Cannabis Legalization Will Make Canada The Best Country For Research
Research and medical studies on cannabis will catapult Canada into one of the best, if not the best, country in the world for cannabis research after the nation recreationally legalizes the substance in October.
Canada will become only the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalize the plant and stands to research the plant and find positive usages for it. This allows for many organizations who were unable to get authorization for cannabis research to finally study its therapeutic uses.
The legalization efforts come in the wake of the election of the country’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who campaigned and won on recreational legalization.
Currently, Canadians are allowed a license only for medical cannabis, but many dispensaries and organizations are gearing up for operations once legalization is implemented.
Vancouver’s University of British Columbia (UBC) recently announced its first-ever professorship of cannabis science, which provides research of cannabis in relation to the opioid crisis. Other studies in relation to post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) are ongoing as well.
As research grants and money flow into Canada’s medical marijuana community, many believe it will only be a matter of time before the country becomes the world leader in cannabis research.
It is already considered to be a world leader in terms of cannabis distribution with government-sanctioned Licensed Producers (LPs) leading the way in providing cannabis for thousands in Canada. They are even looking to expand abroad to other nations such as Germany and Australia to further their reach.
According to Zach Walsh, an associate professor at UBC’s department of psychology and co-director of the Centre for the Advancement of Psychological Science and Law legalization of cannabis in Canada allows for citizens to openly talk to their doctors about the drug as a viable treatment option.
“ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF LEGALIZATION IS THAT IT DOES REMOVE THAT STIGMA…SOON IT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN OPENLY TALK ABOUT WITH VARIOUS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND PROFESSIONALS. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT IT MORE OPENLY WITH YOUR FAMILY, AND THAT NEW, OPEN DIALOGUE IS WHAT WE NEED TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS AND MINIMIZE THE HARM.”
With Canada set to lead the way in research and development of the drug, many advocates see this as finally being cannabis’ time to prove its therapeutic benefits.
(via puffpuffpost.com)
