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Neil Deatherage

TEDCRED 50+

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Should Cannabis be legalized as a medicine?

The rich biodiversity of plants in nature has provided humans many medicines to prevent and cure sickness and disease. The use of cannabis as a medicine continues to gain acceptance within the scientific and medical community, with Connecticut early this month joining 16 other states to legalize it for medical use. Case studies continue to support the value of cannabis as a medicine to ameliorate various ailments ranging from glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, Parkinson's, chronic pain, and nausea associated with cancer.

Despite scientific evidence supporting medicinal qualities from cannabis, much controversy surrounds outright legalization for medicinal use. While many states currently allow cannabis as an alternative to traditional medicines, the FDA continues to classify cannabis as a schedule I drug subjecting patients to possible fines and/or imprisonment under federal law.

Can cannabis find a place in today's society as an alternative medicine, or are possible unforeseen consequences too great to allow this plant for medicinal use?

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Topics: Biodiversity class Biological Diversity TEDinClass TEDinClassroom alternative medicine biodiversity biology botany medicine pharmaceuticals
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    Salim Solaiman 50+

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    May 17 2012: Wondering why this question coming again and again....?
    Is that a burning issue ?
    Don't we have any other alternatives what some biochemical substance of cannabis can do with better risk benefit ratio?
    I know some of those cannabis derivative produced pharamceutically are already approved on prescription basis (sorry for my ignorance about US) in many countries.
    Is the premise suggesting cannabis should be available in way so that anyone can buy it even without a medical reason?

    • Grant Sutton

      • 0
      May 19 2012: The US has prosecuted across sovereign Native American Treaty lines against Native Americans that were growing hemp, or very low THC marijuana who asked permission prior to growing and got a positive response. PBS did a story covering the Native Americans that feel victim to this attack. All hemp in the United States is imported just like all or almost all our morphine. We do not want the risk of drugs here so we export the problem.

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