Increased Access to Cannabis May Reduce Opioid Prescriptions.
Written By: GreenMedInfo Research Group.
Posted March 25, 2020 by Edward Morgan.
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Since 2013, the rate of deaths caused by drug overdoses in the U.S. has been rising, with the largest increase being in opioid drug-related deaths.[i] In 2017 alone, 47,600 drug overdose-related deaths involved opioids, a staggering 67.8% of the total overdose deaths reported that year, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that 130 Americans die daily due to opioid overdose.[ii]
As the opioid epidemic worsens, health officials and some lawmakers have turned to cannabis as a possible solution to reducing the opioid crisis.
Cannabis as an Alternative for Pain Relief
One of the most well-researched benefits of cannabis is pain relief. A report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded, “[T]here is substantial evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain in adults,” and those findings aren’t new.[iii]
Medical cannabis is superior to opioids when used for chronic pain, has minimal adverse effects compared to opioids, and boasts additional positive effects on ailments such as post-traumatic stress and cancer.[iv],[v],[vi]
Given these benefits, it’s not surprising that health officials have wondered if cannabis and its pain-relieving effects could be the solution to the opioid epidemic.[vii],[viii] A report published by the Journal of Health Economics found that medicinal marijuana access laws reduced morphine milligrams prescribed each year by 4.2%.
The same study reported that similar laws for recreational cannabis reduced opioid prescriptions by 11.8% each year.[ix] Additionally, in states that have legalized cannabis use, cannabis has been linked with a reduction in other controlled substances, such as benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety drugs), over-the-counter sleep aids and other prescription drugs.[x],[xi],[xii]
Skeptics may wonder why policies to reduce opioid prescriptions aren’t a better alternative, but simply reducing access to opioids — such as through drug monitoring programs — doesn’t seem to work. Instead, opioid users may turn to more dangerous drugs with similar chemical structures and physiological impacts, like heroin, which are low cost and highly available.[xiii],[xiv]
However, researchers have discovered that increased access to cannabis allows opioid users to use cannabis for pain relief, seemingly without any significant increases in heroin or other illicit drug use.
Additional Medical Benefits of Cannabis
Beyond its potent pain-relieving capabilities, marijuana has been positively linked to the following conditions:
Epilepsy: Cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic extract of cannabis, has anti-seizure, neuroprotective and antidepressant effects. Multiple studies have found that cannabidiol is as effective as common anti-epileptic drugs, and may be a safer alternative especially in the treatment of epileptic infants, children and teenagers or drug-resistant epileptic patients.[xv],[xvi]
Inflammation: Cannabinoids have been shown to reduce inflammation and help regulate the immune system, making cannabinoid a possible treatment for chronic and acute inflammation.[xvii],[xviii]
Multiple sclerosis (MS): A growing body of evidence has shown that cannabis and its compounds could effectively reduce symptoms of multiple sclerosis, other neurologic disorders and spinal cord related injuries.[xix],[xx] In addition to mitigating symptoms, some studies have indicated that cannabis could reduce the progression of MS.[xxi]
Given the positive effects, safety profile and low risk of addiction, cannabis remains a strong candidate in the continuing fight against opioid overuse and addiction. For additional information on the researched medical benefits of cannabis and cannabidiol, visit the GreenMedInfo.com databases on the subject.
About the Author
The GMI Research Group (GMIRG) is dedicated to investigating the most important health and environmental issues of the day. Special emphasis will be placed on environmental health. Our focused and deep research will explore the many ways in which the present condition of the human body directly reflects the true state of the ambient environment.
No religious or political creed is advocated here. Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality. Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions. Discernment yes; judgement does not. If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind.
With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart. Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. Please respect all credits.
Discernment is recommended.
All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility.
(TMU) — A bill that could see marijuana comprehensively legalized on a federal level has been scheduled for a vote on Wednesday or shortly thereafter, marking the first-ever vote to put an end to federal cannabis prohibition.
