The Truth about Cannabis

There has been a lot of negative stigma surrounding cannabis that I want to debunk, along with several other extremely helpful drugs that America has historically demonized as a means of control. Most people don’t know that the body naturally produces a compound similar to THC. It is a fatty‑acid neurotransmitter called arachidonoylethanolamide, also known as AEA. This neurotransmitter is released when the body experiences joy, bliss, or stress from injuries.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, has a unique relationship with the human body, and cannabis interacts with the body in ways unlike any other plant. Regardless of how the plant is consumed, there appear to be more beneficial effects than negative ones, yet in this country it has been demonized largely due to a lack of information. The human body even has an internal cannabis system known as the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS plays a major role in decreasing anxiety, controlling cell metabolism, regulating blood sugar, increasing curiosity, stimulating the growth of new neurons (a process known as neurogenesis), and reducing pain.

Personally, I have never had a problem with cannabis itself. My main concerns involve improper methods of consumption. Most people smoke cannabis to experience its benefits, but studies have shown that you only receive about 15–20 percent of its effects when it is smoked. Depending on the method—using tobacco, bongs, or pipes—my biggest issue is the damage done to the lungs, which can lead to disease with long‑term use. This is also how dependency can develop, and we all know someone who feels they can’t function without smoking first.

Regardless of how it is consumed, cannabis still plays a major role in reducing inflammation by inducing apoptosis in immune cells that produce inflammatory cytokines. Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death, in which cells shrink and break down in a controlled way.

My question is: why is a plant with so many healing properties illegal, while alcohol—which has virtually no health benefits—is legal? It seems as though cannabis was made by God to be used as a healing tool, like many other plants, yet the American pharmaceutical industry appears designed more to maintain sickness than to heal it.

This issue is personal to me because I’ve seen the effects of cannabis firsthand when my dad was suffering from cancer. The only thing that gave him an appetite was THC. It also helped him cope with the chronic stomach pain he experienced after surgery. It’s hard for me to demonize a drug that brought my father some measure of comfort in his last days. Not an opiate, the plant itself brought him pure joy and that made me happy. Fuck a pill smoke as many joints as you need to before you swallow another pill, I promise you, you'll be better off than you expect.