Can Medical Marijuana Help Huntington’s Disease?

Can medical marijuana help Huntington’s disease? So far, small trials of CBD, nabilone and the THC and CBD spray Sativex in Huntington’s disease have mostly shown little or no benefit. Researchers have studied medical marijuana for many conditions, but NIH finds good evidence for only a few.

Huntington’s disease is one of the conditions tested. We explain the disease, its current treatments and what each trial found.

Huntington’s disease is a hereditary illness for which there is currently no cure. The medicines that are available aim to relieve symptoms, and some can have side effects that doctors monitor. Medical marijuana has been tested for these symptoms in small trials, with mostly disappointing results so far, and it has side effects of its own.

What Is Huntington’s Disease?

Huntington’s Disease is a genetic condition that affects the nerves in the brain. It causes both physical and cognitive impairment. Symptoms of the adult form usually start in a person’s thirties or forties, MedlinePlus says. However, in some cases, there can be an early onset where the patient sees symptoms in childhood or adolescence (Juvenile Huntington’s).

The patient’s conditions gradually deteriorate until, eventually, it becomes fatal. People with the adult form usually live about 15 to 20 years after symptoms begin. However, it can differ in each case. The earlier the onset, the more rapidly it is likely to worsen.

Huntington’s Disease can be passed on to the following generation if one of the parents carries the mutated gene. If their parent has the gene, the child has a 50 percent chance of inheriting it. People with 40 or more CAG repeats in the gene almost always develop symptoms, while people with 36 to 39 repeats may or may not.

A child who does not inherit the expanded gene from a parent with Huntington’s disease does not pass that gene on. MedlinePlus also notes that people with 27 to 35 CAG repeats do not develop the disease but are at risk of having children who will.

What Are the Symptoms of Huntington’s Disease?

The common symptoms for Huntington’s Disease include:

• Problems with memory
• Clumsiness and stumbling
• Mood swings and irritability
• Involuntary movements (jerking of limbs)
• Difficulty concentrating
• Changes to personality
• Depression
• Seizures or tremors, which are more common in the juvenile form

Symptoms differ from person to person, and so does how well each treatment relieves them.

How Is Huntington’s Disease Treated?

Several medicines treat the symptoms of Huntington’s disease, though none cures it. The choice of medication will be tailored around each individual’s needs. It depends on the type and severity of their symptoms. As the condition changes, doctors may adjust the medicines and doses to manage the symptoms.

Mood swings and a higher likelihood of depression are among the problems people with Huntington’s disease often report. To treat these and the movement symptoms, doctors may prescribe antidepressants, antipsychotics, and chorea medicines such as tetrabenazine, deutetrabenazine or valbenazine. There are often varying responses to these kinds of drugs. For some people, moods and behaviors can be improved. For others, there can be negative side effects, and symptoms can worsen.

So far the trials have been small, and there is still plenty more work to be done. Larger trials would be needed to show whether marijuana as a medicine helps people with Huntington’s disease.

What Have Cannabis Trials in Huntington’s Disease Found?

Reports of cannabis easing symptoms are mostly anecdotal. Here is what the controlled studies in Huntington’s disease found.

NIH reports a small amount of evidence that CBD might ease anxiety in general, but a 1991 trial of CBD in 15 people with Huntington’s found no benefit. CBD also has side effects, including liver injury and drowsiness, according to the FDA.

Some researchers think Huntington’s disease affects the endocannabinoid system, a system CBD may act on. Whether that link could lead to a treatment is unknown, and the 1991 CBD trial found no benefit.

Until larger trials report, there is no proven cannabis treatment for Huntington’s symptoms; a 2009 nabilone pilot in 44 people showed only small changes in chorea. Huntington’s disease is not one of the conditions listed in Florida’s medical marijuana law. The law also lets a qualified physician, at the physician’s discretion, certify a condition of the same kind or class as, or comparable to, one of the listed conditions other than a terminal condition or chronic nonmalignant pain; certification is never promised.

Last updated October 16, 2026 by the Dr. Green Relief Editorial Team.

Sources

• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Cannabis (Marijuana) and Cannabinoids: What You Need To Know
• MedlinePlus Genetics, Huntington disease
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Huntington’s Disease
• Consroe P et al. Controlled clinical trial of cannabidiol in Huntington’s disease. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1991 (PubMed)
• Curtis A et al. A pilot study using nabilone for symptomatic treatment in Huntington’s disease. Mov Disord. 2009 (PubMed)
• Lopez-Sendon Moreno JL et al. A double-blind, randomized, cross-over, placebo-controlled, pilot trial with Sativex in Huntington’s disease. J Neurol. 2016 (PubMed)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, What You Need to Know (And What We’re Working to Find Out) About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-derived Compounds, Including CBD
• Florida Statutes s. 381.986 (2026), Medical use of marijuana