On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee posted a marked-up version of HR 3884—or the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act—reports Forbes.
The legislation, introduced by Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and sponsored by Rep. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as S.2227, enjoys bipartisan support and would lead to the removal of cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, ending prohibition on a federal level and allowing states to move forward with their own policies regulating the commerce and consumption of the plant.
The text of HR3884 lays out the purpose of the proposed law, which would be to “decriminalize and de-schedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.”
Cannabis legal reform advocates have hailed the scheduled vote as a key step toward advancing justice for those affected by the failed “War on Drugs,” which has for decades fueled over-policing and mass incarceration, ripping apart the social fabric for poor communities and people of color across the United States.
Committee on the Judiciary - DemocratsH.R. 5038, the “Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019”; H.R. 3884, the “Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019” or the “MORE Act of 2019”; H.R. ___, the “Satellite Television Community Prot…
In a blog post, Erik Altieri, the executive director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), wrote:
“This has never happened in the history of our country and it is thanks to all the time and effort folks have put in for DECADES. The MORE Act isn’t just some half measure either. It contains many of the important reforms we have always wanted to see at the federal level.
Not only will it remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, but it will also require federal courts to expunge prior marijuana-related convictions, provide grants and funding to communities most harmed by our failed war on cannabis consumers, and finally allow physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration to recommend medical cannabis to veterans.”
The removal of cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I narcotic would mean that the plant would no longer be defined by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a drug “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” in league with LSD and heroin.
The act also includes a number of provisions that would seek to undo the historical damage wrought by the failed “War on Drugs,” including injecting grants and funding into those communities which faced the most damage from the prohibitionist campaign.
States would also be incentivized to expunge the criminal records of low-level cannabis offenders, removing a barrier that often bars access to employment and housing. The legislation would also provide for re-sentencing and block federal agencies from denying public benefits and security clearances over past cannabis convictions, while immigrants would no longer be denied citizenship over marijuana.
The Small Business Administration would also support entrepreneurs and businesses who are trying to gain a foothold in the fast-emerging and profitable legal cannabis industry.
In a press release, Rep. Nadler called on Congress to pass the bill. He said:
“Our marijuana laws disproportionately harm individuals and communities of color, leading to convictions that damage job prospects, access to housing, and the ability to vote.
Recognizing this, many states have legalized marijuana. It’s now time for us to remove the criminal prohibitions against marijuana at the federal level. That’s why I introduced the MORE Act, legislation which would assist communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of these laws.”
For too long, our marijuana laws have disproportionately harmed individuals and communities of color. As more states legalize marijuana, it is time for Congress to decriminalize it.
No religious or political creed is advocated here. Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality. Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions. Discernment yes; judgement does not. If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind.
With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart. Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. Please respect all credits.
Discernment is recommended.
All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility.
This is my first article for my new cannabis-themed blog, Canna Words. It will feature research and opinion pieces about cannabis, hemp, marijuana laws, and practically any other topic related to the plant.
Along with continuing to write for Openhearted Rebellion, I will occasionally publish an article over at Canna Words. Check it out if this topic interests you as much as it does me.
Illinois is on the cusp of legalizing marijuana.
The election of democrat J.B. Pritzker, who promised to legalize on the campaign trail, is a good sign for Illinois residents who are fed up with the war on weed. Two bills are currently being discussed that would make the plant legal to consume, possess, and grow in the state.
The first to be introduced, HB0902 sponsored by State Rep. Carol Ammons, would let businesses grow and sell cannabis, let residents grow up to 24 plants, and allow for public “consumption areas”. (1)
The other bill, which State Senator Heather Steans and State Representative Kelly Cassidy have been working on for a few years, would let residents buy and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis along with growing up to five plants indoors. (1)
The records of residents with small-time possession or dealing charges would be expunged, and tax revenue from sales would be allocated to community development in poor neighborhoods. (1)
The second bill’s sponsors are expected to introduce a proposal by the end of April. If all goes according to plan, recreational sales couldbeginin 2020.
