…but which instead was used to do anything but that… …read on…
We’d planned to next go directly into the science of cannabinoids, but in researching articles to share, we came across an interesting, if teeth-gnashing historical sidelight our editors were previously unaware of. The story adds to the cultural and scientific cannabis narrative, so please join us on this illuminating detour…
We’ve copiously documented cannabis’ demonization in the early 20th Century, as well as the continuing difficulty of obtaining permission to do research in the area up to today.
So, there’s much traditional knowledge and clinical research had begun in the 19th century, but most activists have been taught that serious cannabis science began in the 1960s when THC, the molecule and its structure, was discovered in 1964 by Israeli researcher, Raphael Mechoulam and his associates.
And his team indeed did this. However, the kicker is that, although they didn’t know it then, and most students of cannabis still don’t know it over 50 years later, they weren’t the first.
This article has the fascinating, if frustrating story, though, of how THC – and several other major cannabinoids were described and isolated decades earlier – in 1940 – by an American chemist whose work was, paradoxically sponsored by the core government group responsible for cannabis prohibition, a task force led by Harry J. Anslinger, the first director of the Federal Narcotics Bureau.
It turns out that in their interest of fully giving “marihuana” (as they’d renamed cannabis), hemp and anything related to them the worst reputation possible, after banning it, the Anslinger gang still wanted to know how the drug worked. They assembled a team of experts to work on various aspects of the question, and among them was chemist Roger Adams, who with the equipment of the day – much more primitive that what was around in 1964 – was able to provide Anslinger with THC-infused cigarettes and also discovered several other cannabinoids.
What happened next to those discoveries is an outrageous story of government arrogance and intrigue run amok, and how those early discoveries ended up being used for twisted ends instead of landing in the hands of medical scientists who could otherwise have done so much good with them so much sooner…
…certainly an object lesson about how much has remained wrong about federal drug policy for so long…
We can’t say read and enjoy about this one, but we can (again) say read and learn….
#MMJ #Research #THC #Cannabinoids #Prohibition
http://ift.tt/2AqnC8X
See full article – Who Discovered THC? Setting the Record Straight
