By Patrick Gallagher | NaturalSociety | July 5, 2012

Government funded research halts the war on cannabis…for now. The war on drugs will continue to rage onward despite an overwhelming number of people voting for cannabis legalization, or for the drug to become decriminalized at the very least. The study in question is fully backed by the US government and published in The Open Neurology Journal, stating that the relief found within cannabis is sorely needed by any person in dire chronic pain, urging the government to issue clinical trials in order to subvert the DEA’s notion that cannabis is ineffective and useless medically.

Cannabis Legalization – What Seems to be the Problem Here?

Hundreds and hundreds of studies have been conducted in the past, revealing the healing powers of the plant, considered at the very least questionable by the standards of the DEA and the FDA even with concrete evidence portraying a positive light on the relationship between marijuana and cancer. The evidence suggests that the plant heals cancer, is far less deadly than normal pharmaceuticals, and that the benefits of medical marijuana could even be comprised on beneficial lung health with use. So then why is marijuana illegal? Why is cannabis legalization such a difficult change to reach? The DEA even continues to maintain the schedule I classification of marijuana and its derivatives, keeping it up on the list with cocaine, LSD, mescaline (peyote), and heroin. Not only should the country achieve cannabis legalization, but the drug has no place in this categorization.

Paul Armentano, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) says that the study in question renders the US drug policy as false and not entirely in the best intentions of the community: “[It] is neither based upon nor guided by science. In fact, it is hostile to science. And despite the Obama Administration’s well publicized memo stating ‘science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my administration’, there is little to no evidence that the government’s ‘see no evil; hear no evil’ approach to cannabis policy is not changing any time soon.”

The evidence supplied in the study showed a direct correlation between the use of marijuana on patients with multiple sclerosis and the amount of general relief felt with the patients compared to similar trials where placebos were used. The scientists also specifically studied the effect on a person when smoked, noting that the delivery method was both “rapid and efficient”, but has a distinctive health deficit due to the carbon monoxide produced by the hot smoke.

The study also notes that there are side effects, as is the case with most modern medicine, that go along with the ingestion of cannabis, including dizziness, fatigue, lightheadedness, muscle weakness and heart palpations. Those who are at risk of cardiovascular disease or disorder already may be at a greater risk if they are given cannabis, but generally the effects are mild, and may even be less obvious or detrimental over the course of time. The study also noted that in this particular trial, no deaths occurred from an overdose of THC.

The evidence found in these trials is very similar found in other trials, but with this one in particular being different due to the fact that they tested the effect of smoked cannabis as opposed to vaporized, which is generally considered to be the safest method of delivery. The conclusion was that more trials need to be conducted and that other parts of the plant may be used to treat a variety of other ailments. The drug may not be for everyone, but it is evident that cannabis legalization should be achieved.

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