Cannabinoids in health and disease

Summary & key facts

This webpage explains how DoktorABC offers medical cannabis services in Germany. You fill an online medical questionnaire, a licensed doctor reviews it, and may issue a prescription. The page also describes costs, delivery times, legal status, types of products, common effects of THC and CBD, and possible side effects.

Key facts:

• The site states it has over 800,000 customers, 40+ product categories, more than 3 million orders, and 7+ years in operation.
• DoktorABC describes the cannabis treatment path as 100% online: fill a medical questionnaire, have a doctor review it, and receive a prescription if medically necessary.
• The page gives prices in different places: the medical assessment and prescription is listed as €18.90 in a Q&A, while elsewhere it appears as €14.90; cannabis therapy products are shown starting around €3.22–€3.81 depending on the listing.
• Delivery is described as within 24–48 hours after prescription, with an express option of 2-hour delivery or same-day pickup in approved pharmacies.
• The site states that medical cannabis is legal in Germany and has been regulated by law since 2017; it is prescription-only and only available from licensed pharmacies.
• Common reasons listed for possible cannabis therapy include chronic pain, stress and anxiety, neuropathic pain, and spasticity, but a doctor decides case by case.
• The page describes THC as having pain-relief, muscle-relaxing, appetite-stimulating, anti-nausea, and anti-spasm effects, and describes CBD as non-intoxicating with possible anti-inflammatory, anxiety-reducing, and anti-seizure properties.
• The site lists common side effects such as tiredness (fatigue), dizziness, and dry mouth, and says not all patients react the same and doses may need individual adjustment.
• DoktorABC says its doctors are licensed in Germany, that telemedicine consultations on the platform are legal, and that the site uses security and GDPR-compliant data protection measures.

Abstract

Cannabis sativa L. preparations have been used in medicine for millenia. However, concern over the dangers of abuse led to the banning of the medicinal use of marijuana in most countries in the 1930s. Only recently, marijuana and individual natural and synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and antagonists, as well as chemically related compounds, whose mechanism of action is still obscure, have come back to being considered of therapeutic value. However, their use is highly restricted. Despite the mild addiction to cannabis and the possible enhancement of addiction to other substances of abuse, when combined with cannabis, the therapeutic value of cannabinoids is too high to be put aside. Numerous diseases, such as anorexia, emesis, pain, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease), epilepsy, glaucoma, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, obesity, and metabolic syndrome-related disorders, to name just a few, are being treated or have the potential to be treated by cannabinoid agonists/antagonists/cannabinoid-related compounds. In view of the very low toxicity and the generally benign side effects of this group of compounds, neglecting or denying their clinical potential is unacceptable--instead, we need to work on the development of more selective cannabinoid receptor agonists/antagonists and related compounds, as well as on novel drugs of this family with better selectivity, distribution patterns, and pharmacokinetics, and--in cases where it is impossible to separate the desired clinical action and the psychoactivity--just to monitor these side effects carefully.

Topics

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Addiction Agonist Cannabinoid Cannabinoid receptor Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists Cannabis Disease Internal medicine Medicine Pharmacology Psychiatry Psychology Receptor