The LEAF THE LEAF May-June 17 | страница 13

So, why is the US Government denying the results of this research?? I think that’s a very good question to be asking. Marijuana, Cannabis, THC, and the like are all being categorised under a Schedule 1 Drug with “no currently accepted medical use.” NO CURRENTLY ACCEPTED MEDICAL USE? They have got to be joking, right? Sadly, they are not. At least, they expect us to take it seriously. Please explain to me why cannabis use in medicine dates back over three thousand (3,000) years yet is not currently accepted for medical use. While the world is acknowledg ing the benefits, our government lets us look like idiots to the rest of the world. It is not as if we will ever learn the truth about cannabinoids, right? Is that arrogant, or is it just me? The medical field sees fit to use it for thousands of years, but suddenly it has no medical purpose. Uh huh. Thank you for that useless bit of propaganda. Feeling good about that one? While one side of our government was prosecuting and persecuting those found in possession of marijuana, the other side was funding research long before the war. Countless lives have been adversely affected by the senseless war on a plant which has been recognized for thousands of years. …and here we are funding research in another country which is destroying the ideas being presented to the American Public about cannabis, marijuana, THC, and CBD. Fast forward to this century, decade, and year. The American Public is being shown the truth about cannabis by independent researchers. There is mountain upon mountain of evidence that has surfaced regarding cannabinoids, cannabis and cannabis extracts. The American Epilepsy Society is touting CBD Oil (a compound found in cannabis and industrial hemp) as the best-known treatment for epilepsy. That sounds like some pretty impressive backing. Raphael Mechoulam, now 84, was the first person to isolate the structure of both cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). He also performed the first tests for the medicinal value of THC. While researching in Israel, he was receiving $100,000 per year to research various projects involving marijuana, THC, and CBD. Mechoulam was able to discover what was called the “endocannabinoid system.” Endocannabinoids and their receptors are found throughout the body: in the brain, organs, connective tissues, glands, and immune cells. In each tissue, the cannabinoid system performs different tasks, but the goal is always the same: homeostasis, the maintenance of a stable internal environment despite fluctuations in the external environment. Although this man was revolutionising the way the medical field looks at cannabis, the results of his research were denied and ignored. The Government and the NIH was paying this man $100,000 a year to research the very thing for which countless lives were being destroyed. The research funded is the basis for much of our current medical and scientific understanding of cannabis. This research should have been used to guide marijuana, cannabis, THC, and CBD law reformation. Instead, it was hidden away like the freaky cousin no one wants to explain. “Marijuana was an integral part of American medicine for more than 100 years, from the 1830s through the 1940s, and it was used safely and effectively for all of that time,” Those with the conditions found to be helped with cannabis or cannabis products should not have to struggle to gain access to relief. Countless people have needlessly suffered because of the callousness of the powers that be! The research should have been expanded as soon as there was the first hint of viability in medical application. Instead, they denied any and all knowledge of the very thing that could help, even save lives!