Legalization in Illinois looks promising, but there are problems lawmakers should consider.
One is that a handful of growers for the state’s medical program, who’ve formed an organization known as the Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois, are lobbying to have cultivation licenses for new businesses restricted.
They want to be one of the state’s sole suppliers.
In pursuit of this goal, they’ve formed a political action committee (PAC), hired a lobbyist, and started contributing to holders of political office. Critics say that having such a tight grip on the market will benefit only them, with retail stores and consumers paying the price. (2)
Dan Linn, Executive Director of the Illinois branch of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), says this will lead to a more costly product which will send consumers back to the black market. According to Dan, “there’s a natural demand for more license holders.” (2)
Another problem is that recent studies have shown Illinois will face a shortage soon after legalization if the state is limited to its current supply.
Despite the potential for a shortage, the Medical Cannabis Alliance believes they can meet demand. To that end, former state Senator and executive director of the alliance Pam Althoff has said they will “support no new cultivation licenses” until “substantive data” is presented indicating otherwise. (2)
Ask and you shall receive. Shortly after Pam made this statement, Steans and Cassidy commissioned a study showing how real the potential for a shortage is.
Released by Colorado consulting firm Freedman and Hoski, the study found that legalization could create “between $440 million and $676 million in annual revenue” and that demand will greatly exceed the state’s current supply.
The state would need to grow anywhere from 35,000 to 550,000 pounds of cannabis a year to meet demand. The established medical growers would only meet around 35-54 percent of that before running out. (3)
As predicted, the alliance released their own study which found that they can handle the demand.
Then, Illinois NORML released yet another study which found that the previous two underestimated the demand and the shortage the state will face if they don’t open the market to entrepreneurs on all levels.
Steans and Cassidy have repeatedly said that their bill will focus on giving minority-owned businesses in communities ravaged by the war on drugs a fairer chance at competing in the market. (4)
Regarding the need for inclusion in the industry, Cassidy said they are “contemplating additional license categories such as craft cultivation, transportation and processing to ensure that everyone is at the table…”
“These will create space for more innovation and entrepreneurship in the industry, but more importantly, provide opportunity for more diversity in an industry with a pressing need for it.” (3)
If the Medical Cannabis Alliance gets their way, then Illinois can forget about including anyone else. Everyone should be invited in – especially those in communities hurt most by a war on a plant. If we let it, this will become yet another industry in which only the richest or most influential have a chance at success.
We shouldn’t hand over the cannabis market to people who want to manipulate this much-needed social change for profit. Before we know it, they’ll try to restrict residents from growing.
While we’re on the subject, the need to let Illinoisans grow cannot be overstated. Fortunately, home-growing has not yet been phased out of either two bills.
A law restricting the market and prohibiting home-growing would be just another form of prohibition. This time around, commercial growers given an unfair advantage would profit instead of black market suppliers or entrepreneurs who deserve an opportunity. As always, consumers would take the hit.
We should be hopeful about legalization in Illinois. But with the toxic political climate in Chicago and the power grabs we’re already seeing, residents have ample reason to be skeptical. One thing is for sure: giving the Medical Cannabis Alliance control over the supply would be a big mistake.
Some might argue that any change to the law is an improvement. That may be true, but with the problems we’re already seeing, you should forgive Illinois residents who are justifiably concerned that this will be more prohibition disguised as progress.
I’m a twenty-something writer & blogger with an interest in spirituality, love, awareness, activism, and other crazy stuff. I run Openhearted Rebellion, a blog dedicated to sharing wisdom and encouraging a revolution that begins in the heart.
Along with the opioid epidemic, we are in the midst of a benzodiazepine epidemic. This class of prescription drugs, which includes the extremely popular drug xanax, is primarily prescribed for anxiety, but is exceptionally prone to abuse, addiction, and were involved in almost 12,000 deaths a year.
