The United States government’s official stance is that marijuana has no medical value. This is proven by the fact that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. As I always say, that classification is a slap in the face to science and logic. That stance also seems to be at odds with a recent update on the National Institute on Drug Abuse website, which confirmed that marijuana can kill cancer cells according to research. Per the Daily Caller:
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a research institution run by the federal government, has grudgingly admitted that marijuana is capable of killing certain cancer cells.
A publication from NIDA, revised as of April 2015, states that “recent animal studies have shown that marijuana can kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others. Evidence from one animal study suggests that extracts from whole-plant marijuana can shrink one of the most serious types of brain tumors. Research in mice showed that these extracts, when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation.”
In effect, this constitutes an admission from the federal government that marijuana has medicinal value. This admission comes at a time when steam is building in the Senate for the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker from New Jersey introduced the bill in early March. It quickly picked up support from GOP Sens. Rand Paul and Dean Heller, as well as Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Barbara Boxer.
This is extremely big news. Not that marijuana can kill cancer cells, that has been well known in the pro-marijuana world for awhile now. What is big news is that the federal government finally admits to it. The federal government has tried very hard for many decades to prevent any non-federal research on the medical effects of marijuana. With so many people suffering from cancer in America right now (including my step-father), why would the federal government fight so hard to avoid recognizing that research until now? Why wouldn’t they embrace marijuana as a treatment for cancer, and do everything in its power to help people that are suffering? It seems like a no-brainer to me, but then again, I have compassion for suffering patients, unlike the federal government.
