Michael Backes (Head of R&D Abatin)

(Video link to interview at end of discussion.)

Marijuana is illegal because it is poorly understood. 

Even many who profess an appreciation for cannabis, do not understand how to dose it, how to breed it, how to ingest it, how to store it, how to avoid its adverse effects, or even how to truly appreciate it.  That may sound overly harsh, but...

Prohibition of cannabis has insured one thing: that access to evidence-based information about the plant and its uses has been severely hampered. 

Ask an opponent of cannabis legalization why it's illegal and they'll spout a bunch of nonsense about its dangers to the individual and society.  

Ask a proponent of cannabis legalization the same question, and surprisingly you'll get a bunch of nonsense about conspiracies and threats to vested corporate interests.

Both sides tend to get it wrong. 

We do know that humans have been lugging around the cannabis plant for at least 12,000 years, so we do know that there is certainly a bit of co-evolution between us and this fascinating plant.  We've basically been BFF with the plant since the last Ice Age ended, except for the last seventy years.

Remember that the real science of cannabis is still pretty new.  THC was discovered in 1963, and the body's endocannabinoid system was uncovered in the late 1980's.  Today, the endocannabinoid system is not completely mapped.  Cannabis also likely interacts with several additional systems within the body.  That means that we simply don't have a thorough understanding of how cannabis works. Cannabis is far more than its THC content, and contains an entire chemical ecology of cannabinoids, terpenoids and flavonoids that is daunting in its complexity.  And different varieties of cannabis differ slightly in their chemistry.

Over the next couple of years, as more in-depth study of the plant's constituents and pharmacology is conducted, then higher quality evidence will emerge about the benefits and risks of using cannabis. And regardless of this evidence, laws against cannabis in the United States are going to be reformed.  The evidence will just help people better integrate the use of the plant into their lives and underscore the reason that the laws will, and must be, changed.  

Cannabis is an extraordinary plant.  The more we learn about it, the better we can use and appreciate it.  It must be treated with respect, but it is certainly not to be feared, simply better understood.

Here's an interview I did with Richard Metzger about cannabis for his Dangerous Minds show...

  Medical Marijuana Primer with Michael Backes (vimeo.com)