CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is confident in the value of medical marijuana. A previous opponent of the drug’s legalization, Gupta has had a change of heart. “We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that,” he says. In his recent article on CNN, Gupta urges us to reconsider marijuana’s place within society.
“It doesn’t have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works,” says Gupta. He cites studies of medical marijuana patients who have experienced tremendous results from the historically demonized drug. In one case, a woman suffering from 300 seizures a week experienced a remarkable calming effect from the drug, limiting her seizures to 2 or 3 per month.
Gupta is determined to set the record straight on weed. He refutes that the drug is addictive, as many opponents claim. In a study performed by the New York Academy of Science, they found “marijuana did not lead to significant addiction in the medical sense of the word.” Gupta believes that our perception of the drug has been convoluted through its representation throughout the decades.
There are numerous challenges faced by scientists wanting to delve further into the issue. First, marijuana is of course, illegal. Secondly, it is difficult to gain approval to carry out studies. Scientists need approval from the NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which is an organization that focuses on drug abuse, rather than benefits. Entrapped by the ongoing debate are patients who depend on marijuana as genuine medication for a broad range of ailments.
While Gupta outlines the obstacles we face in reevaluating the benefits of marijuana, he offers an optimistic perspective looking into the future. He cites studies in Spain and Israel who are looking at the anti-cancer effects of marijuana, a neuro-protective study by Lev Meschoulam in Israel, and research in Israel and the United States on whether the drug may help alleviate symptoms of PTSD as reasons not to give up the fight. He concludes, “I promise to do my part to help, genuinely and honestly, fill the remaining void in our knowledge.”
This article originally appeared on the Urban Times.
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