Pharmacology of Oral Cannabis: Fact Sheet for Nursing Professionals

This fact sheet provides a concise overview of the pharmacology of oral medicinal cannabis, tailored for nursing professionals. It begins with a brief introduction to medicinal cannabis, highlighting its indicated uses, particularly in managing pain and nausea in end-stage oncology patients. The report delves into the pharmacokinetics of oral cannabis, detailing absorption, distribution, metabolism (including bioavailability and first-pass effect), and excretion, including the half-life of the drug. Furthermore, it explores the pharmacodynamics of oral cannabis, explaining its mechanism of action and effects on the body. Finally, the fact sheet outlines the crucial risk factors that nurses must consider during patient assessments before prescribing and administering cannabis, ensuring patient safety and informed decision-making. The information is based on recent scientific literature and is intended to aid in the safe and effective use of oral cannabis in a clinical setting.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
Question 2........................................................................................................................................2
Question 3........................................................................................................................................3
Question 4........................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................5

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Question 1
Medical cannabis or medicine marijuana is cannabis or cannabinoids which the doctors
prescribe for the patients. The uses of the cannabis has not been tested much because of the
Governmental restrictions. This has resulted in the limitations of research regarding to the safety
and efficacy of using cannabis for treating diseases. The medicinal uses of cannabis are
described below:
 The medical cannabis is somewhat very active in reducing nausea and vomiting induced
by chemotherapy.
 Cannabis is effective in freeing from chronic pain in several conditions. It is also reported
that cannabis can also treat peripheral neuropathy.
 It is also very effective in treating chronic problems like multiple sclerosis and problems
involving movement (Abuhasira, Shbiro & Landschaft, 2018).
Question 2
The pharmacokinetics of cannabis includes hoe the medicine is absorbed in the body
through different modes of administration and from different drug formulations. This involved
how the drug is distributed in the body, the metabolism and the way the drug are excreted from
the body. The bioavailability of this medicine given directly intravenous I s100%. He other
forms of taking of cannabis includes smoking, application to skin and eating, which gives less
bioavailability.
The metabolites are mainly found in the plasma factors of blood in which 95-99% of
them are bound to the lipoproteins. In the erythrocyte only 10% of these cannabis are found, the
concentrations of cannabis on the blood is only one and a half concentration of the specimens of

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blood plasma. The concentration of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) decreases rapidly because of
the rapid distribution in the tissues and liver metabolism.
Most of the THC which enters into the body are metabolized in the liver into 100 or more
metabolites. The primary metabolite are psychoactive and the effects of these are very rapid. The
metabolized part of these materials are inactive which get excreted out through faces and urine
(Newmeyer et al., 2016).
Question 3
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most important source of pharmacologic effects
caused mainly by the effects of the consuming cannabis. If the drug crosses the psychotropic
threshold, the taking of cannabis enhances the well-being of the person. The most important
effect of caused by the over dosing of cannabis are anxiety and panic attack. Pharmacodynamic
interactions can occur if the drug is administered through orally along with other drugs of central
nervous system. Cardiac toxicity can occur through the increased hypertension along with
tachycardia with sympathomimetic agents. Not much information about the pharmacodynamics
are available for this medicine (Badowski, 2017).
Question 4
The risk factors which are required to be considered during the assessments of patients are:
 The personal history of the family history of the person are required to be considered that
whether they have any issues of bipolar disorder or psychosis or not.
 The frequency of the medicine must also be checked.
 The type of the product must be taken into consideration.

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 The age of the person must be taken into consideration as the risk are associated mostly
with the age of the person.
 The circumstances of use, like whether other mediators are combined with the drug or
not.
 The method of use is another important factor as smoking of cannabis is the most risky
method than other methods of administration (Shakoor et al., 2015).

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References
Abuhasira, R., Shbiro, L., & Landschaft, Y. (2018). Medical use of cannabis and cannabinoids
containing products–Regulations in Europe and North America. European journal of
internal medicine, 49, 2-6.
Badowski, M. E. (2017). A review of oral cannabinoids and medical marijuana for the treatment
of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: a focus on pharmacokinetic variability
and pharmacodynamics. Cancer chemotherapy and pharmacology, 80(3), 441-449.
Newmeyer, M. N., Swortwood, M. J., Barnes, A. J., Abulseoud, O. A., Scheidweiler, K. B., &
Huestis, M. A. (2016). Free and glucuronide whole blood cannabinoids'
pharmacokinetics after controlled smoked, vaporized, and oral cannabis administration in
frequent and occasional cannabis users: identification of recent cannabis intake. Clinical
chemistry, 62(12), 1579-1592.
Shakoor, S., Zavos, H. M., McGuire, P., Cardno, A. G., Freeman, D., & Ronald, A. (2015).
Psychotic experiences are linked to cannabis use in adolescents in the community
because of common underlying environmental risk factors. Psychiatry research, 227(2-
3), 144-151.