Jerusalem, Israel: Hebrew University researchers will begin administering THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, to Israeli soldiers to combat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, the Associated Press reported.
“The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) medical corps … is introducing the use of THC, the active agent in the cannabis plant, which helps relieve post-traumatic stress disorder, on an experimental basis,” the army noted in a prepared statement.
Animal studies performed in Israel and elsewhere have demonstrated that both cannabinoids and endocannabinoids modulate memory. Research published earlier this year in the journal Psychopharmacology found that the administration of THC and the cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) made rats forget prior conditioning.
Previous data published in 2002 in Nature noted that the “endogenous cannabinoid system has a central function in extinction of aversive memories.”
Speaking in May at the Patients Out of Time Third National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, Hebrew University’s Raphael Mechoulam said, “The endogenous cannabinoid system could represent a therapeutic target for the treatment of diseases associated with inappropriate retention of aversive memories.”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500.