Marijuana and IBS

To celebrate 4/20, we will look into rumors that marijuana, or rather, the THC in marijuana can cure the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. There of course is no cure for the disease itself, only a cure for its uncomfortable and disruptive symptoms.

So can marijuana ease IBS symptoms?
Doing a cursory search about the subject will reveal two camps: pro-marijuana 'activists,' and the other camp that is trying to sell you IBS medicine. The answers you get from each camp are obvious: the pro marijuana 'activists' want you to believe that weed will cure everything (similar to how Brazilians believe that swallowing honey and lemon juice together will cure everything).

I put 'activists' in quotes because more often than not, they are unactive types that just have enough gumption to post on a forum here and there. That's a joke of course, there are many active and open marijuana users, like Willie Nelson.

Of course, exercise caution
Firstly, caution should be used when experimenting with the drug, and of course, there are only a few states where it's even legal with a prescription. Some say that it's a gateway drug, although others contend that its just a gateway to sweat pants and cheetos.

There are proven facts and uses for marijuana, it has been traditionally used by people suffering from chronic (ha, ha, yeah, yeah) nausea. People undergoing chemotherapy are often prescribed the drug to calm nausea and acid reflux, both major symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome sufferers. Cannabis can also be used as a muscle relaxer, and IBS is partially a neurological disease where the brain sends incorrect pulses to the colon which cause muscle spasms.

Case studies found online
I've scoured and scoured the web and have not found any clinical studies related to this. I imagine there is a lot of red tape to cut through to hold such a study. I did however find some testimonials from seemingly real people that don't appear to have a bias on the subject. Here is a story by someone named Christine that only began using cannabis to treat IBS (or so she claims). She does go on to mention something about using the drug recreationally, which in my mind somewhat invalidates her argument.

If you go on to read an email response, you'll find another pretty honest looking testimonial of the drug's positive effects on an apparently very sick person named Sammy. Who knows if their dramatic IBS symptoms are triggered by a dependency for the drug, or if they really have it this bad naturally, weed being a relief to the symptoms. This is all anecdotal of course.