Quit Wasting Taxpayer Money on Faux Cannabis Medical Studies

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/11/health/weed-marijuana-smokers-toxins-wellness/index.html

Reginald Reefer: Cannabis.net

We’re in 2021, the world is moving towards legalizing cannabis and the government still insists on trying to dissuade people from consuming cannabis. In a recent study reported by CNN, found that cannabis users may have elevated levels of “toxins” related to cancer and other conditions – yet less than tobacco smokers.

Some of these chemicals can also be obtained by the mere act of eating – but hey, now you know that there are slightly higher levels of particular toxins that according to the US National Toxicology Program is, “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” or a “probable human carcinogen” the American Cancer Association.

In other words, these findings are about “potential” carcinogens and the results indicated that cannabis users had “higher levels” than non-smokers did – but lower levels than tobacco smokers did.

What are they trying to prove?

Cannabis is not harmless. Except, everyone who smokes cannabis knows it’s not “harmless” but rather are aware that it is the “least harmful” recreational substance. The idea that the government is still trying to convince the people about the harms of cannabis is a waste of taxpayer money.

No matter the findings from the government, the fact of the matter remains that cannabis will become legal within the next year or two [in the U.S]. I still remain steadfast in my prediction that cannabis will be legalized on a Federal level in the U.S later this year – they will need to with all the craziness happening in the government.

Nonetheless – it seems that Uncle Sam still isn’t able to distance itself from “Drug War Research” patterns and still primarily funds studies that look at the “harmful effects” of cannabis.

Why it’s time to shift focus NOW!

Israel has been leading the world in cannabis research. With Mexico recently unveiling its medical marijuana protocols and Canada heavily invested in developing new products – the United States is falling behind and with each passing day, allows potentially life-altering medicines to be developed in other countries.

Over the past 20 years, the U.S government has spent 95% of the budget on cannabis studies on trying to figure out its harms. Couple this with over 40-years of the same strategy since the inception of the Drug War in 1971.

With over 50-years of research into the harms of cannabis, perhaps it’s time to shift some of that towards discovering the benefits of cannabis instead?

What the Study Found?

Now that we’ve explained why it’s moronic to continue to try to turn cannabis into the devil – let’s take a closer look at what the researchers found.

But before we do that, we also have to acknowledge that the sample group for this study was 245-HIV positive and HIV-Negative participants – mainly because this is a demographic associated with elevated cannabis and tobacco consumption.

Of course – this also immediately discounts that this data is transferable to the general population considering that a weakened immune system would play some role in the processing of these toxins. But we’ll humor the researchers and post their findings;

“People are exposed to substantially more acrylamide from tobacco smoke than from food. People who smoke have three to five times higher levels of acrylamide exposure markers in their blood than do non-smokers,” stated the National Cancer Institute.

This was a common theme I saw throughout the study – a statement talking about tobacco consumption, then equating it to cannabis consumption – yet not providing any real significant data on the differences between the two.

This makes me wonder whether the researchers were hesitant to make their findings known since when you begin to look at the data – you notice these inconsistencies throughout the text.

Of course – researchers will claim this is preliminary and that “more research is needed” but I think that it’s time we have “more research” on the potential therapeutic effects of cannabis. 50+ years of negative and biased research is more than enough to establish a “harm profile”. Now it’s time to start looking into the “therapeutic profile” and while there are lots of potential benefits – it isn’t until we the people fund studies that look for these.

This is one of the biggest wastes of taxpayer money –  in fact, one could argue that it’s a scam and is anti-scientific to say the least. It puts in question the entire body of research not only from cannabis, but virtually every other scientific sector in society because cannabis proves that Science in the U.S has political leanings – and this means that we can’t really ever trust government sources as being truly impartial.

I for one hope that we can start holding people accountable for these kinds of studies and have more sway in where we spend our tax dollars in the U.S. It’s time that the government stops wasting our time and money.

Reginald Reefer: Cannabis.net