“These are highly addictive and potentially lethal drugs, and many people don’t know that,” lead author Dr. Anna Lembke of the Stanford University School of Medicine said. “Sadly, most physicians are also unaware of this and blithely prescribe them without educating their patients about the risk of addiction.” [Source]
The public is waking up to the fact that pharmaceutical remedies are often very dangerous and can have serious side effects, while at the same to also waking up to the fact that cannabis is an exceptionally powerful healing medicine with nearly no harmful side effects whatsoever.
In the last couple of years as cannabis has become more mainstream and is further legalized, an exodus from pharmaceuticals has begun, and many people who need pain medication are dumping the opioids and pain pills in favor of cannabis.
Now, a couple of Canadian research studies indicate that people are also beginning to dump benzodiazepines and instead use cannabis and cannabis-derived medicines to alleviate anxiety.
In the first study, Canadian researchers assessed the relationship between cannabis and benzodiazepines in a cohort of 146 patients enrolled in the nation’s medical marijuana access program. They reported that 30 percent of participants discontinued their use of anti-anxiety medications within two-months of initiating cannabis therapy, and that 45 percent did so by six-months. “Patients initiated on medical cannabis therapy showed significant benzodiazepine discontinuation rates after their first follow-up visit to their medical cannabis prescriber, and continued to show significant discontinuation rates thereafter,” authors concluded.
In the second study, investigators at the University of Michigan surveyed over 1,300 state-registered medical cannabis patients with regard to their use of opioids and benzodiazepines. They reported that 53 percent of respondents acknowledged substituting marijuana for opioids, and 22 percent did so for benzodiazepines.
This definitely follows the greater trend of patients seeking medical marijuana as a safe, natural, effective, and enjoyable alternative to pills, which is alarming to the pharmaceutical industry. Already, companies in the agribusiness sector are developing patents for cannabis related products, and it is feared that Monsanto, a la Bayer, is interested in being the future of this emerging market.
A report issued in 2018 quantified the potential losses to the pharmaceutical industry should they be unable to capitalize and seize a significant portion of market share of medical cannabis.
“It seems the pharmaceutical trade has more than enough reasons to fear the legalization of marijuana, as an analysis conducted by the folks at New Frontier Data predicts the legal use of cannabis products for ailments ranging from chronic pain to seizures could cost marketers of modern medicine somewhere around $4 billion per year.” [Source]
Patents related to cannabis and cannabis products are increasingly being filed with the U.S. Patent Office, both large companies and smaller ventures. In a recent article on this topic, Forbes magazine answered the question of whether or not cannabis can be patented:
“Yes, this is presently a small area of activity, but may also represent opportunity. Plants can be patented in two ways, by way of “utility patents” (like 95% of all patents) or by way of a separate “plant patent” category. Utility patents are much stronger; plant patents are narrowly focused on a single “parent” plant and its direct descendants. By my count, there are currently only 5 US plant patent cases (4 pending applications, 1 issued patent), and 11 utility plant-directed patent cases (8 pending applications, 3 issued patents). Two companies are currently the main players in plants: the plant-focused Biotechnology Institute (Los Angeles CA) has 3 issued patents as well as 2 pending applications, and GW Pharmaceuticals (UK) has two plant-focused applications. GW is notable for having the largest cannabis-directed portfolio (80+ US cases) of all companies in the space, and is particularly focused on methods of treating diseases.” [Source]
The full text of the study,“Reduction of benzodiazepine use in patients prescribed medical cannabis,” appears in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research here, and an abstract of the study, “Pills to pot: Observational analyses of cannabis substitution among medical cannabis users with chronic pain,” appears in The Journal of Pain here.
Alex Pietrowski is an artist and writer concerned with preserving good health and the basic freedom to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. He is a staff writer forWakingTimes.com. Alex is an avid student of Yoga and life.
