As cannabis researchers, we work in a field whose unknowns could positively or negatively affect the health of millions of Americans. But the U.S. government’s decades-long prohibition of cannabis research forcefully limits what we might learn. Adding to the absurdity, the recent relaxation of this prohibition may promote a public health threat.
A recent Washington Post commentary by former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb raised compelling points about products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating molecule made by the cannabis plant. It also exposed our policymakers’ dysfunctional lack of discernment between the closely related cannabis and hemp plants. Today, cannabis is federally criminalized and research into its potential medical value is stifled, while hemp products are widely commercialized with almost no oversight.