CANNAHEALTH The Opioid Epidemic | Page 8

hashish, while people were complaining of the strange smell. They tested the "merchandize" on few volunteers including themselves.

It might seem like a simple experiment but the results were revolutionary. They were the first to isolate THC and CBD decades ago - two ingredients in marijuana that might have powerful abilities to treat disease. In Israel, today marijuana is an accepted part of medical care - for pain, for cancer patients, for sleep problems,

epilepsy, and digestive problems. They're even looking at Parkinson's and Tourette's. The list is expanding but there hasn't been too much research in patients because it's very difficult to do that... especially in the United States which classifies marijuana as a dangerous Schedule 1 drug.

In the US researchers must jump through extra hoops to work with it. It's expensive and time consuming but the grandfather of this science says he is proof it can be done. Over the last forty years his work has been supported by the National Institute of Health. And now the and now the country's ministry of health licensed 10,000 patients to use marijuana medicinally and has approved more than a dozen studies to treat illnesses like PTSD, pain, Crohn's disease, and yes cancers.

Sue Degregorio-Rosen RN, CLNC

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