In a display of recognition that marijuana is a serious medicine that can be used to treat serious illnesses, US state governments have started legalizing the use of CBD oils to treat certain serious illnesses. It is a new wave of legalization that will likely result in states becoming more comfortable with considering that other chemicals produced by cannabis plants can have drastic beneficial effects on users health. Shall I say, it’s about damned time!

For those who are not familiar, Cannabidiol is a cannabinoid produced by the marijuana plant which has no psychoactive effect. It literally cannot be abused for recreation, but has one of the longest lists of benefits of all the cannabinoids. It occurs in high concentrations in the hemp plant, and in specialized crossbreeds and is the most abundant cannabinoid. It is kind of sad that this chemical has not been studied more when you consider that it is not a drug of abuse, and it is a little surprising that states are only recently allowing it to be used as medicine.

One of the Most Versatile Medicines

So what can CBD be used for as medicine? Well the list is long as CBD is an: anxiolytic (anti-anxiety,) analgesic (pain relief similar to acetaminophen,) antipsychotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and most importantly an antispasmodic. This last effect is the most important, and is the reason why the chemical is being used as medicine.

CBD is one of the only known medicines known to work in patients suffering from an extreme form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. Many stories have been released about families who had nowhere to turn but CBD, which worked in a miraculous way. Their children stopped having seizures and were able to live normal lives, only because of the antispasmodic effect of CBD.

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11 States and Counting

In the last few years, 11 states have jumped onto the CBD bandwagon by legalizing the oils to be used as medicines and prescribed by neurologists. Hopefully these laws will serve as a foot in the door for state legislatures to discuss the use of other chemicals in marijuana as medicine, if not the plant itself.

It is estimated that more than 700 disorders could be treated with marijuana, and it is just stupid to not allow this medicine to be used simple because people can get high. Last time I checked we use morphine and codeine every day as medicine, which have infinitely more harmful effects than marijuana. Oh and did I mention that most of the negative effects of THC are countered by CBD? Politicians don’t really have a leg to stand on; though I am sure they will try.