Cannabis Research. Be Careful of What You Think You Hear.

You would think that an institution that is a part of the Federal Government that gathers information and research on drugs and drug abuse would come up with something profound, or at very least truthful, when making a public statement about any drug related topic. Please bare with me and let me explain the wacked-out ways research is often presented.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services‘ underling entity,  the NIH, (National Institutes of Health), publishes medical research from all over the world, every week. I know I’m a bit nits because I read these things, but I’ve yet to find anything published saying pot can and will cause death or even an unpleasant illness. The NIH does publish hundreds of research studies that show the promise and actuality of cannabis being useful to treat and sometimes cure a myriad of illnesses. Go look them up for yourself, (to make it easier to search, go here for a quick list), because there are hundreds of factual scientific research studies on cannabis available on the National Institutes of Health’s web sites.

So the NIH has no researched evidence that cannabis is harmful, and lots of evidence to the contrary, yet in August 2013, not long after Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s televised CNN documentary “Weed”, the NIH underling, the NIDA, (National Institute on Drug Abuse), went public with a  statement that denies marijuana is less safe than alcohol. The NIDA can say whatever they want, but it doesn’t make it true, and if the NIDA looks at the research already published by their mother department, that shows just the opposite, and still proclaims this nonsense, what use are they? They said in their statement:

“Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated since each possess their own unique set of risks and consequences for a given individual,”

What the hell are they saying? Of course it can be substantiated. What they absolutely know for themselves but neglect to say, is that there have been no records of any deaths caused by marijuana, ever. We all know that alcohol abuse and addiction claims many lives every day. People can and do literally drink themselves to death. They can even do it in one evening, and without ever having an alcoholic drink before in their life. Which one is safer? Pot – kills no one, or alcohol – kills a lot of people. This isn’t even a stretch, is it?

Now, I have to ask, why in the world would the NIDA, with their hoards of fact-based scientific research on alcohol AND cannabis, publicly take the above mentioned stance and publish it? Why indeed. It makes no sense at all.

At risk of being called another crazy pot activist, I have to say that the our federal government is all over the place on the subject of medicinal uses of cannabis.  It’s not a conspiracy. It’s right out there and all over the place. NIH says it’s a good thing, NIDA says it’s a bad thing. And then you have the National Cancer Institute, also part of the NIH, and their page on Cannabis and Cannabinoids will really leave you shaking you head with contempt for prohibition.

When doing your own research my best advice is to dig deep, really deep and then dig deep on the source to make the best decision you can for yourself. Don’t discount anecdotal evidence, as it will often be the most reliable, first hand information you will find. And then have some fun doing your own research and don’t second guess your own results.

Thanks for hanging in there with me on that one. Next up – the Wild and Wacko World of Statistics!