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Even though marijuana consistently shows to reduce chronic pain and enhance brain function, it is still not accepted to study for medical purposes.
The latest Gallop poll shows that one in eight adults in the U.S. smoke marijuana. It is no secret that cannabis has magical ingredients that reduce chronic pain. And as Plus previously reported, medical marijuana’s unique constituents have shown to improve executive function in the brain.
So why is it still taboo?
Because cannabis is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it’s defined as being a high potential for abuse (other Schedule 1 drugs include heroine and ecstasy), under the law it’s not accepted for scientists to study for medical purposes.
But a new report in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine dissected the power of cannabis in patients. As a result, researchers recommended a reclassification of cannabis and other products like cannabinoids and marijuana so it can be easier to research for medical means.
Already, Cannabis is available in 28 states as well as the District of Columbia as legal medical treatment — recreational marijuana is legal in eight of these states and in D.C.
The report also highlights that thanks to cannabis, people living with multiple sclerosis have seen a temporary reduction in muscle spasms; chemotherapy patients experienced less nausea and vomiting as a result of taking cannabinoids.
“If cannabis was to be classified as a medicine, then it needs to be rigorously tested like all other medicines,” pharmacologist Karen Wright of Lancaster University said to Trend in Tech. Hopefully in the near future, lawmakers will be able to categorize cannabis in such a way that will allow medical research to breakthrough the mold.
