Cannabis Treatment for Epilepsy: Where is the evidence?

Is there good evidence for cannabis efficacy and safety in treating epilepsy?  Yes.  - JR

Cannabinoids in the Treatment of Epilepsy: Hard Evidence at Last?

Evidence for cannabidiol / CBD superiority over placebo in treating
refractory epilepsy syndromes. 

The interest in cannabis-based products for the treatment of refractory epilepsy has skyrocketed in recent years. Marijuana and other cannabis products with high content in Δ(9) - tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), utilized primarily for recreational purposes, are generally unsuitable for this indication, primarily because THC is associated with many undesired effects. Compared with THC, cannabidiol (CBD) shows a better defined anticonvulsant profile in animal models and is largely devoid of adverse psychoactive effects and abuse liability. Over the years, this has led to an increasing use of CBD-enriched extracts in seizure disorders, particularly in children. Although improvement in seizure control and other benefits on sleep and behavior have been often reported, interpretation of the data is made difficult by the uncontrolled nature of these observations. Evidence concerning the potential anti-seizure efficacy of cannabinoids reached a turning point in the last 12 months, with the completion of three high-quality placebo-controlled adjunctive-therapy trials of a purified CBD product in patients with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In these studies, CBD was found to be superior to placebo in reducing the frequency of convulsive (tonic-clonic, tonic, clonic, and atonic) seizures in patients with Dravet syndrome, and the frequency of drop seizures in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. For the first time, there is now class 1 evidence that adjunctive use of CBD improves seizure control in patients with specific epilepsy syndromes.

J Epilepsy Res > Volume 7(2); 2017 > Article Review Article Journal of Epilepsy Research 2017; 7(2): 61-76. Published online: December 31, 2017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14581/jer.17012 Cannabinoids in the Treatment of Epilepsy: Hard Evidence at Last?