How Cannabis Legalization Changed our Perception of “Medicine”
I recently read a headline that read, “Marijuana Edibles May Not Be as Safe as Presumed, Doctors Argue” from a website called Ecowatch. Of course, this wasn’t the only website that regurgitated this headline, I quickly noted that there were several publications that ran the same story.
Now, of course, you – the reasonable and intelligent cannabis consumer – understands that edibles are no laughing matter. If you eat too much, you’ll be crawling on the floor. Thus, a mature consumer knows to respect edibles and not snarf them down like it’s your last meal on earth.
Nonetheless, Canadian doctors are now warning people that “weed-eaten, might not be as risk-free as people think”. The problem is – most people don’t think that cannabis consumption is “risk-free”. Even drinking water comes with some inherent risk.
The biggest problem with edibles is a lack of understanding of how an edible differs from smoking cannabis. It actually differs on a chemical level and when THC is processed by the liver, it changes it to 11-hydroxy-THC (10x more potent than Delta-9-THC [smoked]). Also, the fact that edibles deliver a delayed effect – newbies can easily ‘bite off more than they can chew.
More education is required as people begin to consume cannabis on a more mainstream level, however, this will come over time. Fortunately, nobody can die from cannabis alone – so we do have some leeway for idiocy.
However, as Doctors “warn people”, my mind started thinking about how cannabis actually changed our perception of medicine, doctors and the institutions of health we are supposed to respect.
How Cannabis Changed Medicine
There was a time when the idea of “cannabis” as medicine was taken less seriously than the idea of a “medical blowjob”.
The only medicine was FDA approved and had to go through “rigorous testing” to ensure the safety and validity of the public. That was great on paper, however, in practice, we saw something completely different. We saw people cutting corners, drugs being fast-tracked, and all competing “drugs” oppressed by law enforcement.
As a result, more people turned to Pharmaceutical drugs and thought this to be medicine.
It wasn’t until the early 1990s until the discovery of the endocannabinoid system that cannabis became a legitimate medicine (again).
I say again because prior to 1937, cannabis was considered a medicine and all throughout history this rang true. However, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the discovery of the endocannabinoid system began explaining “why” it works as a medicine.
In 1997, California legalized medical cannabis and since then – more people understood that “medicine” isn’t necessarily produced in a lab. With the endocannabinoid system and a natural source of phytocannabinoids (cannabis), people now have the ability to literally grow medicine at home.
In fact, this natural medicinal plant is outperforming plenty of Pharma drugs with far fewer negative effects and does not need to be FDA approved.
How Cannabis Changed our Perception of Doctors
For the longest time, physicians believed that cannabis killed brain cells. They also believed it was highly addictive, it made you dumb, made you violent and so forth. We can’t entirely blame them – these were all the lies fed to them by the Drug War propaganda machine.
Nonetheless, doctors today (most are waking up) still don’t know about the endocannabinoid system. It turns out that the “all-knowing white-jacketed ones” are fallible humans just as we are. We tend to find solace in authority figures – but doctors are the first ones to say “more research is needed”. In other words, “They don’t know either!”
It’s a crazy revelation, but there are many cannabis consumers that are actually educating their physicians today. I for one have taught plenty of doctors about the endocannabinoid system and explain to them “why cannabis works”.
Cannabis legality shed a light on the fact that doctors, follow books, written by men, who didn’t know until they figured it out. It turns out that even what they say is subject to scrutiny – and while this is a scary thought for some, it actually places more responsibility on your own shoulders.
Cannabis changed the way we look at health
With the introduction of cannabis as medicine, we changed our approach to maintaining our health. For the longest time, we relied on pills made by pharma to keep us healthy. Nowadays we know that most of our troubles come either due to an endocannabinoid deficiency or some irregularity in our endocannabinoid system.
Either way, a little bit of cannabis is what we need in most cases and if we need something else – there are always doctors to turn to. I’m not saying that physicians are not to be trusted. Of course, they are! They studied human anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and so much more about human health that it is wise to listen to them – all I’m saying is that they aren’t gods and that cannabis, helped millions of people realize this fact.
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