Are Drugs the
Answer–Prohibition to Prescription
While it is widely known that medical marijuana
is available for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, ALS, HIV/AIDS, Crohn’s,
Epilepsy, Glaucoma, MS, chronic pain, and cancer-treatment-induced nausea,
the FDA has not officially approved the use of cannabis for the treatment
of any medical condition1. As such, the use of medical marijuana,
and for which conditions, is largely left up to the individual states. Numerous
trials and studies are underway in regard to validating use of cannabis in
specific diseases and conditions.
Studies and trials have validated the use of
cannabis as effective in treating (to differing extents) PTSD, depression (for
some), sleep disorders (for some), epilepsy, and chronic pain2.
Strikingly, beyond cannabis, studies have shown the potential for other
formerly-illicit drugs to also have treatment potential for certain diseases.
Micro-dosing LSD has been shown in mice to reduce social anxiety3,
and in humans, LSD has been shown affective in treating alcoholism4.
“Shrooms,” namely psilocybin, are also delivering promising results in the
treatment of Parkinson’s5, anxiety, depression and suicidality, OCD,
and addiction cessation6. So while there remains much de-regulation
and re-legislation to be done, as well as much more safety and efficacy
testing, certain formerly-scheduled substances have already amassed a large
amount of data demonstrating their usefulness in offering other treatment
avenues for treatment-resistant conditions as well as being improved treatments
for other conditions.
1)
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/medical-marijuana/art-20137855
2)
https://www.mdlinx.com/physiciansense/does-marijuana-actually-help-with-that/
4)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6985449/
6)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6007659/
