A profound shift in the federal government’s stance on cannabis was marked by subtle changes made this month to one webpage. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, now has a webpage titled Marijuana as Medicine. Prior to March 2017, it was titled Is Marijuana Medicine?
Apparently, they feel the question has been answered. The timing of NIDA’s update is very curious, as there are signs from the Trump administration that a crackdown may be coming on states’ cannabis legalization progress made over the last few years.
The Department of Justice is now headed by rabid prohibitionist Jeff Sessions, who cites falsehoods and Reefer Madness propaganda when discussing cannabis. Only a few days ago, Sessions said cannabis “is slightly less awful” than heroin – a mind-boggling display of ignorance. Trump chose to keep Chuck Rosenberg as head of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), who said medical cannabis is “a joke” and oversaw the department’s decision to keep the plant as a Schedule 1 drug with “no medicinal use.”
Perhaps this stunning level of denial – in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence of cannabis’ ability to treat a variety of ailments – prompted NIDA to make their change. Twenty-eight states have legalized medical cannabis in some way, eight more have legalized its recreational use, and more states are set to join the list. They aren’t doing this on a whim; decriminalizing medical use is an acknowledgment of cannabis’ power as medicine.
In 2015, the federal government unwittingly admitted cannabis is medicine in 2015 when the National Cancer Institute supported a study finding that cannabis kills cancer cells. Now, with the revised webpage title, NIDA appears to have moved beyond a reasonable doubt.
The term medical marijuana refers to using the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant or its basic extracts to treat symptoms of illness and other conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine.
However, scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.
Because the marijuana plant contains chemicals that may help treat a range of illnesses and symptoms, many people argue that it should be legal for medical purposes. In fact, a growing number of states have legalized marijuana for medical use.
The webpage now has an informational box on CBD and Childhood Epilepsy. This is a rather dramatic inclusion, as cannabidiol (CBD) has become a very promising treatment for childhood epilepsy. At the Dec. 2015 meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, the largest study presented there confirmed the astounding benefits of medical cannabis to treat seizures.
There is now a better explanation of cannabinoids, making a distinction between those naturally derived from the plant and those manufactured in a lab. NIDA also acknowledges the “state-approved medicinal use of marijuana,” and says “continued research [on cannabinoids] might lead to more medications.”
Indeed, we are only just beginning to unlock the secrets of the body’s endocannabinoid system, and using cannabis to stimulate this system for relieving inflammation which is thought to be the cause of many diseases.
Interestingly, the NIDA update also removed a link to WhiteHouse.gov regarding state laws, because the Trump administration removed the White House page explaining state cannabis laws. It appears that talk of respecting states’ rights may be just another Trump lie.
Kudos to NIDA for taking a step in the right direction and being the first federal entity to explicitly acknowledge cannabis as medicine.
Justin Gardner writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared.
Image Credit: TheAntiMedia.org
The DEA, ATF, FBI,CIA, DHS, TSA all thrive on drugs and guns for drugs.
They should declare war on vile pedophiles.
suggested reads: ‘Barry and the Boys’ Dennis Hopsicker, hint: Mena , Arkansas airport ad duffel bags, poor ol’ Barry…rip.
‘The Committee of 300’ John D.Coleman, hint: the Royals have owned the drug routes for hundreds of years.
Trump is truly an enigma. He campaigns on draining-the-swamp, then he frequently surrounds himself with fools, neo-criminals and Wall Street criminals.
A continuation of the drug war is not just insanity, it really is a crime against our electorate and our Constitution. This crime is made all the worse by elements of fedgov and the military being directly involved in worldwide drug smuggling and guarding poppy fields overseas.
What we need is a national “war-on-the-CIA” until they no longer exist.
As for the federal government condoning marijuana, let me point this out: They still want to play the game, “All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
One can SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL: Cannabis, given to ALL freely by Creator, being snipped into chemicals, patented, owned, and RX sold to people who should be able to have it THEIR WAY.
Spot on. The cannabis plant won’t be readily accessible to the average person for medicinal or recreational purposes anytime soon. It will be tightly controlled by the pharmaceutical industry and those in government with investments in the newly permitted venture.
The isolated so-called active constituents that may be altered or even replicated synthetically will be granted to the public at a nice profit.
Yep – and you can bet it will cost a pretty penny, instead of being free as Mother Earth gave it to us. Sigh…………l
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“It appears that talk of respecting states’ rights may be just another Trump lie.”
Such a shame you had to ruin an otherwise generally good article with the lame gratuitous swipe at Trump. I guess the author must have missed the recent favorable statements by Sessions regarding the Cole Memorandum and how DOJ plans to largely abide by that and mostly leave the states’ regulatory schemes alone due to the substantial policing that would entail.
sessions I believe has other idea’s. he doesn’t like the thought of rec. pot, and it will come out on april 20th of what will be done I believe, a lot of stocks are suppose to take off for pot, we will see.
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