The first scientific discovery made about the cannabis plant was in 1964.
For decades scientists and medical professionals had wondered what compound in the cannabis plant provided a euphoric effect, or the ‘high’ that consumers experienced after consuming cannabis.
It was in 1964 that world renowned Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam discovered tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a cannabinoid that provides euphoric effects when consumed in large enough amounts.
But recent changes in public policy and the market-driven demand for cannabis is changing that in rapid fashion, which is great news for medical cannabis patients in America and beyond.
The unconcealed insincerity of the United States government
According to the federal government, cannabis is a Schedule I drug, which means that the feds consider it to have no currently accepted medical use.Since 1968, The United States government has had a cannabis cultivation research program at the University of Mississippi.
All ‘official’ research on cannabis has to be conducted using cannabis grown from the 12-acre University of Mississippi complex, which poses a number of problems, not the least of which is concerns over contamination. The federal government has been able to limit the amount of research conducted in America by controlling access to cannabis for research purposes, while simultaneously conducting its own research, creating a near control on cannabis research in America.
The perfect storm for a revolution
The production of medical cannabis public policy changes across America has resulted in a dramatic increase in the demand for cannabis research from consumers and state regulators.
In the past the federal government benefited from the average citizen being unaware of the monopoly on medical research.
The method in which research is conducted in America is ineffective, and to a large extent, unrealistic.In addition to contamination concerns, the cannabis being grown by the federal government is simply not like what consumers are using.
An influx of scientists
Interest in cannabis science and research has been limited in decades past due to the disgrace that goes along with cannabis, even for those that don’t use it.
The influx of scientific professionals in the industry has created a situation in which we are experiencing a revolution, with the secrets of the plant being unlocked at a pace never seen before.
“I think that we’re watching an active evolution which is certainly an exciting thing to participate in and to be part of. I think we’re going to see the rate of change accelerate in the next few years because of what’s transpired legally voter initiative-wise, legislatively, and we are starting to see more and more scientific professionals get on board. “Overall I think that you look at polling numbers you’ll see the medical acceptance rate is really really significant.
All cannabis in the legal industry has to be tested, and data from those tests are being analyzed all over the country. That’s also a pretty welcome sign that everybody is rather accepting a medicinal use of them
What does the future hold?
Sometime back cannabis consumers were not even able to get their hands on cannabis flower.
Things have changed dramatically in states that allow legal cannabis industries to exist, People that live in prohibition states can visit legal states, and the average cannabis consumer is becoming more and more sophisticated by the day, especially on the medical side.
No one knows what the future holds. Products that are available today seemed light years away just a few years ago.
One thing is for sure, cannabis product development is going to be driven by scientific research going forward, which is a good thing.
You can also see the rest of the world is doing and really helping to introduce all plant cannabis standardize compositions and there’s just goanna be an overwhelming amount of evidence in the very near future that just really cannot be ignored any more.