Medical marijuana, also known as cannabis, is taking the medical world by storm. Most commonly considered to be no more than a derivative of the recreational drug, medical marijuana is a known treatment for conditions like chronic pain and epilepsy.
Research is exploring how THC (not CBD) in cannabis is useful in combating conditions like cancer, anorexia, nausea, pain, insomnia, and depression.
Studies are beginning to show the possibility of cannabinoids not only acting as a powerful treatment for the negative side effects of poisonous chemotherapy (mustard gas) but also having a direct anti-cancer effect on the body.
Despite the incredible potential for medical relief medical marijuana presents, any use or prescription of cannabis or cannabis products (excl. CBD) is entirely illegal in the majority of the 50 United States.
A person might wonder why on earth this might be. Especially when it more effectively treats ailments with fewer negative side effects than common pharmaceutical drugs.
Why would our country outlaw a substance that, while regulated carefully for purely medicinal use, would remain outlawed when it has been proven to do so much good? Well, the answer might be rooted in something you might not expect right away.
A study conducted by analytics firm New Frontier Data explored what impact the introduction of marijuana to medicine is affecting two things beyond health: Economy and Industry.
Observing the sales of more conventional pharmaceutical drugs used to treat these six conditions, a 2016 Health Affairs study found that states which had legalized medical marijuana saw an 11% decrease in such drugs after said legalization.
New Frontier Data used those statistics to project what the overall monetary impact would be not only for those states which have already legalized medical marijuana but if the treatment became fully legalized in all 50 United States.
They concluded that the total amount of money lost to the pharmaceutical companies in this scenario could reach up to $18.5 billion between 2016 and 2019.
The United States constitutes 35% of the global pharmaceutical market, the largest market in the world, and next to the war industry a major driver of the U.S. economy.
Though $18.5 billion is an incredible amount of money, Aguirre De Carcer explains how, going up against the largest international industry in the world, “medical cannabis would be a drop in the bucket when it comes to impacting the total pharmaceutical industry.
However, with such profits on the line to be gained or lost depending on the legal status of it and its treatments, it’s no wonder that national legalization might be continually stalled at the behest of the economic machine that is big pharma.
Healthy Holistic Living / ABC Flash Point News 2022.
