I think it's OK to start with anecdotes

The medical benefits of marijuana have been under-researched and cast in the shadows of the war on drugs, particularly in the United States.  However, at many of the industry events I attend, I hear incredible stories of cannabis business owners that entered the industry professionally because of a transformational, often life-saving experience with the plant.  As such, since there are no large scale clinical studies, I wanted to dive a little deeper into #whyicannabis item #4 and share some incredible stores of the curative nature of this plant.  This list is only a tiny sample of anecdotes.  There is so much to learn and discover about what this plant can do.

For now, I'll leave aside the plants benefits of reducing anxiety and stimulating appetite.  Anyone that has tried cannabis can likely attest to those side effects (I seem to remember someone making a butter-finger quesadilla when I was in business school...how's that for appetite stimulation?).  However, these seemingly tangential side effects can be crucially important for patients fighting serious illness that can cause extreme emotional distress, weight loss, loss of appetite, inability to sleep, and so on.

I'd also like to reiterate that my #whyicannabis #4 isn't even necessarily about the medical efficacy of the plant.  It's about my feeling that people like me shouldn't be the ones voting on whether doctors can prescribe this drug along with the other drugs at the pharmacy.  Most every important medication can be dangerous if it is misused.  This one is no exception, but we should leave it to the scientists, doctors, and patients to make these decisions.


One of the more well-known stories is of Charlotte Figi.  The linked article is very much worth a read, but to summarize, Charlotte had her first seizure at 9 months.  At the peak of her battle, Charlotte was having 300 seizures a week, and her heart had stopped on several occasions.  Traditional medical treatments were not working, and her brain damage was compounding. After years of fighting, the Figi family made the decision to try cannabis as a treatment.  Charlotte receives two doses of cannabis oil in her food each day.  The current regimen has reduced her seizures from 300 to 2-3 per month and she is developing towards age appropriate milestone.

Another moving story is of Alexis Bortell.  Can you imagine being this brave at age 11?  This type of story moves me in a major way.  This is exactly why we need to take a step back, rethink the politicized "war on drugs", and pursue sensible drug policy in America

Keegan McKeough had an adverse reaction to a flu vaccine that resulted in Guillain-Barre syndrome.  After experiencing multiple episodes of paralysis over 10 years, he found a mostly CBD cannabis regimen that has kept him out of the hospital for over a year.

Perhaps the most controversial medical topic is whether cannabis can be effective in reversing certain types of cancer.  If you google "Cannabis cured my cancer" you can read plenty of testimonies of efficacy.  The story of Stefanie Larue is a good example.  I am in no position to comment on whether or not these scores of stories are true, but at the very least, proper medical research would be worthwhile.

Crohn's disease, chronic pain, skin cancer, fibromyalgia, PTSD are some of the other common ailments that are thought to benefit from cannabis treatment.