Once again, you will see an uncanny overlap between these conditions (and others) and observed medical conditions said to be suitable for treatment by medical cannabis. As you know, I am a bit of Sc-Fi and Horror geek so let’s travel back in time – just for a moment.
We may never know why the USA enacted the prohibition of cannabis in 1937. There are many theories including lobbying by large pharmaceutical companies with deep pockets to the fact that the government had significant resources effectively sitting idle once the prohibition of alcohol ended. Other theories suggest the powerful textiles industry wanted hemp abolished and that in turn took down its cannabis cousin. There are a number of theories and this is as good a source as any for those interested (click here).
Or maybe it is because the USA was lagging a worldwide trend that started much earlier. In fact, Canada was one of the first countries to do so in 1923 (click here). No matter the reason, we can agree in hindsight that prohibition was not led by science and certainly not by service over self-interest. We know that cannabis was an ingredient in well over 100 medications and treatments in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. We know that as far back as 1621 that cannabis was being used to treat Depression in England and in India. We also know that it was shown to be very effective in controlling seizures from epilepsy as well as for treating arthritis.
There is another age old effective treatment for controlling the seizures associated with Epilepsy. Please refer to this Ontario Epilepsy explanation as to how this treatment has been used for almost a century – they ketogenic diet (click here). You will find similar articles validating this from other reputable sources and in different countries.
Without going to far down the rabbit hole and a desire to end this little hop through time, something started to happen in the 1930’s and onward and reached the zenith of public awareness on August 25, 1955 when American President Ike Eisenhower suffered a heart attack. Today, cardiovascular disease including heart attacks are a top cause of death yet were somewhat of a rarity back then. Documentaries such as The Skinny on Fat have theories behind this that you can explore at your own leisure as offering an opinion on such a documentary is outside this article’s scope – but also because it is not relevant to the investor. What is relevant are the facts. And what are the facts so far:
172