Legalize it… A look into cannabis
After 45 years after the airing of the popular song, the UN arrived to the decision to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
It was back in 1976 as reggae songwriter Peter Tosh wrote a song pleading to legalize medical marihuana; many people identified themselves with the meaning behind its lyrics due to the fact that in addition to recreational consumption, cannabis was widely known for its health benefits. This song became a symbol for a growing movement and it took 45 years to convince the scientific and regulatory communities on the qualities of such a powerful plant!
“It’s good for the flu, good for asthma, good for tuberculosis, even Numara thrombosis,” it says in its lyrics, way ahead of his time”
The seventies had two major landmarks in the development of medical cannabis, legal and scientific. There were many efforts to legalize marihuana in the US, New Mexico and Louisiana were the first states to do so in 1978 followed by Virginia, Montana, Oregon and California in 1979. These states adventured to approve the legalization of marihuana for medical purposes, these laws however were not implemented due to lack of standards and the typical bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles within the regulations.
On the scientific side, there were professors like Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and his team from Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel who, after many years of research published his discoveries on THC and other cannabinoids. These studies generated a snowball effect of research evidence and twenty years later, this same group discovered what was called the endocannabinoid system, concluding that humans secrete anandamide, a substance with similar chemical structure to THC. From there we understood that maintaining balance of anandamide was vital in humans. After this discovery, just like a domino effect, state regulators started a non-stop approval for medical cannabis worldwide.
Cannabis was an important commodity globally, it became a key component during the golden era of sailing where lines, ropes and sails were manufactured from hemp fiber. In that same era cannabis was also utilized to treat health ailments as it is reported in Ethan Russo’s book “Cannabis and Cannabinoids”. Cannabis was widely used and it was entered in the United States Pharmacopeia in 1850.
We know today that cannabis seeds are an excellent source of nutritious omega oils as well as a great source of protein, much more than soybean and quinoa. We also know that hemp fiber is long and strong making it perfect for textiles, and that the heart of its stem, the hurd, is strong and porous making the perfect buffer material for housing projects. Cannabis is such a powerful CO2 fixator that it might become a strong ally for environmental protection, and in addition it adsorbs heavy metals, thus making it the perfect tool for phytoremediation in mining operations or nuclear disasters such as the one that happened in Chernobyl, Russia.
We hope to see a rapid adoption of cannabis in day-to-day activities, as it is proven to add value to our way of life in a sustainable way.
Reggae and science…what a combination! “Legalize it” helped convey a lost message that claims that hemp is simply a wonder crop.
By Raul Injoque COO of Futura Farms
