Hello, my partners in what used to be crime!!! I have more silly research to share, and you have more silly research to read!
When I was but a baby stoner, not yet privy to the sciences behind a good high, I was confused when my mom suggested my grandma start trying edibles.
Now, I am all for suggesting some medical shweed for any reason to anyone. But I was confused why my mom was suggesting it to my Baby Boomer grandma and Silent Gen abuelo – my grandma might have been a protester in the 70s, but she was no hippy. And my abuelo just has a vendetta against marijuana.
Side Tangent: When I was around the same age – maybe a little bit younger, I was staying the night at my grandma and abuelo’s condo. I was watching TV when my abuelo started complaining about the downstairs neighbors smoking weed, and how he just hated the smell. Ten-year-old me was confused because all I could smell was how my dad smelled. Of course, I agreed with my abuelo, and it took me a few years to put two and two together, but that was the first moment I could look back on and realize my dad was kinda cool when I was a kid.
So I was sitting at the dinner table, listening to the grown-ups talk, and watching my grandma’s hands shake while holding her water glass. My grandma had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s about three years before this, and the first symptom I noticed was her shaking hands.
Later in my life, when my meds made me shaky, I would joke about how we weren’t all that different. It made her feel better, and I love making her feel like she’s not alone. Back to the dinner table. Basically, my grandma dropped the glass, and it shattered. There was no harm done, of course, but that sparked a conversation about how my grandma was dealing with the medication and so many other things I didn’t really hear or understand. But when my mom pulled up a dispo’s website to show my grandma, younger me was definitely interested. My mom told my grandma that medical marijuana was being used for cancer patients, and in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s clinical trials.
Now, my grandma did say no to the weed, but that conversation gave me the question: what are the neurodegenerative or neurodegenerative effects does weed have on the brain? Which means I could start my research with the question “How weed helps promote neuroprotection.”
More of a statement, really.
The papers I found (thank you, Google Scholar) pointed me directly to where I started: The Neuroprotective Effects of Cannabis-Derived Phytocannabinoids and Resveratrol in Parkinson’s Disease. I apologize for the long-ass title, I figured if I tried to explain the title, I wouldn’t get its point across. I digress. Frequently, it seems.
Okay, okay, okay. Focus. Focus; it’s why I smoke sativa strains when I want to be able to really focus on a task or subject. Sativa can also have neuroprotective properties in selected diseases related to the nervous system.
For example, in a different article, a study was conducted to assess the “neuroprotective benefits of… sativa in epilepsy management.” The article, by Mukhtar et al. (2025),discusses how “Cannabis has the potential to change the therapeutic landscape for neurological illnesses like seizures, provided that science and regulation continue to progress.” In another study, by Prakash & Carter (2021), which focuses specifically on Parkinson’s Disease (PD), found that there are several neuroprotective aspects to medical cannabis use.
“To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that has directly considered the effects of both selective CDCs and RSV in the neuroprotective treatment of PD. Collectively, in vivo rodent studies have demonstrated that these natural compounds are efficacious in their neuroprotection of PD and produced symptomatic benefits.”
CDCs = Cannabis-derived phytocannabinoids
RSV = resveratrol –> a stilbenoid, a type of natural class of chemical compounds consisting of one or more oxygen and hydrogen groups bonded directly to a hydrogen-carbon bond group produced by several plants in response to injury or when the plant is under attack by pathogens. Sources of resveratrol in food include the skin of grapes, blueberries, raspberries, mulberries, and peanuts.
The CDCs and RSVs “may be useful neuroprotective agents for PD due to their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties,” (Prakash & Carter, 2021).
While this study does require that “further human clinical trials are required to consider the usefulness of neuroprotective agents for patients with early stage or early onset PD,” (Prakash & Carter, 2021), there is a basis for the CDCs and RSVs to be useful – at least in rodents – for Parkinson’s disease.
So, what I’m really saying is, my grandma should have been a hippy in the 70s. And probably continued to smoke cigarettes, but that’s research that you’ll have to conduct yourself, wink, wink.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to roll a sativa J and investigate those cigarette facts. Until next time, my partners in what used to be a crime!
Mahdi, O., Baharuldin, M. T., Nor, N. H. M., Chiroma, S. M., Jagadeesan, S., & Moklas, M. A. (2021). The Neuroprotective Properties, Functions, and Roles of Cannabis sativa in Selected Diseases Related to the Nervous System. Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, 21(1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.2174/1871524921666210127110028
Paloczi, J., Varga, Z. V., Hasko, G., & Pacher, P. (2017). Neuroprotection in Oxidative Stress-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases: Role of endocannabinoid system modulation. Antioxidants and Redox Signaling, 29(1), 75–108. https://doi.org/10.1089/ars.2017.7144
Prakash, S., & Carter, W. G. (2021). The Neuroprotective Effects of Cannabis-Derived Phytocannabinoids and Resveratrol in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Literature Review of Pre-Clinical Studies. Brain Sciences, 11(12), 1573. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11121573
Mukhtar, M. A., Gupta, R., & Balpande, R. (2025). Assessing the neuroprotective benefits of Cannabis sativa in epilepsy management. Brain Disorders, 17, 100180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dscb.2024.100180
Disclaimer Regarding Cannabis Use:
The DePaul University Honors Program reminds you that, while the purchasing, possession, and consumption of cannabis is legal in the state of Illinois for anyone over the age of 21, it is still illegal at the federal level. Therefore, all U.S. college campuses (including DePaul University) must comply with the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act that does not allow cannabis, medicinal or recreational, on school property.
Studies show that cannabis can cause addiction. Learn more from DePaul University’s Office of Health and Wellness.
If you or someone you know is struggling with drugs or alcohol, help is available through the DePaul University Counseling Services
About the Author
Hi! My name is Christopher Cervantes Dunn! I’m a second-year undergrad student; I’m majoring in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing, and a minor in French. I’m a published poet, but my current hyperfixation is how and why we as a species have evolved to process cannabis in our brains and bodies.
Read more on the Honors Blog.
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