Is marijuana (cannabis) really a “medicine”?
The main ingredient in marijuana (THC- tetrahydrocannibinol, isomer Delta-9) is a powerful psychoactive addictive substance that drives anxiety, depression and paranoia. It can cause hyperemesis syndrome, heart arrhythmias and many other physical and mental ailments. See some of the facts here. The proposed legislation here in S.C. (“Compassionate Care Act”) would allow up to 8,200 mg of pure THC to be used via vaping or edibles every two weeks. In the FDA trials of cannabis, they allow for no more than 10mg of THC.
Both the APA and the AMA are against legalization of marijuana as a “medicine” and there is no CAMU (Current Accepted Medical Use) among almost all national healthcare entities. The FDA has already approved four medications that are derived from THC and CBD in marijuana which any MD or NP can prescribe in pill form. They are to be prescribed only for specific and objective diagnoses such as nausea for chemotherapy and two rare types of epilepsy. The one for epilepsy is epidiolex. However a 2017 study shows that THC delta-9 can actually induce more seizures.
The marijuana industry and lobby wants to redefine healthcare by having states regulate the dispensation of marijuana to include subjective diagnoses such as chronic pain, PTSD, depression and anxiety. Their goal is not true healthcare but making money by creating, marketing and distributing their dangerous products to as many consumers they can. Thankfully, new research is coming out almost daily that disproves their lies that marijuana (cannabis) is really a “medicine.”
More importantly, the emphasis on this legislation is on vaporization, or vaping pure THC. Actually it allows a “patient” to be able to vape up to 8,200 mg of pure THC every two weeks which is an insane amount. And as for vaping, every week we are hearing more horror stories all around about the dangers of vaping. Read about the increased use of vaping among youth here.
There will be more class-action lawsuits coming against the marijuana and vaping industries as these are happening in many states now. The truth is finally coming out about how marijuana negatively impacts individuals, families, workplaces, schools, churches and the safety on our roadways. The organization known as CIVEL (Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators) is working to make sure that the marijuana industry and states do not get away with destroying lives.
What is “Delta-8 THC” ?
The Delta-8 loophole: providing the legal cover for marijuana companies to synthesize THC from CBD and hemp. According to this recent study (International Journal of Drug Policy 2022), people in non-legal states are using this to get high. So all the talk about “people are dying without access to cannabis” is truly a bunch of lies created by the industry.
In the chemistry of this plant, the main psychoactive substance known as tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) has variations in their chemical bonds, known as isomers. They all have the exact same atomic composition of compounds, Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen (C21 H30 O2), however the arrangement of their chemical bonds causes the human body to react differently to these chemical bonds.
Marijuana companies today are extracting Delta-8 THC from hemp and synthesizing it to become almost as powerful as Delta-9 THC which is found naturally in marijuana. For the details of the differences in Delta-8 (legal) vs Delta-9 (still illegal in SC) read this exhausting chemical study. In summary though, just know that Delta-8 THC is considered to be about half the potency of Delta-9. This means to get the same euphoric effect one has to only use (via vaping or edibles) about twice as much. And the industry is working overtime to provide multiple types of products to sell.
Read this new article at The Atlantic magazine about how the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp as opened the door to a myriad of marijuana companies exploiting the legislation to make as much money as they can.