U.S. HISTORY OF MEDICAL CANNABIS
In the United States from 1850 to 1937, cannabis was widely used to treat more than 100 separate illnesses or diseases as noted in the U.S Pharmacopoeia. Millions of prescriptions were written for cannabis and were produced by major pharmaceutical companies.
THE 1937 MARIJUANA TAX ACT
was passed making it too expensive to prescribe cannabis. Then in 1970 cannabis (marijuana and hemp) was put on SCHEDULE 1 (CLASS I) by the US Drug Policy making it illegal.
Due to the legislation banning the use of cannabis and the resulting stigma associated with its recreational use, three generations of Americans were denied the benefits of the “oldest medicine on earth”.
2014 FARM BILL SIGNED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA
In 2014 President Obama signed the 2014 Farm Bill authorizing hemp research and pilot programs. Through this bill and the legalization of medical cannabis in 31 states, Americans have had the chance to try cannabinoids as an alternative medicine to pharmaceuticals.
MEET DR. RAPHAEL MECHOULAM
known as the “Father of Medicinal Cannabis Research”. He was an organic chemist and professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel when he and his research group succeeded in the total synthesis of the major plant cannabinoids Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Another of his research projects led to the historical discovery of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). Since he approached his research as a scientist resisting any societal prejudices, it allowed him to make major breakthroughs, providing us with information we now consider to be the basis for cannabinoids-as-medicine.
RESEARCH EXPLOSION FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.
From the 1930’s the worldwide medical community produced little in the way of major discoveries of cannabinoid interactions, with the exception of Dr. Raphael Mechoulam.
However, over the past three decades, there has been an explosion of international research on the therapeutic applications of cannabis and cannabinoids. In the U.S. restrictions on cannabis research have resulted in very few clinical trials conducted domestically.
Meanwhile, scientific teams in Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Israel, and elsewhere have confirmed through case studies, basic research and pre-clinical and clinical investigations the medical value of cannabis for treating a wide variety of conditions.
HEMP PROHIBITION IS OVER
On December 10, 2018, the 2018 Farm Bill House/Senate Conference Committee released its Conference Report. Hemp is discussed in only a few pages but the impact is monumental. Hemp is now permanently removed from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and no longer mistaken as a controlled substance, like marijuana. By redefining hemp to include its “extracts, cannabinoids and derivatives,” Congress explicitly has removed popular hemp products, such as hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD), from the purview of the CSA. President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law on December 20, 2018.
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