Oklahoma Biker - The Riders Ragazine OKB September - October 2018 | Page 34
Medical Marijuana
By Julie Wenger Watson
Oklahoma Sate Question 788, the
“Medical Marijuana Legalization
Initiative,” was on the ballot and
approved in Oklahoma this June.
While the vote legalized the licensed
cultivation, use and possession of
marijuana for medical purposes, the
regulations for its implementation are
still in the works. Although its clear legal
medical marijuana is coming to the
state, the details of exactly how this will
look aren’t yet known. In the meantime,
questions abound about what medical
marijuana is and how it’s delivered.
Medical Marijuana
According to the National Institutes
of Health, Medical marijuana refers
to the use of the whole, unprocessed
marijuana plant or its basic extracts
to treat symptoms of illness and other
conditions. Marijuana is derived from
the Cannabis sativa plant. It contains
more than 100 chemical compounds,
called cannabinoids. When ingested or
oklahoma biker the riders ragazine
inhaled, these compounds act on the
brain and nerve cells, slowing pain and
easing discomfort. Currently, the two
main compounds for medical interest
are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – which
creates the “high” – and cannabidiol
(CBD).
Science
While anecdotal evidence of the
medicinal benefits of marijuana
abound, currently, the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) has neither
recognized nor approved the use of
marijuana plants as medicine. The
FDA requires extensive studies in
hundreds to thousands of human
subjects to assess the risks and
benefits of possible medications before
approving them for use. These kinds
of large-scale clinical trials necessary
for FDA approval simply haven’t been
done. However, scientific studies of
cannabinoids have led to FDA-approval
of medications that contain cannabinoid
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