RESEARCHER FINDS THC MAY INTENSIFY SEIZURES, CONTRARY TO FINDINGS FROM OLDER
STUDIES

Marijuana researchers have found the psychoactive component of pot may
intensify the severity of the most common type of epileptic seizures.

The finding surprised research leader Dr. Michael Corcoran at the
University of Saskatchewan. He had expected his findings would support
older research that suggested high doses of THC could suppress grand
mal seizures.

Now Dr. Corcoran suspects the effects of THC or its synthetic form,
cannabinoids, may depend on the part of the brain where the seizure
occurs.

His experiments on rats have shown seizures which begin in the
temporal lobes of the brain appear to last longer and be more severe
after cannabinoids are administered.

He thinks studies conducted in the 1980s may have had a greater
concentration of a THC component acting on the brain stem, where grand
mal seizures originate.