Author:
McGeeney BE
Abstract:
Hallucinogens and most cannabinoids are classified under schedule 1 of
the Federal Controlled Substances Act 1970, along with heroin and
ecstacy. Hence they cannot be prescribed by physicians, and by
implication, have no accepted medical use with a high abuse potential.
Despite their legal status, hallucinogens and cannabinoids are used by
patients for relief of headache, helped by the growing number of
American states that have legalized medical marijuana. Cannabinoids in
particular have a long history of use in the abortive and prophylactic
treatment of migraine before prohibition and are still used by patients
as a migraine abortive in particular. Most practitioners are unaware of
the prominence cannabis or “marijuana” once held in medical practice.
Hallucinogens are being increasingly used by cluster headache patients
outside of physician recommendation mainly to abort a cluster period and
maintain quiescence for which there is considerable anecdotal success.
The legal status of cannabinoids and hallucinogens has for a long time
severely inhibited medical research, and there are still no blinded
studies on headache subjects, from which we could assess true efficacy.