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This Senate Bill Would Make Marijuana Legal Across U.S.— Could That Curb Opioid Epidemic?

  • August 02, 2017

A bill has been introduced in the Senate to liberalize marijuana laws. Introduced by New Jersey’s Corey Booker, the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 would be a major step toward ending federal marijuana prohibition.  

Lifting the federal ban against marijuana would benefit medical cannabis researchers and patients alike. A major component of the law would be to remove marijuana from the Schedule I drug list. This ignominious list includes heroin, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy) and LSD. 

As reported by NBC, the law represents a carrot-and-stick approach. The stick would be to punish states that disproportionately arrest and incarcerate low income individuals and people of color for marijuana offenses. They would face the possibility of losing federal law enforcement and prison funds. Marijuana deportations would also be curtailed, a process for resentencing marijuana offenders would be created and the possibility of expungement would be on the table for federal offenses.   

The carrot would be a “Community Reinvestment Fund” to help communities that have been hard hit by the war on drugs. This $500 million dollar-a-year fund would provide job training and legal support for the expungement of convictions. Some of the funds from noncompliant states would be diverted to compliant ones and there would also be an emphasis on creating public facilities. These would include community centers and libraries to provide opportunities to youth. 

The full impact of these specific provisions will probably never be debated on the Senate floor. The bill is viewed as having little chance of ever coming up for vote. The specifics of this bill notwithstanding, lifting the federal ban on marijuana could provide a boost to medical cannabis and help address the opioid epidemic. 

Cannabis is a vastly underutilized therapeutic option that has been wrongly vilified by U.S. regulatory agencies. The human endocannabinoid system strongly suggests the human organism is actually designed to make good use of the cannabis plant. The primary role of the endocannabinoid system is to bring homeostasis to tissues and biological systems. Thus, the endocannabinoid system plays a key regulatory role in the human body. 

Some of the strongest research to date has focused on marijuana for pain relief and better sleep. In one study, just three puffs of marijuana a day for five days helped those with chronic nerve pain to relieve pain and sleep better. 

Marijuana was a popular botanical medicine in the 19th and early 20th centuries, common in U.S. pharmacies of the time (and its use can actually be dated back to 2700 B.C.). Today a wealth of research shows marijuana does have outstanding promise as a medicinal plant, largely due to its cannabidiol (CBD) content. Cannabinoids interact with your body by way of naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors embedded in cell membranes throughout your body.

There are cannabinoid receptors in your brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, immune system and more. Both the therapeutic and psychoactive properties of marijuana occur when a cannabinoid activates a cannabinoid receptor. Research is still ongoing on just how extensive their impact is on our health, but to date it's known that cannabinoid receptors play an important role in many body processes, including metabolic regulation, cravings, pain, anxiety, bone growth, and immune function.

With all the health risks associated with opioid painkillers, I strongly urge you to exhaust other options before resorting to these drugs. For a long list of alternative pain treatments, please see my previous articles, "Treating Pain Without Drugs" and "New Treatment Guidelines for Back Pain Stress Non-Drug Interventions."