Editor’s note: This commentary is by Joseph W. McSherry, M.D., Ph.D., who is an associate professor of neurological sciences at the University of Vermont and a member of the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana. The views expressed here are his own.
[T]here are neurochemicals that date back to when we were jellyfish and still function, although with updated manifestations. The fight-flight adrenergic system that helps us prepare with heart rate, blood pressure and pupillary changes to fight or run, for instance. Or the dopaminergic system that tells us to get up and go, mornings and evenings. And there is a system in us that tells us to kick back and heal – the endocannabinoid system. Yes, you have a couple of chemicals produced in you that simulate the cannabis derived THC, called anadamide and 2AG. What they do is tell you to forget your anger, lower your blood pressure, maybe consider sleep, and if you have a little cancer, kill it.
What!? Well in 1976 the U.S. government, wanting to prove cannabis caused cancer to go wild, funded research that showed that cancer cells die when exposed to THC, CBD or CBN (stuff in cannabis). That research was buried and a lot of people have died of cancer since. More recent studies outside of the U.S. have shown that cells around cancers in humans have turned up the endocannabinoid system to kill the cancer.
What else does the endocannabinoid do? You may have heard of the runner’s high, the pleasant feeling from running, be you human or dog. This is activation of the endocannabinoid system. And after vigorous exercise you get more deep sleep. Deep sleep is important because that is when you get all the gunk out of your brain through the glymphatic system (the drainage system that turns on in deep sleep). What else turns up deep sleep and improves your breathing if you snore? THC from cannabis.
Meditation is good for lowering blood pressure and stress. Shuts down the frontal lobes from all that planning and worry. Just as THC does. Meditation and exercise are better for you than cannabis because you can get on a plane going somewhere other than a private prison without the drug sniffing dogs biting you. But what about folk my age, with arthritis and other busted up bits who cannot do high intensity exercise and maybe have trouble understanding what to do for meditation?
The prohibitionists offer the frothy festering fluctuant furuncle of fear when addressing legalization of cannabis.
There are strong anti-inflammatory effects and pain modulating effects of THC as well, making getting old a bit less annoying. The dissolution of sleep with decline in mental function may also benefit from a THC brownie at bedtime, with more slow wave sleep and perhaps a better day tomorrow. So why is cannabis not on everyone’s table?
The prohibitionists offer the frothy festering fluctuant furuncle of fear when addressing legalization of cannabis. The fumes knock us over, flat us out they do. Well, here is the antidote.
Optimism. The big “O”s that are public health problems in Vermont are obesity and opiates, and their corollaries overeating and over-dosing. Legal cannabis for responsible adults will help!
First, rats fed high-fat obesity-inducing diets become obese compared to their littermates fed regular diets. Give THC to the rats fed the obesity-inducing diet – and they continue to be active and consume less calories and are less obese. Humans? Population studies reveal that the obesity rate among abstainers is 24 percent and among regular cannabis users is 16 percent. That is a 50 percent greater rate of obesity among those who abstain from cannabis. Next time a foaming prohibitionist fulminates in your face, observe the belt line.
Second, opiates induce dependence (if you stop, everything hurts) and tolerance (more needed to get relief) and withdrawal (you get really sick and may die if you stop suddenly). In rats given THC while they are addicted to opiates the development of tolerance and dependence is mitigated and withdrawal is less severe. In humans the government prevents research but patients come off opiates and use medical cannabis for neuropathic pain. States with medical cannabis laws see an 8 percent drop in opiate overdose deaths. Even sensation-seeking addicts are happy to use cannabis for a “high” rather than opiates if one is easy to acquire and the other is not. Most importantly, eliminating the pipeline for illegal cannabis because it is enormously popular and illegal, and illegal dangerous drugs to kids, will save the next generation, our kids, from exposure to drug pushers of opiates for pleasure and addiction!
Vermonters have a choice to make: Fawn before the fear god born of ignorance or overcome the phony fear and the obesity and opiate public health disasters. Rationally legalize cannabis distribution to responsible adults. Or bear the responsibility for continuing the kids to opiate addiction, counselors, prison paradigm.
