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Delta-8-THC: Scientists explain the cannabis industry's "latest hype"

Delta-8-THC: Scientists explain the cannabis industry's "latest hype"

Peter Grinspoon, MD

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date
October 22, 2020
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Article excerpt:

Peter Grinspoon is a primary care physician at Harvard Medical School. He’s also on the board of the advocacy group, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation. He tells Inverse that Delta-8-THC does have “vast” potential, as do many of the less-famous cannabinoids.“I’m really excited to see what we come up with when we start breeding up, in evaluating all these different cannabinoids,” he tells Inverse. “I think Delta-8-THC is a perfect example.”There isn’t much research directly on Delta-8-THC. Some of what we know about it comes from a 1990s study on children undergoing chemotherapy; it showed that the derivative prevented the vomiting associated with the treatment. Side effects like irritability and “slight euphoria” were only seen in two children. Though the authors noted that in children “euphoria” is hard to quantify.Based on this early study. anti-nausea application is one potential avenue for exploration Grinspoon mentions. He adds that, based on patient experiences, this derivative “seems to be sort of more energetic and less sedating," also has potential as an appetite suppressant.

Read the full article at Inverse

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About the Author

Peter Grinspoon, MD

Peter Grinspoon, MD

Peter Grinspoon, MD, is a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Cannabis, as well as the memoir Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction. He is a TedX speaker. He spent two years as an Associate Director of the Massachusetts Physician Health Service helping physicians with addiction and mental health issues. He graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy with honors from Swarthmore College. He then spent five years as a Campaign Director for the environmental group Greenpeace before entering medical school at Boston University School of Medicine, where he graduated with honors. He completed his residency at Harvard’s Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, in the primary care program.  He has been on national television including NBC, C-SPAN, and Fox and Friends, and his writings have been published in The Nation and The Los Angeles Times. He is a Contributing Editor to Harvard Health Publications.