Glossary

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Here you will find a list with explanations of the technical terms and abbreviations related to the topic of medical cannabis. With the help of the mouse-over function, you will get a preview of the meaning of underlined words within the page texts. If you click on these, you will be taken to the glossary.

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Dosage forms

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Introduction

01

Dosage forms of medical cannabis: Flowers, extracts and finished dosage forms

In Germany, various dosage forms of medical cannabis can be prescribed: dried cannabis flowers, standardized full-spectrum extracts, dronabinol and cannabidiol formulas as well as finished dosage forms.1

Cannabis flowers

Dried whole or crushed flowers (shoot tips) of Cannabis sativa L.2 are used, whereby there are numerous subspecies, such as Cannabis indica. Cannabis sativa and indica differ not only in terms of their growth, but also in their effect.3 Thus, Cannabis sativa typically has higher tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) than cannabidiol (CBD) contents, Cannabis indica, on the other hand, a balanced THCCBD content.4

In recent decades, however, numerous hybrid plants have been bred by crossbreeding, which are more precisely referred to as sativa- and indica-dominant hybrids. In addition, there are various cultivated varieties, i.e. breeding forms with stable genetics and ingredients.3

Full-spectrum extracts

In addition to the two main active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), all active ingredients of cannabis flowers such as terpenes are contained in the full-spectrum extracts.5

This is because cannabis full-spectrum extracts are the end product of the extraction of whole or crushed dried shoot tips of flowering female cannabis plants. The end product is a golden-brown viscous resin.

Flowers and extracts versus pure substances: Availability of accompanying substances

Since cannabis flowers and full-spectrum extracts, unlike some finished dosage forms or pure substances, contain the entirety of cannabinoids and terpenes5, they offer a very wide range of treatment options. The therapeutically desirable interactions between the ingredients in individual cases – such as between THC and CBD – are not given in the case of pure substances.

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References

Status: 2021

  1. Hoch E, Friemel CM, Schneider M. Cannabis: Potenzial und Risiko. Hoch E, Friemel CM, Schneider M. Cannabis: Potenzial und Risiko. Cannabis, Cannabinoide und das Endocannabinoidsystem 2019. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-662-57291-7_1 (last visited on 01 July 2021).

  2. Monografie des Deutschen Arzneibuchs ‚Cannabisblüten – Cannabis flos‘

  3. Decorte T, Potter G, Bouchard M. World Wide Weed: Global Trends in Cannabis Cultivation and its Control (2013).

  4. McPartland J.M. (2017) Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica versus “Sativa” and “Indica”. In: Chandra S., Lata H., ElSohly M. (eds) Cannabis sativa L. - Botany and Biotechnology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54564-6_4 (last visited on 01 July 2021).