Hebrew University researcher Professor Raphael Mechoulam found, in a study conducted in Israel and Spain, that cannabis-based treatments may improve memory loss in Alzheimer’s sufferers. A compound present in cannabis significantly slows memory problems caused by the disease, according to the findings.
The findings were presented this week at a symposium hosted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB). Cannabidiol, the medicinal component in cannabis, is not considered a hallucinogenic ingredient, according to researchers quoted by the RPSGB.
Professor Mechoulam also warned, however, that Alzheimer’s patients should not use cannabis itself because THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, could have the opposite effect, and cause damage to the memory.