Groundbreaking Harvard Study Will Have Female Subjects Use Cannabis-Infused Inserts
The legal cannabis market in the United States only continues to evolve, catering to the specific needs of certain markets and niches.
One of them are women’s health and sexuality.
A Venice Beach-based startup called Foria Wellness has been at the forefront of creating innovative cannabis products for women. So far, their product line includes sprays, lotions, vape pens, and cannabis-infused lubricants and suppositories which are designed specifically to help women deal with a range of conditions including menstrual pain. And they’re out to do even more.
Some of their most popular products include the famous weed-infused tampons, which aren’t actually a tampon: they’re pills that are inserted into the body.
“Women have been saying it works for 10,000 years,” says Foria CEO Matthew Gerson. “And I don’t think men have been listening,” he tells Business Insider during an interview.
To find out more, Foria is conducting a study involving 400 female subjects to observe how cannabis-based products impact the symptoms of menstruation. They’ve already raised $2 million through a Gotham Green Partners-led funding, a VC firm focused on cannabis projects.
Converting Information To Data
An observational study will be conducted by professor of psychiatry Staci Gruber, of the Harvard Medical School. Gruber is also director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core and the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery program at Massachusetts’ McLean Hospital. Foria’s cannabis suppository will be used in the study, which is funded by both Foria as well as Flow Kana, a cannabis grower and distributor. “What we’re looking to do is take anecdotal information and turn it into data,” Gruber said to Buisness Insider.
The study will poll the female participants over the course of a few months, asking them to take note of their symptoms as they use the suppository.
According to Gruber, the study is a stepping stone, but the “holy grail” will be the clinical trial that explains how Foria’s products fare when compared to a placebo group when it comes to providing relief from menstrual symptoms. The cost of the trial isn’t cheap nor is it easy, since cannabis is still a federally illegal substance. The researchers will need to go through an arduous application process, sometimes this can take years, just to get a permit to conduct the study. And the cannabis to be used can only come from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a source that has been largely criticized by scientists and researchers due to its poor quality and potency.
Gerson reveals that he hopes the study would help people who need Foria’s products.
“What actually made this market was empathy,” Gerson says. “We serve the plant, we serve our clients, and as a result, our investment community and the people that support our brand benefit from that.”
He also says that the medicinal benefits of cannabis is “so profound.”
“If we lose sight of that, it’s just a race to the lab to break this plant apart into its component parts so we can synthesize and patent it and put it in a bottle.”
Foria’s THC products are already available in California and Colorado, and will eventually be available in Canada. Meanwhile, their CBD products can be purchased online and they ship worldwide. Their famous Foria Relief product contains both THC and CBD, which works well thanks to the entourage effect.
Stick Your Pot Up – Where?!
The primary methods of ingesting cannabis are inhalation, oral, and then topical. But it isn’t limited to that; there are many other ways you can consume cannabis to suit your personal and medical needs.
Cannabis suppositories are one of the least known forms of consumption. But why go there?
The main advantage of using cannabis suppositories is the high absorption rate both vaginally and rectally. Just like other kinds of suppositories, when inserted into the body, it places them in direct contact with internal cellular walls, allowing fast absorption into the bloodstream. Body heat also helps with absorption, which is why using suppositories provides relief within 15 minutes and can last for as long as 8 hours.
Additionally, using cannabis suppositories won’t give you a high. After insertion, patients still feel sober and clear-headed. It also helps protect the liver because it bypasses the organ, skipping first-pass metabolism.
Have you tried cannabis suppositories? What was your experience like?
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