From Joseph Mercola, DO
Production of cannabis is booming as the medical benefits of CBD (cannabidiol) are increasingly recognized.
According to Project CBD, at least 50 conditions are believed to be improved by CBD, including pain, seizures, muscle spasms, nausea associated with chemotherapy, digestive disorders such as colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), degenerative neurological disorders such as dystonia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, mood disorders, anxiety, PTSD and high blood pressure.
Yet, despite the legalization of cannabis for adult use in 19 states in the past few years and the inclusion in the 2018 Farm Bill of industrial hemp as a crop, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration up until recently listed CBD as a Schedule I drug, the most dangerous drug category reserved for drugs like heroin and LSD.
The classification made no sense because CBD is nonpsychoactive — it is not addictive, does not produce a “high” and there are few to no dangerous side effects. In fact, there seems to be no reason for the FDA and Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) long-term vilification of CBD except possible collusion with Big Pharma, whose dangerous and lucrative pain treatments.
In 2022 opioids are causing over 100,000 Americans’ deaths every year — equivalent to around 274 deaths a day. In states where CBD and cannabis are becoming widely used, there are few reports of negative social or medical consequences. Conversely, there is evidence that in the same states where cannabis is legal, there have been fewer opioid emergencies, overdoses and deaths.
The restrictive, Schedule I classification of CBD has also produced medical “refugees” — people whose health conditions are only improved by CBD, not pharmaceutical products, forcing them to relocate to states with looser CBD laws.
