Senior federal health official believes marijuana research on opioid substitution studies should blast obstruction

A senior federal health official says barriers to marijuana research, including the continued prohibition of marijuana by federal law, need to be addressed in order to open up research on areas such as how cannabinoids can be used as a safer management tool than opioids. Helene Langevin, director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), said in a blog post Tuesday that most federally funded cannabis research to date "has focused on the potential harms of THC. She argued that it is important to develop a more comprehensive scientific understanding of the potential benefits and harms of the plant and its components. A major obstacle to cannabis research is that it remains a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). "Little is known about the other 110 cannabinoids and 120 terpenes contained in the plant that interact with multiple body systems. Gaining new insights into their properties, used together or alone, and potential therapeutic uses will open up new directions for whole-person research."

Information source: marijuanamoment.net