Here in America, for 70+ years the government has been operating under the guise that marijuana is bad, even though they know that’s not really true. To me that is just like dealing with a teenager who will tell a lie and stick with it no matter if they are caught in the act, as if telling the lie and sticking to it somehow makes it true.
As it stands now, research of cannabis in America has been and continues to be regulated by the NIDA, (National Institute on Drug Abuse). We know from history that the previously ill conceived notions about cannabis that were in place when the NIDA was created were all pretty much bad, with few exceptions. Research done up to this point has been very limited.
The NIDA has limited permissions and grants to research cannabis unless the aim is to prove its detriments, not its practical use as medicine, or that it is unhealthy in some other way. You know, like it makes you go lazy or crazy and rape and kill. The other obstacle is that the cannabis an entity must use for the research, if you are awarded that right, must be “government marijuana”, obtained from the U.S. Government. It’s just like “government cheese”, in that first you must go through them to qualify for it, you must get it from them, and just like government cheese, there is only one kind, so to speak. There is one strain only, just one strength, and it is missing some of the cannabinoids that are deemed to be very beneficial for medical applications. This pot is old news, is nothing new, and has had no improvement over the years, unlike the progress that has been made by underground growers all over the globe. No Indica cheeses, no cheese from Canada. Definitely none of that cheese from Amsterdam.
Applicants can try and disguise their research goals for the chance of getting to run their own studies, and that has happened to some degree, but it isn’t practical or desired, especially with the one cheese issue. So here we sit with no good cheese, but plenty of crackers. We also need a lot more whine to get this changed.
It is my hope that cannabis will soon come off the list of Schedule I drugs in order to allow more true research. I don’t need the research to know it works for me, but everyone likes to be validated. The research that is happening in other countries is getting the attention of more and more people in the medical community every day, who are eager for the results. It is an exciting time, because as more studies roll in with significant results showing marijuana’s medicinal value, the more pressure is brought to bear on governments, especially the U.S., and the more likely change is to occur.
2013 was a banner year for significant medical cannabis research findings all over the world. New research results are being released nearly every week. Countries reporting, including Spain, Israel, Australia, Switzerland and despite the blockades, the United States. Not all of the news is great, but there isn’t much bad news at all. Most of what is being reported is what has already been known for years, through case studies and anecdotally. Effective remedies for ailments that have been treated with cannabis for thousands of years are finally being back by the scientific facts that the modern world demands. What’s even better is they are finding bonuses, like cancer treatment other than for chemo and radiation side effects that show real promise and hope for cancer patients. Cannabis is shrinking or stopping tumor growth in certain cancers. No doubt, it’s true. Wouldn’t it just suck, (but in a good way), if we find out that after 70 years of suppressing its use in the US, we find pot cures and/or prevents some cancers? It appears it’s already headed that way, and this brings me to the National Cancer Institute.
The National Cancer Institute, part of the bigger government entity, the Department of Health, has discovered many legitimate uses for cannabis, and this is public record. Their own studies of cannabis as a cancer treatment show it to be a tumor reducer/retardant, and yet the government still can’t let go of the baggage it created for itself back in the 1930s. Until our government recognizes publicly what it knows to be true, that cannabis has medicinal purpose, we can’t move forward legally. Know that the whole situation has resurfaced in earnest, we can expect more and more push back from anti-marijuana individuals and groups, but in my opinion that will help to flush out the lies. I hope I’m right.
Next up is an examination of different kinds of research.