatment with Bedrocan resulted in a reduction in agitation, apathy, irritability, sleep disturbances, and eating disturbances. Physical and verbal aggression was lower in all patients. In addition, there was a decrease in cognitive impairment in 45% of the patients. Palmieri and Vadalà 2023

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Of the 18 patients 15 continued using the Bediol, primarily before bedtime to aid sleep. They reported significant improvements, including increased peace of mind and reduced irritability. De Wit and Vermetten 2023

Chronic pain

A significant reduction in opioid use after a long-term cannabis extract therapy was observed. Conversely, this effect was not visible for anticonvulsant, antidepressant, and benzodiazepine medications. Nunnari et al. 2022

SyqeAir Inhaler

Treatment with the SyqeAir Inhaler resulted in general long-term pain reduction and quality of life improvement. In addition, the adverse effects profile is suggested to be better than with standard vaporizer devices. Aviram et al. 2022

Epilepsy

Seizure frequency decreased by 86% with no significant adverse events. The study supports the effectiveness of whole-plant medical cannabis extracts in severe childhood-onset epilepsies. Zafar et al. 2021

Chronic migraine

Cannabinoid extracts may have an impact on pain intensity in patients with chronic migraine, but the magnitude of the effect seems limited. Baraldi et al. 2021

Fibromyalgia chronic pain

Cannabis may represent an alternative treatment for patients with fibromyalgia who are unresponsive to conventional therapy. However, its application may be limited by the incidence of nonserious adverse events. Mazza 2021

Epilepsy

Of the ten patients enrolled in the study there was an 97% mean reduction in monthly seizure frequency post initiation of CBMPs (cannabis based medicinal products). Zafar et al. 2020

SyqeAir Inhaler

The SyqeAir inhaler delivered precise and low THC doses to produce a dose-dependent analgesic effect in patients with neuropathic pain/complex-regional pain syndrome. Almog et al. 2020

SyqeAir Inhaler

Pain intensity, 30–60 minutes following inhalations, was reported to be significantly lower than pre-inhalation. The use of the SyqeAir inhaler during hospitalisation yielded high levels of patients and staff satisfaction with no complications. Vulfons et al. 2020

Fibromyalgia

Adjunctive cannabis therapy offers a possible clinical advantage in fibromyalgia patients, especially in those with sleep dysfunctions. The clinical improvement inversely correlated with patient BMI. Giorgi et al. 2020

Drug-resistant epilepsy

All patients reported a reduction in seizure frequency and severity, and some reported improved mood, sleep quality, and general well-being without major side effects. Only one patient experienced one adverse event of mild intensity. Pane et al. 2020

Fibromyalgia

Cannabis varieties containing THC caused a significant increase in pressure pain threshold relative to placebo. CBD inhalation increased THC plasma concentrations but diminished THC-induced analgesic effects, indicative of synergistic pharmacokinetic, but antagonistic pharmacodynamic interactions of THC and CBD. Van de Donk et al. 2019

Chronic diseases

Cannabis oil extract may be therapeutically effective and safe for the symptomatic treatment of some chronic diseases – in particular pain. Palmieri et al. 2019

Chronic pain

Cannabis therapy, as an addition to traditional analgesic therapy, can be an efficacious tool to make more effective the management of chronic pain and its consequences on the functional and psychological dimensions. Poli et al. 2018

Cannabis use data

Cannabis use among Dutch patients was analyzed based on prescription data obtained from the Dutch Foundation for Pharmaceutical Statistics. The results showed that an increasing number of Dutch patients are using medicinal cannabis on prescription, while the average daily consumption has remained stable over many years. This suggests the absence of tolerance or cannabis abuse in this population. De Hoop et al. 2018

Non-responders to Nabiximols

Bedrocan was well tolerated and patients reported no psychoactive effects. Alternative treatment with Bedrocan accounts for a promising response rate in Nabiximols (Sativex) non-responders. Sacca et al. 2016

SyqeAir Inhaler

This trial suggests the potential use of the SyqeAir Inhaler device as a smokeless delivery system of medicinal cannabis, producing a THC pharmacokinetic profile with low inter-individual variation, and achieving pharmaceutical standards for inhaled drugs. Eisenberg et al. 2014

Pharmacokinetics of irinotecan and docetaxel

Coadministration of medicinal cannabis, as herbal tea, in cancer patients treated with irinotecan or docetaxel does not significantly influence the plasma pharmacokinetics of these drugs. Engels et al. & De Jong et al. 2007

Case studies in patients

undertaken with Bedrocan products

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CME workshop - Cannabis for pain