The CBD Debate, D.E.A. and W.H.O., Who will win?

By Spike Bowan
Source: cbdamericanshaman.com

The FDA has admitted that CBD Oil is beneficial and had approached the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) several weeks ago to receive a ruling on the matter of Cannabidoil (CBD). The W.H.O. has now released it's findings.

CBD is one of 17 substances currently under scheduling review by the WHO. This process affects only the WHO and the United Nations. It does not directly deal with the status of CBD under the federal Controlled Substances Act—but it could have an indirect effect by influencing the outcome of the conflict over the federal categorization of cannabidiol.

Forbes.com Reports:

"According to a preliminary WHO report published last month, naturally occurring CBD is safe and well tolerated in humans (and animals), and is not associated with any negative public health effects [PDF].

Experts further stated that CBD, a non-psychoactive chemical found in cannabis, does not induce physical dependence and is "not associated with abuse potential." The WHO also wrote that, unlike THC, people aren't getting high off of CBD, either.

"To date, there is no evidence of recreational use of CBD or any public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD," they wrote. In fact, evidence suggests that CBD mitigates the effects of THC (whether joyous or panicky), according to this and other reports. 

The WHO team determined that CBD has "been demonstrated as an effective treatment for epilepsy" in adults, children, and even animals, and that there's "preliminary evidence" that CBD could be useful in treating  Alzheimer's disease, cancer, psychosis, Parkinson's disease, and other serious conditions." (Read More)

The US Drug Enforcement Administration has long held that the non-psychoactive component of marijuana, cannabidiol, is a schedule I drug. That is, a drug that has no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. But according to a preliminary report embraced by the World Health Organization this week, the DEA’s long-held stance according to www.arstechnica.com.

The U.S., the report noted, isn't one of the countries that has changed it's view on CBD oil at the Federal level. As a cannabis component, CBD remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning it has a "high potential for abuse" in the federal government's view.

In 1970, a federal law put cannabis in the same category as heroin, Schedule 1 of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, and finds it has no medicinal value. This study was done almost 50 years ago! The bill vilified the potential for cannabis and prolonged ailments for countless thousands of people that could have been cured and treated. Rumor has it, that the bill was pushed by politicians who were being paid by pharmaceutical lobbyists who didn’t want their profit margins to decrease. Proof of this is sketchy at best.

The legalization of medical marijuana in an increasing number of U.S. states may be linked with a lower rate of use of other prescription drugs aside from opioids too. The researchers found that the rates of opioid use decreased in adults ages 21 to 40 in states with legalized medical marijuana where residents with prescriptions could obtain cannabis from dispensaries or grow their own, compared to states that had legalized medical marijuana but did not yet have an operational program for people to obtain it.

Slowly but surely, it would seem that even the Federal agencies responsible for holding back the progress of cannabis therapies and cannabis research are beginning to wake up.

With countless personal testimonies from people filling up the World Wide Web on how CBD oil has fixed their ailments, what used to be a whisper is now a very loud and resounding shout.

Arthritis, cancer, epilepsy, PTSD, Anxiety, G.I. issues (gastrointestinal), gout, Parkinson’s disease; the list of afflictions being remedied is ever growing and evermore powerful evidence that CBD oil is a potential answer for hundreds of thousands of people in the world. Maybe more.

In the end, the question is, "Will the W.H.O. Report/Findings, sway the D.E.A.'s position on cannabis, medical marijuana and CBD products?"