Marijuana Like Climate Warming: When Facts Get Labeled As “Opinions”

I was watching Fox News yesterday, and someone said “global warming, why are we still talking about it? Scientists don’t even agree on it.” I was sitting on my sofa, and I started thinking about a similar statement I heard a week ago. It was some journalist who said “we are not even sure cannabis is healthy.” Dear Fox News people, and skeptical journalists of the world: climate change and the health benefits of cannabis are facts, I am very sorry about it.

It’s really all a matter of information deficit. NASA confirms that “Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position.” On the other hand, the public think that the percentage of climate scientists who agree on global warming is close to 55 percent. This is what the Guardian called “the consensus gap,” the result of misinformation and propaganda.

The same gap exists if we think about the way in which marijuana and its benefits are considered by the scientific community and the general public. According to a survey of 1,544 doctors from more than 12 specialties (from at least 48 states) conducted by WebMD, “A whopping 69 percent agree that marijuana could be effective in treating certain ailments.” As Michael W. Smith, MD, WebMD Chief Medical Editor said, “The medical community is clearly saying they support using marijuana as a potential treatment option for any number of medical problems.  In fact, many doctors already prescribe it. But health professionals are still unclear as to what the long-term effects may be. The findings would indicate a strong desire to have the DEA ease the restrictions on research so that additional studies can be done to conclusively show where medical marijuana can help and where it might not.”

Basically, yes, cannabis is good, but we need more research, and that’s why it should be legalized. Honestly, think about a world where a doctor can go online, buy some weed or even seeds (and the website to do so would be http://greenhouseseeds.nl/), and then spend time doing research and experiments, instead of being afraid of “the law”: wouldn’t this be a better world?

I certainly believe so, just like I am sure we should stop questioning whether or not scientists believe in global warming.