Despite a “cascade of states moving to legalize medical marijuana,” the DEA will officially announce tomorrow that marijuana will remain a Schedule 1 drug — the categorization of substances defined as having “no currently accepted medical use,” and includes heroin, LSD and peyote.
That means that pot is considered less medically useful than cocaine. Hey, it worked out great for Dr. Thackery, so — yay!
But the ruling has us wondering — what does THC have to do to get a little respect around here? Let’s take a look:
“Cannabinoids … could potentially be useful in the treatment of glaucoma” — British Journal of Opthalmology
“Cannabinoids remove plaque-forming Alzheimer’s proteins from brain” — Salk Institute
“Cannabis lifts Alzheimer’s appetites” — Meridian Institute for Aging
“Cannabis might significantly slow the progression of ALS, potentially extending life expectancy and substantially reducing the overall burden of the disease” — American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine
“Cannabis might have a place in the therapeutic armamentarium of Parkinson’s Disease” — Clinical Neuropharmacology
“Cannabis may dampen the strength or emotional impact of traumatic memories” — Drug Testing and Analysis
Chemicals in marijuana “protect nervous system” against MS — Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology
“Systemic Administration of [cannabidiol] Has a Dose-Dependent Therapeutic Effect on [collagen-induced arthritis]” — Journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
We could go on. And we will.
“We believe that HU-444 [a novel cannabidiol derivative] represents a potential novel drug for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases” — The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
“Marijuana stops child’s severe seizures” — CNN
“Marijuana chemical shows promise for hard-to-treat epilepsy in kids” — HealthDay
“Treatment [of Tourette’s syndrome] with THC should be taken into consideration” — Behavioral Neurology
“Cannabidiol, a Major Non-Psychotropic Cannabis Constituent Enhances Fracture Healing and Stimulates Lysyl Hydroxylase Activity in Osteoblasts” — American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
“Decreased prevalence of diabetes in marijuana users” — BMJ Open
If it’s good enough for the president’s daughter, surely it’s good enough for all of us?
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