Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves to make sure we’re not imagining things – like the supremely uninformed attitude of appointed officials in high places.
Regular followers of the medicinal cannabis story well know that MC – for all that science is learning – is already the most frequently studied drug in history – with over 25,000 (and counting) scientific papers looking at various aspects of its medical efficacy, and the great majority of these finding benefits since the year 2000 alone, while reports of its medical value go back over 5,000 years.
Yet as DC officials look at alternatives to opioids in pain relief, and despite the growing number of studies finding great promise in cannabis, and despite the start of a major long-term proactive study on medicinal cannabis’ role in lessening the opioid crisis being blessed by federal agencies themselves, here’s where the current Secretary of he US Health and Human Services Dep’t stands…
“…the HHS Secretary spoke to reporters about the next steps in combating the drug crisis by developing new, non-opioid pain relief drugs.
‘Over $750 million in 2019 alone will be dedicated to the National Institutes of Health working in a public-private partnership to develop the next generations of pain therapies that are not opioids, as well as to develop the best evidence around alternative ways of treating pain that do not involve opioids,’ Azar told the crowd at an Ohio wellness center, ‘So that’s where our focus is.’
Understandably, the expansive funding announcement raised questions about the future of using medical cannabis to fight opioid use, with one reporter asking Azar specifically about studies supporting weed’s role in reducing addiction and overdose.
But out of the almost $1 billion in funding, Azar was clear that absolutely none of it would go towards developing a THC or CBD-based treatment. The Trump administration’s top health advisor even went as far as to claim that ‘there is no such thing as medical marijuana’.”
Much more in the article. Including the usual definitional trick used to support such a denial. But…. …sheesh…. …we’re just keeping you up to date on the federal news, much of which seems to be coming from a century other than the 21st…..
#MMJ #USpol #InDenial #UTpol #PatientsBeforePolitics #TRUCE
See full article – Federal Health Official Says “There Is No Such Thing as Medical Marijuana” – Health | MERRY JANE
