Canada’s cannabis legalization means it could join Israel as a leader in medical cannabis research, leaving U.S. scientists behind as the industry gains acceptance and grows into billions of dollars in sales worldwide.
Israel has been studying cannabis for its possible use on a wide range of ailments and last spring there were over 100 clinical trials underway, according to US News And World Report. One company, Tikkum Olam, named after the Jewish concept of being obliged to do good deeds and “repair the world,” has participated in clinical trials since 2010. Those trials have included more than 20,000 patients suffering from symptoms associated with cancer, PTSD, AIDS, epilepsy, Crohn’s Disease/colitis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, chronic pain and neuropathy.
Now Canada will fully enter the legal medical cannabis before the United States does. National legalization means “Canada will have an advantage on U.S. universities and researchers,” said Richard Batenburg Jr., fund manager at Cliintel Capital Management Group. The U.S. can’t match the scientific rigor of conducting double-blind, placebo controlled and randomized studies, “because it (cannabis) can’t be dispensed.”
Allowing the study of marijuana in the United States would also mean that, “researchers would no longer have to operate under the specter of losing their jobs and accreditation due to their research interest in the medical benefits of cannabis,” said Joe Keenan chief technology officer of GoFire, a vaporizer and software company.
Without access to robust research and science, cannabis patients often need to experiment to see what works best for them. Currently entrepreneurs rather than medical researchers are providing choices. GoFire for example, makes vaporizers that come with an app so users can keep track of what kind of cannabis they are using, how much, when they used it, and then track its effects so they can adjust the type, amount and frequency of the cannabis they use.
There is interest at top U.S. research universities. Next month UCLA will host CannMed 2018 to share cannabis information. Tikun Olam will present its peer-reviewed study on cannabis treatment for cancer patients
Health Canada licensed more producers in the last twelve months than in the four previous years according to a Canadian government website. Access to more producers and sellers means that patients in Canada who use marijuana medicinally will have more competitive pricing, and a larger range of products to try for their ailments, according to the site
Some foresee an important role for the plant in solving a current public health crisis. “Medically, cannabis will certainly replace an enormous proportion of opiates as a pain-manager,” predicts Hamish Sutherland, chief operating officer of WhiteSheep Corporation a cannabis growing and investment company. “The opportunity will be profound.”
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