Page 36 - Time Special Edition Alternative Medicine (January 2020)
P. 36
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE NATURAL HEALING
are superb, and some are mild to moderate.” Yet de- conditions. “I think the Schedule I classification is
spite these results, the drug remains incredibly dif- insane and non scientific,” says Devinsky. “We have
ficult to study. That’s because marijuana is still clas- so much data showing that CBD is not an addictive
sified as a Schedule I drug in the United States. drug. It’s certainly safer than so many drugs that are
Many researchers who study cannabis, includ- not scheduled at all.” Such as alcohol, he points out.
ing Devinsky, argue that the label does not match In the U.S., 33 states and the District of Columbia
the science. Many of the compounds used in stud- have legalized marijuana for medical use, and pa-
ies for therapeutic purposes do not contain THC, tients are using cannabis-based products for a wide
the compound in marijuana that gives people a range of ailments, from seizures to PTSD to chronic
high and that authorities may find objectionable. pain. The growth of the medical-marijuana market
Part of what may make cannabis compounds effec- and its legalization suggest a changing tide of so-
tive medicine are the more than 60 cannabinoids cial acceptance. “I think cannabis has gone from a
they contain that interact with the body’s central plant that can produce compounds for spasms to a
nervous system and provide relief from a variety of promise being realized,” says Devinsky.
34
