Canasol, a cannabis eye drop for glaucoma
Canasol, colirio de cannabis para el glaucoma
- Date
- 1987 · confidence medium
- Place
- University of the West Indies (Mona), Kingston, Jamaica
- Credited to
- Manley West and Albert Lockhart
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Starting from observations of the traditional use of cannabis, West and Lockhart developed an eye-drop extract that lowered intraocular pressure in glaucoma and was marketed in Jamaica from 1987. It was one of the first modern cannabis-derived drugs.
Its efficacy is debated: cannabinoids lower intraocular pressure but only for a few hours and are no longer recommended as the main glaucoma treatment. Dates of 1987 (launch) are cited, with research from the late 1970s.
What it led to
- a cannabis drug approved for glaucoma in Jamaica
- research on cannabinoids at the University of the West Indies
- Jamaica's medicinal cannabis legal framework