For over 40 years marijuana has been labeled a schedule 1 substance, meaning it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Because of this millions of dollars have been wasted & countless lives have been lost, in trying to keep the public away from this allegedly dangerous drug.
But is the DEA’s position on cannabis based on sound medical information? Or could the opposite be in fact true, and marijuana has a great potential in the treatment of severe health issues for which modern medicine has no viable treatments to offer? And if marijuana has the potential for abuse, what’s the real danger to develop an addiction?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta sought an answer to all those questions when he embarked in the filming of his documentary WEED, where he presents the story of Charlotte Figi, a 5-year-old girl suffering from terrible seizures of epilepsy, who became the youngest user of medical marijuana in the state of Colorado –not an easy decision for their parents, who tried any available option to try to improve their child’s condition, before exploring the foggy path of medical marijuana. Thanks to cannabis, Charlotte’s condition has improved dramatically.
But hold it Mon, because Gupta didn’t intend to give a full endorsement to ganja. He also found out that the effects of THC –the component in cannabis that gets you high– are more severe in young developing brains, and adolescents are much more vulnerable to developing addiction. Then again, any teenager in America can walk to the nearest Starbucks & order a Caffè Mocha Venti, yet nobody but the Mormons object to it…
Not too long ago Dr. Gupta was in a short list to become Surgeon General in the Obama administration but I’m glad someone else got the job, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the liberty to go against the stone-walling (Ha!) that the FDA & other government agencies have erected to keep them from acknowledging two simple facts:
- Marijuana can offer a lot of help in the treatment of many ailments, including cancer; and
- Some people just like to get high as a kite, and in 40+ years of an international War on Drugs the consumption of cannabis has not only not been stopped —it has exploded exponentially.
With countries like Portugal —& now Uruguay— showing a frank opposition to keep playing the drug game to the United States’ tune, my personal impression is that legitimization of marijuana currently finds itself in the same stage global warming research was 20 years ago, when most governments dismissed or flat out denied the reality of the polar caps’ melting –essentially, the ones who had more to lose.
…And, just as there are still plenty of GW deniers out there, there will also remain a bunch of cannabis opposers looong after its finally legalized.