The existence of cannabinoid receptors in humans and other mammals, called the endocannabinoid system, reveals much about why cannabis and CBD (cannabidiol) have such a positive effect on so many bodily systems — and why the scientific community is increasingly working to discover its many medical benefits.
Production of cannabis is booming as the medical benefits of CBD (cannabidiol) are increasingly recognized.
According to Project CBD, at least 50 conditions1 are believed to be improved by CBD, including pain, seizures, muscle spasms, nausea associated with chemotherapy, digestive disorders such as colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), degenerative neurological disorders such as dystonia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, mood disorders, anxiety, PTSD and high blood pressure.
Yet, despite the legalization of cannabis for adult use in 10 states in the past few years and the inclusion in the 2018 Farm Bill of industrial hemp as a crop,2 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), up until recently, listed CBD as a Schedule I drug, the most dangerous drug category reserved for drugs like heroin and LSD.
The classification made no sense because CBD is nonpsychoactive — it is not addictive, does not produce a “high” and there are few to no dangerous side effects. In fact, there seems no reason for the FDA and Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) long-term vilification of CBD except possible collusion with Big Pharma, whose dangerous and lucrative pain treatments, primarily opioids, would suffer from wider CBD use.
Opioids cause approximately 115 Americans’ deaths every day. In states where CBD is becoming widely used, there are few reports of negative social or medical consequences. Conversely, there are early reports in those same states of fewer opioid emergencies, overdoses and deaths.
The restrictive, Schedule I classification of CBD has also produced medical “refugees” — people whose health conditions are only improved by CBD, not pharmaceutical products, forcing them to relocate to states with looser CBD laws.
A Surprising But Suspicious Change in CBD Classification
At the end of 2018, FDA surprised many with this modification of the Schedule I classification for some CBD products:3
“With the issuance of this final order, the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration places certain drug products that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and which contain cannabidiol (CBD) in schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Specifically, this order places FDA-approved drugs that contain CBD derived from cannabis and no more than 0.1 percent tetrahydrocannabinols in schedule V.
This action is required to satisfy the responsibility of the Acting Administrator under the CSA to place a drug in the schedule he deems most appropriate to carry out United States obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961.”
Schedule V drugs are considered to have a lower potential for abuse than other controlled drugs.4The category includes drugs whose benefits may outweigh risks such as those for antidiarrheal, antitussive and analgesic conditions such as cough preparations with less than 200 milligrams of codeine like Robitussin AC, Lomotil, Motofen, Lyrica and Parepectolin.
Yet, does the recent modification of schedule status really reflect new realism on the part of the FDA, or is it simply a nod to drug makers’ desire to “get in on the action” and market share? After all, we have seen a similar phenomenon when Big Pharma attacks the reliability, effectiveness and quality control of popular supplements and vitamins while hypocritically seeking to market the same products themselves.
Cannabis Farms Are Becoming Large and Efficient
The Los Sueños Farms,5 outside of Pueblo, Colorado, with 36,000 plants, depicted in a recent video called “Largest Outdoor Cannabis Farm in World, Canna Cribs Episode 4,” from Growers Network, reveals how technologically far the industry has come.
The 36-acre farm, which consists of four separate farms, processes 40,000 pounds of “biomass” each harvest. Depending on the genetic expression of the plants, some are grown outside, some in greenhouses and some in greenhouses with no walls to allow solar maximization while permitting fresh air to circulate and prevent too much heat from accumulating.
For the outdoor plants, an advanced drip watering system with an emitter every 12 inches provides pressure compensated irrigation and the ability to provide specific nutrients. Drones with several lenses hover above the plants and report back their respiration rate, any insects or disease risks and plants that might be struggling for one reason or another. Humidity and lighting are computer controlled for indoor plants.
When the crop is ready, cannabis flowers are dry trimmed in an advanced piece of machinery called a twister. While the machinery does not require human labor, a quality control person does inspect the product as it comes out of the twister to make sure all stems have been removed at their base.
