Despite the ongoing political debate regarding the legality of cannabinoids, clinical investigations of the therapeutic use of cannabinoids are now more prevalent than at any time in history. Here are some supportive research regarding the therapeutic usage of Cannabinoids:

• The U.S. Government's Patent (#6,630,507) to use Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants - In  The patent, awarded in 2003, is based on research done by the National Institute of Health, and is assigned to the US Dept. of Health and Human Services.
  
  Within this patent, the  U.S. Government itself claims that "cannabinoids are useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases", and that "cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia".
  
  
• Report from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health - Report detailing medical evidence supporting cannabinoids as an effective management for neuropathic pain.
  
  Full text of the study, "Molecular mechanisms of cannabinoid protection from neuronal excitotoxicity," is available online at: http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/cgi/reprint/mol.105.016428v1
  
  
• In February 2010 investigators at the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research publicly announced the findings of a series of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials on the medical utility of cannabinoids. The studies, which utilized the so-called ‘gold standard' FDA clinical trial design, concluded that cannabinoids ought to be a "first line treatment" for patients with neuropathy and other serious illnesses.
  
  Among the studies conducted by the Center, four assessed cannabinoids's ability to alleviate neuropathic pain, a notoriously difficult to treat type of nerve pain associated with cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, spinal cord injury and many other debilitating conditions. Each of the trials found that cannabinoids consistently reduced patients' pain levels to a degree that was as good or better than currently available medications.
  
  Another study conducted by the Center's investigators assessed the use of cannabinoids as a treatment for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. That study determined that cannabis "was superior to placebo in reducing spasticity and pain in patients with MS, and provided some benefit beyond currently prescribed treatments."
  
  
• Around 2006, the Canadian Operational Trauma and Stress Support Centre studied the treatment effects of Synthetic Cannabinoids with 47 patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and having continuing nightmares in spite of conventional antidepressants and hypnotics.

  These patients had been referred to a psychiatric specialist outpatient clinic between 2004 and 2006. The majority of patients (72%) receiving a synthetic cannabinoid experienced either cessation of nightmares or a significant reduction in nightmare intensity. Subjective improvement in sleep time, the quality of sleep, and the reduction of daytime flashbacks and nightsweats were also noted by some patients. The results of this study indicate the potential benefits of nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, in patients with PTSD experiencing poor control of nightmares with standard pharmacotherapy.

  From http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19228182
  Operational Trauma and Stress Support Centre, Canadian Forces Health Services Centre, 1745 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. fraser.ga2@forces.gc.ca