Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder that is characterized by involuntary tics. The cause of this disorder is unknown. Some patients with TS have small tics and others have debilitating tics. It is estimated that there are 100,000 Americans with TS. There is no known cure for TS but it is reported to improve with age.
A number of studies since 1999 have shown that TS patients have an improvement in tics and in other associated behaviors (such as obsessive-compulsive behaviors) with use of THC, the main natural medicinal compound in cannabis, and no cognitive impairment was noted.
In 2003, the previous findings were confirmed with another well-designed study that was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. In this study, TS patients received either THC or placebo for six weeks and scored the level of daily tics. Patients who were receiving THC had significant reduction of the tics and suffered no detrimental effects on learning, recall, or verbal memory. Researchers concluded that for adult TS patients, “Therapy with delta-9-THC should be tried…”. For those patients who have not found relief from symptoms with conventional therapy, who have adverse side effects from current treatment, or who prefer a natural treatment, medical cannabis is a viable and reasonable alternative.
