The marijuana-derived compound shows promise in treating rare forms of epilepsy that cause children to have seizures multiple times a day. Cannabidiol, one of dozens of active cannabinoids found in the marijuana plant, can reduce the frequency of seizures in patients suffering from two rare forms of epilepsy called Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes, according to...

Studies have looked at the possible benefits medical marijuana can have on cancer symptoms and treatment side effects. Nausea and vomiting . A few small studies have found that smoking marijuana can ease these side effects of chemotherapy. The FDA has also approved dronabinol (Marinol, Syndros) and nabilone (Cesamet), man-made cannabinoids, to treat these symptoms...

Outside of Canada and the Netherlands, there is no inherent difference between herbal cannabis used recreationally and that used medically. For that reason, medical cannabis may be best understood as the use of cannabis under ongoing medical supervision, with an established diagnosis of the target symptom-disease complex. Herbal cannabis is used in conjunction with, or in consideration of, other...