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HEMP
For Marcu, this pharmacological model explains
the fallacy of the legislative fad to legalize only
CBD, a compound which has been shown to
have medical benefits and supposedly provides
no intoxicating effect – a claim at which Marcu
scoffs. “CBD is psychoactive,” he said. “It’s not
like THC, it has a unique and different mechanism, but it does go into the brain and have an
effect.” Perhaps that is why the FDA recently
clarified that, as far as it’s concerned, CBD is still
a Schedule I drug, regardless of the legislative
ardor beginning to sweep state houses as elected representatives begin to educate themselves
about the complex chemistry of cannabis. But
there’s an even greater flaw to the thinking underlying “CBD-only” bills: “There is no such thing
as CBD-only cannabis,” Marcu said. “And if there
were, it would not be effective.”
As the entourage effect has shown, cannabis works best as a whole plant. That means
research growers like Dr. Guy must produce
plants with plenty of THC, CBD and the rest of
the cannabinoids; but it also means terpenes,
too – regardless of whether they like the smell.
And the same entourage effect also means that
the latest legislative trend sweeping America’s
state houses is missing the forest for the trees.
ARTICLE
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Jeremy Daw, J.D. is the editor, with Chris Conrad, of
The Leaf. A 2008 graduate of Harvard Law School,
he worked as editor-in-chief of Cannabis Now Magazine until 2013. Besides Cannabis Now and the
Leaf, his writings have been featured on Salon.
com, SFGate.com, AlterNet Drugs, and numerous
other outlets in print and online. His book Weed
the People: From Founding Fiber to Forbidden
Fruit (2012), a 400-year history of cannabis policy in
North America, has been acclaimed as “one of the
best accounts of the early US hemp industry” by
Michael Aldrich, PhD, and was declared “fascinating
and incredibly well researched” by Danny Danko,
senior cultivation editor at High Times. Jeremy is
also a professor at Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California, where he teaches Politics & History
as well as Economics. He lives in Berkeley, CA.