The market for legal medical marijuana in the United States is booming, with 36 states and the District of Columbia having legalized the drug for a range of illnesses. Yet so far there is little scientific evidence to demonstrate that medical marijuana has any of the purported benefits that producers claim. What’s more, the product remains largely unregulated and anything but safe, according to a new book summarized in the New York Times. In fact, most of the same health concerns raised decades ago about using medical marijuana therapeutically remain unresolved, even as the potency of pot—and its intoxicating THC component—have dramatically increased. For example, proponents say medical pot can be an effective treatment for everything from pain to glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, but no scientific studies or randomized control trials have shown this to be true.
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission has finally started a long awaited law enforcement crackdown to stop the deceptive marketing of CBD products that contain the non-psychoactive component of marijuana. It has settled with six companies over their unsupported health claims that CBD can treat or prevent cancer, AIDS, heart disease and Alzheimer’s, among other diseases. The FTC says the action—creatively called CBDeceit—will send a clear message to the CBD industry.
And finally, former congressman Patrick Kennedy, who many believe is a top contender to be President Biden’s Drug Czar, has spoken out against growing opposition to his possible nomination from pro-pot lobbyists. Kennedy, who is in recovery, said the country is facing a trade-off between commercializing an addictive product and “paying the price down the road” with all the people who will suffer from addiction.