Cannabis Post Production Processing Is Crucial for Quality
Fertility and nutrients are important, say Los Sueños Farm employees, but the quality of the product itself comes down to curing. In massive curing rooms, racks of product dry at a temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit and are made ready for packaging in seven to 10 days.
They are then vacuum packed and nitrogen sealed in 10-pound bags. The bags have a window so customers can view the cannabis and assess its quality without exposing it to the harmful effects of light or environmental humidity.
After the cannabis leaves Los Sueños Farms, preparation continues for the end user. At processing facilities and retail dispensaries like the Colorado-based Mesa Organics, a partner of Los Sueños, sophisticated extraction methods are then used to cull the raw crude extract from the plant material.
At Mesa Organics, supercritical CO2 is used for the extraction process, not hydrocarbons, says owner Jim Parco, because “any hydrocarbons that are burned over 900 degrees convert to benzene” which can be lethal.
In fact, hydrocarbon extraction is banned in some parts of California, says Parco, because of the “occupational risks to the communities.” The use of supercritical CO2 also creates a purer product. After lipids, waxes and terpenes are removed through extraction, CBD, THC and other cannabinoids from the plant remain and the product is ready to be marketed.
A Cannabinoid with Many Benefits
CBD is one of some 104 compounds classified as cannabinoids in cannabis plants, with as many as seven or eight more recently discovered compounds that may be considered cannabinoids.6 CBD is contained in both Cannabis Sativa (hemp) and Cannabis Indica (marijuana), but hemp has such a low CBD content, it is primarily grown for fiber and seed — uses we will discuss later.
It is not a surprise CBD has so many benefits since there is actually an endocannabinoid system in the human body and other mammals. It is part of our physiology. Cannabinoid receptors, which recognize and interact with CBD, are found in the human brain, lungs, liver, kidneys and immune system.
There are myriad medical uses attributed to CBD, and the list keeps growing. Here are some uses that have recently been scientifically documented.
Allergic asthma — “CBD treatment decreased the inflammatory and remodeling processes in the model of allergic asthma,” according to the European Journal of Pharmacology7 Anxiety and sleep — “Cannabidiol may hold benefit for anxiety-related disorders,” The Permanente Journal8 Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) — “Cannabis in ASD patients appears to be [a] well tolerated, safe and effective option to relieve symptoms associated with ASD,” Scientific Reports9 Blood pressure — “This data shows that acute administration of CBD reduces resting BP and the BP increase to stress in humans,” JCI Insight10 Cancer pain, nausea and lack of appetite — “The National Cancer Institute (NCI) currently recognizes medicinal C. sativa as an effective treatment for providing relief in a number of symptoms associated with cancer, including pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, and anxiety,” BioMed Research International11 Cancer/tumors — “Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the compounds present in the marijuana plant, has antitumor properties,” Cancer Letters12 Diabetes — “These results suggest that the neuroprotective effects of CBD in middle-aged diabetic rats … are related to a reduction in neuroinflammation,” Neurotoxicity Research13 Epilepsy — “CBD is a well-tolerated and effective antiseizure agent and illustrates a potential disease-modifying effect of CBD on reducing both seizure burden and associated comorbidities well after the onset of symptomatic seizures,” Epilepsia14 Inflammation — “CBD that exerts prolonged immunosuppression … might be used in chronic inflammation, the terpenoids … might thus be used to relieve acute inflammation,” Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research15 Irritable bowel diseases — “Clinical trials suggest that there may be a therapeutic role for cannabinoid therapy in the treatment of IBD,” Current Gastroenterology Reports16 Multiple Sclerosis — “As cannabis legalization has impacted the variety of cannabis products available, there appears to be growing numbers … using cannabis … reporting use of highly efficacious products with minimal side-effects,” Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders17
Neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases — “CBD has been found to possess antioxidant activity in many studies, thus suggesting a possible role in the prevention of both neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases,” BioMed Research International18 Ovarian function/female reproductive system — Impacts “the female reproductive system where it affects folliculogenesis, oocyte maturation and ovarian endocrine secretion,” Journal of Ovarian Research19
