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Mexico Just Legalized Medical Marijuana

  • June 22, 2017

In a move that demonstrates Mexico’s willingness to accept that medical marijuana has a pharmacological use in health care, President Enrique Peña Nieto has signed a decree calling for new public polices regulating its use, The Washington Post reports. The decree doesn’t specifically legalize the drug, but rather calls on Mexico’s Ministry of Health to draft and implement regulations on it, among other things.

Regardless of your views on the pros and cons of recreational marijuana, the body of scientific evidence about its medicinal value is getting more compelling as additional research is done. The cannabinoids in cannabis — cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — interact with your body by way of naturally-occurring cannabinoid receptors embedded in cell membranes throughout your body — and it’s encouraging that the Mexican government is beginning to recognize this.

What’s disconcerting is that the U.S. government continues to drag its feet, basically living in the Dark Ages, when it comes to legalizing medical marijuana nationwide. Even the former U.S. Surgeon General has spoken out in favor of medical marijuana. Yet, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is still trying to suppress it as best they can, including reclassifying CBD as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, putting it on par with LSD and heroin.

This despite the fact that CBD has no psychoactive component, meaning it cannot render you "high." This is truly tragic when you consider the many medical uses for CBD. This is a HUGE step backward, and actually may end up creating more medical refugees who flee to other countries, like Mexico, for treatment that can both help them and possibly save their lives.

If the idea of using medical cannabis (provided it's legal in your state) still makes you cringe, I recommend delving deeper into the research to educate yourself on the matter, especially if your alternative is an opioid pain pill or some other dangerous drug.