Dawn Ianson, a Canadian student living on Vancouver Island who is doing her Masters out of the University of Edinburgh, invites horse owners to take part in a survey about cannabinoids (CBDs) in relation to use in their horses.
“Vets cannot prescribe cannabinoids [the non-psychoactive derivative of the Cannabis plant] and they are being used and marketed throughout the country with limited scientific evidence of their effectiveness,” notes Ianson. “The Canadian Government still has them listed as a schedule 2 controlled substance, making research very difficult. There needs to be a greater awareness on the limitation and the current equine-related studies.”
The study, entitled Cannabidiol (CBD) Use Amongst Horse Owners in Canada has been approved by the Human Ethics Research Committee, R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh. Dr. McBride is a professor at the Aberystwyth University and supervisor of MSc Graduate student Dawn Ianson at the University of Edinburgh The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Together they are trying to understand the prevalence of, and outcome satisfaction of, CBD use in the Canadian equine community and to understand if it is being used as a primary or alternate therapeutic option for either physiological or psychological conditions in horses.