PTSD and nightmares — “Administration of oral CBD in addition to routine psychiatric care was associated with PTSD symptom reduction … CBD also appeared to offer relief in a subset of patients who reported frequent nightmares as a symptom of their PTSD,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine20 Pain, migraine, detoxification from opioids — “There is accumulating evidence for various therapeutic benefits of cannabis/cannabinoids, especially in the treatment of pain, which may also apply to the treatment of migraine and headache. There is also supporting evidence that cannabis may assist in opioid detoxification and weaning, thus making it a potential weapon in battling the opioid epidemic,” Headache21 Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases — “CBD may be effective in the “treatment of five syndromes, currently labeled recalcitrant to therapeutic success, and wherein improved pharmacological intervention is required: intractable epilepsy, brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and traumatic brain injury,” Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience22
Pediatric seizures — “The efficacy and safety profile of CBDV suggest it may have therapeutic value for early life seizures,” Neuropharmacology23 Why Is There Such Resistance to Cannabis and CBD?
Despite CBD’s many benefits, it remains in a legal no man’s land, says the Brookings Institution:24
“Over the past 22 years, 33 states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes, and over the past six years, 10 states have legalized cannabis for adult use. Every one of those programs is illegal under federal law, with no exceptions [if federal authorities choose to prosecute] …
Even CBD products produced by state-legal, medical or adult-use cannabis programs are illegal products under federal law, both within states and across state lines … Under the 2018 Farm Bill, there will be more broadly available, legal, CBD products; however, this does not mean that all CBD products are legal moving forward.”
Many trace the original vilification of cannabis which gained it Schedule I status to its association with hippies and opposition to the Vietnam War 50 years ago. Not only were “pot” arrests a way of muzzling protestors, the “out of the box” thinking that marijuana fostered fed young people’s strong questioning of authority, fueling the counter culture and war opposition.
But, as I noted earlier, the medical use of CBD oil, especially as a treatment for pain, also represents a significant threat to the sale of opioids which have so enriched Big Pharma in the last decade.
The cannabis plant also poses economic threats to the lumber, energy, food and other industries; its fiber products can be used to make paper, biofuel, building materials, food products and oil, clothing, shoes and even jewelry.
In fact, according to the Hemp Business Journal, industrial hemp “can be used in an estimated 50,000 different products across a wide spectrum of industries: from textiles to food products, building materials to bioplastics, nutraceuticals to nanomaterials, ethanol to animal bedding.25 Still, if the use of CBD were more widely adopted by Americans for medical treatments, we would probably all be healthier.
Born and raised in the inner city of Chicago, IL, Dr. Joseph Mercola is an osteopathic physician trained in both traditional and natural medicine. Board-certified in family medicine, Dr. Mercola served as the chairman of the family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center for five years, and in 2012 was granted fellowship status by the American College of Nutrition (ACN).
While in practice in the late 80s, Dr. Mercola realized the drugs he was prescribing to chronically ill patients were not working. By the early 90s, he began exploring the world of natural medicine, and soon changed the way he practiced medicine.
In 1997 Dr. Mercola founded Mercola.com, which is now routinely among the top 10 health sites on the internet. His passion is to transform the traditional medical paradigm in the United States. “The existing medical establishment is responsible for killing and permanently injuring millions of Americans… You want practical health solutions without the hype, and that’s what I offer.”
Visit Mercola.com for more information, or read Dr. Mercola’s full bio and resumé here.
A Luz está a revelar a Verdade, e esta libertar-nos-á!
-Só é real o AMOR Incondicional.
-Quando o Amor superar o amor pelo poder, o mundo conhecerá a Paz; Jimi Hendrix.
-Somos almas a ter uma experiência humana!
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