New advancements in medical marijuana

“If it was discovered in some remote corner of the world today,” said David Hill, “it would be hailed as a miracle.”

But marijuana is hardly a new find. Human beings discovered it thousands of years ago and have used it medicinally – as well as recreationally – ever since.

As short a time ago as 1915 it was acceptable in the pharmacy, but from about the 1930's on marijuana's principle role has been that of a villain, deemed an illegal substance and a studied scientifically more for the harm it could do than the good. It's only very recently (relative to those thousands of years) that the drug has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance, especially in Canada. The government enacted legislation in 2001 that made marijuana legally available to qualifying patients, essentially making Canada the first country in the world to do so. Since then Health Canada has funded medical research into the drug (though the government's cost-cutting last month chopped $4 million from research) and Canada was the first country to approve Sativex in April 2005, a spray derived from marijuana used to treat pain in MS patients. Prairie Plant Systems, the company with the sole license to grow marijuana for Health Canada since, reports that it will increase production by 80 per cent over the next year, and expects demand to keep increasing. A survey completed last month found that 80 per cent of Canadians believe adults should be able to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if recommended by a doctor.