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Legalize Cannabis as Treatment of Last Resort for MS, Says Charity

In a plea to governments around the world to wake up to the medicinal benefits of medical marijuana, the MS Society in Great Britain is asking the U.K. to relax its rules so people with multiple sclerosis (MS) can seek relief through cannabis, The Guardian reports. Doctors who treat MS patients have backed the society’s call, The Guardian added.

It’s more than clear that marijuana research not only supports its safety in a medicinal form, but can offer significant health benefits for minimal risk. But instead of recognizing it for the good that it does, governments everywhere seem stuck on the idea that marijuana in any form needs to be a controlled substance — a category reserved for the most dangerous of drugs, including heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.

Interestingly, prominent U.S. physicians have come out in support of medicinal marijuana, including former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who acknowledged that marijuana may be useful for certain medical conditions. The truth is medical marijuana is a vastly underutilized therapeutic option as a result of die-hard and antiquated drug enforcement laws.

The human endocannabinoid system — endo meaning "within" — strongly suggests the human organism is actually designed to make good use of the cannabis plant. In other words, the marijuana plant triggers something that's been inside us since the dawn of mankind. Also, there is no fatal toxicity associated with cannabis. Making cannabidiol — a non-psychoactive, nontoxic component of marijuana with medicinal value — a schedule 1 drug benefits no one except the drug companies that have to compete against it.