Social reform often experiences the journey of change at a pace of two steps forward, one step back.
In countries around the world, new
laws are passed, legislation is created, and then some world leader
opens their mouth and reminds us that Reefer Madness ignorance is alive
and well in some social circles.
This week’s step back was courtesy of
the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Theresa May. During a live
Facebook Q&A hosted by ITV, the Prime Minister outlined her reasons
for not wanting to legalize cannabis in any form — Marijuana.com fact checked each of her statements:
“There have obviously been some studies into the use of cannabis or derivatives for medical use.”
This statement is entirely true,
although significantly understated by the Prime Minister. In fact, there
have been hundreds of reliable studies all over the world that show
cannabis is a viable and powerful substance that can be used to treat
many medical conditions.
In 2015, a study in Israel showed that cannabis treatment for certain cancers helped slow tumor growth and promoted cancer cell death. In fact, the U.S. National Cancer Institute states on their website that marijuana can be an effective tool in treating cancer.
A number of studies
over the last few years in Israel, Colorado, and the Czech Republic
have found that cannabis can alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s
Disease in patients who use it daily.
A 2016 study out of New Zealand found that the severe motor and vocal tics brought on by Tourette Syndrome were controlled using cannabis-based medicine.
An early 2017 report
published in Australia found that using cannabis to treat pancreatic
cancer greatly enhanced the ability of existing treatments.
A March 2017 study in Mexico
on Refractory Epilepsy in children found that 81.3% of surveyed
patients showed a dramatic reduction in seizures with the use of
cannabidiol (CBD).
A recent report out of the United States found
that children with severe autism had better communication, lessened
anxiety, and better social interaction when treated with cannabis
medicine.
The list goes on and on — the National Center for Biotechnology Information lists at least 100 published studies on cannabis as a viable treatment for cancer.
“The reason I don’t believe in making cannabis use legal is
because of the impact I see it having on too many people in terms of the
drug use … it can also of course lead to people going on to harder
drugs.”
The old “marijuana is a gateway drug”
has long been the go-to talking point among prohibitionists and
anti-pot lobbyists alike. The problem is, it simply isn’t true.
Last August, the Baker Institute at Rice University concluded a 40-year study which showed alcohol, not marijuana, was actually the “gateway drug” that opened the doors to possible addiction.
In 2015, the National Institute of Health in the U.S. published a report that showed cannabis is not a gateway drug, using a study of 15,000 high school seniors and their pot smoking habits.
A recent study conducted by the University of British Columbia
also showed that cannabis can actually be used as an “exit” drug for
much harsher substances including alcohol and opioid addiction.
By the end of 2016, the Clinical Psychology Review published research which showed that marijuana can act as a way to get addicts off of opioids and other harsher substance abuses.
Even the former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said that marijuana is not the catalyst for harsher drug use. That distinction, according to the AG, goes to prescription opioids.
“What we’ve seen is stronger forms now being used — I think it can
have a real impact on people in terms of their mental health.”
A plethora of research has been done
into whether or not using cannabis affects mental health negatively. The
conclusions have surprised many doctors because the answer is no, it
does not.
A study led by psychiatrist Igor Grant, MD. in 2003
at the University of California, San Diego concluded that even daily,
long-term cannabis use does not cause brain damage. A much more recent
study at Columbia University in the United States confirmed the same results.
On the flip side, researchers at the University of British Columbia concluded that marijuana does help people with mental health disorders. This includes anxiety, depression, and even PTSD.
One of the concerns of various
countries, is marijuana’s effect on developing young brains. Prime
Minister May clearly has not read the literature on the fact that
legalized and regulated marijuana helps decrease access for those underage.
“[Marijuana use] has a huge impact on families.”
On this point, we agree with Prime
Minister May, but from an entirely different point of view. Adult-use
marijuana use does have an impact on families, through unnecessary
arrests of hundreds of thousands of individuals at the expense of
billions of taxpayers’ dollars. Many parents and children have been
separated over simple possession convictions.
In 2016, the Washington Post
reported that American “police arrest more people for marijuana use
than all other violent crimes — combined.” With an intimate
understanding of the wasted time and energy spent on simple marijuana
arrests, many individuals in law enforcement have called for a moratorium on minor cannabis charges.
Medicinal cannabis does have life-changing positive effects on families. There are thousands of young children with debilitating conditions that include epilepsy, autism, and pediatric cancer
— conditions that often do not respond to traditional pharmaceutical
treatments. With doses of marijuana as medicine, many patients and their
families are able to enjoy an entirely new level of normalcy and
fulfillment in what would otherwise be a very challenging existence.
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