Why study marijuana? : mapping out the importance and barriers to cannabis research

Abstract

Cannabis is one of oldest cultivated plants used for medicinal purposes. The landscape of medical cannabis is rapidly expanding as more and more people push for its legalization. However, law-makers and politicians depress cannabis potential, claiming there is not enough evidence-based science behind the substance to convince them. Yet, in the United States, in order to study cannabis, the research has to be approved by multiple federal agencies through a rigorous and expensive processes. The federal barriers suppressing cannabis research and the government’s continuous call for cannabis prohibition has more ripple effects than expected. Cannabis prohibition affects the discovery of health benefits and risks of cannabis. Physicians, health professionals, and patients are advising dosages and types of cannabis without possessing the adequate knowledge, and without knowing the potential risks involved. As the acceptance and usage of cannabis and continues to grow in the United States, the demand for a more complete understanding on the substance is required. Until cannabis is rescheduled by the federal government, research will continue to be neglected and America will remain in the dark on mechanism, dosages, cannabinoids and many other uncertain aspects hidden within the complexity of cannabis.