Crohn’s Disease

Benefits of Cannabis:
Cannabis can help control some of the symptoms of Crohn’s disease and may also reduce the severity of the disease by decreasing inflammation. Medical cannabis is not a replacement for the drugs prescribed by the patient’s doctor but should be used in addition to them.

Risks of Cannabis:
There are no special considerations in using cannabis for these patients.

Inhaled cannabis can be used, especially for intermittent symptoms to achieve an immediate response. The chronic inflammation will be better addressed using tinctures. CBD and THC should be used, the addition of CBG is strongly recommended to decrease inflammation/pain symptoms for these conditions.

• CBD Tincture: Start at 16 mg dose of a whole plant extract, use every 12 hours. The CBD will help with inflammation and pain symptoms.
• CBG Tincture: Start at 16 mg CBG tincture administered with the CBD tincture. The CBG will decrease inflammation in the gut to improve symptoms.
• THC Tincture: Use an “indica” THC tincture to fully leverage the entourage effect. Start at a 5 mg THC dose administered with CBD/CBG tinctures. The THC will help relieve some pain symptoms, improve appetite, fatigue and help to decrease inflammation.

After 7 days of therapy, adjustment of dose may be considered. Tincture doses are modified based on response. The THC tincture should be titrated up first to about a 10 mg dose as tolerated. Subsequent increases will also include CBD and CBG.

• Adjustment of dose should be considered based on the patient’s response every week or two. If side effects are experienced, the last dose administered which was well tolerated should be used. The longer course and variable nature of the disease requires regular reassessment of therapy effectiveness.

Flower mixing is preferred for the inhalation route of administration as it allows composing the balance of cannabinoids and terpenes in ratios likely to be effective. Flower with the β-caryophyllene, Myrcene, Terpineolterpenes are preferred. CBD flower can be combined with THC flower and CBG flower to obtain a 1:1:1 ratio of CBD:THC:CBG. This can be used on an as-needed basis to control acute symptoms.

DISCLAIMER:
Information provided is for educational purposes to assist medical cannabis patients in using the medication. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and cannabis is not approved by this agency for the use in diagnosis or treatment of any diseases.

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