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GUEST COMMENTARY

Science, research changes perception of cannabis plant



 

In recent years, we have been treated to a dramatic about-face in the public image of a once maligned plant — cannabis.

Cannabis, of course, is the marijuana plant. It has been a valued friend of the human race for at least 2,700 years, when it was buried in the casket of a Siberian princess.

With over 400 “active ingredients,” cannabis is a complex plant with many and varied properties. The original plants are called “landrace” and come from central Asia, specifically Afghanistan. Since its radical spread around the world, humans have cultivated the plant for thousands of purposes, including making the paper that our Declaration of Independence is written on. In fact, there is nothing currently made from plastic that cannot be made from hemp.

In 1970, politics entered the picture as the federal government’s Controlled Substances Act criminalized the cultivation, sale, use and research on marijuana, along with LSD and heroin. Thus began decades of punitive prohibition. In the 1990s, we began hearing good things about this plant when rumors surfaced about its ability to prevent nonstop seizures in children with conditions like Dravet Syndrome. In a series by CNN, medical correspondant Dr. Sanjay Gupta repudiated his previously aired opinion that marijuana had no social or medical benefit. It was an eye-opener for millions of Americans.

ROBERTS

ROBERTS

Since 1996, 34 states have legalized cannabis for verified medical purposes, and 10 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized it for recreational use by adults. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to remove the plant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Schedule 1 list of dangerous drugs and chemicals with a high potential for abuse. This would allow widespread research to be conducted.

Today, thanks the research of Israeli organic chemist Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and others, we now understand that the chemicals in the plant are a perfect fit to the regulatory system in our brain, nervous system, immune system and just about every system in our bodies

— the endocannabinoid system. This system keeps the brain calm, the attitude happy and the nervous system functioning smoothly.

As a medicine, it has remarkable effects on neurologic disorders like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, as well as anxiety, depression, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Researchers also are looking at its cancer-fighting potential.

While “recommending” this medicine over the past three years, I have personally seen many of my own patients spontaneously reduce their pain, anxiety and depression medications, and they appear to be managing most of their symptoms with marijuana alone.

We still have much to learn, but the good news is that the “khat” is out of the bag. Now it’s time to “hash” this out with science — not with prejudice. ¦

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