In the latest story of the cannabis saga, dealers in the UK are now prescribing weed to treat illnesses. The story would be comical were it not so tragic. Black market dealers are now prescribing marijuana to patients. It is not simply black-market dealers but the cultivators who are not trying to get people to believe they can accurately prescribe marijuana to treat certain illnesses. A Birmingham based cannabis producer and dealer told Metro.co.uk he has been giving out medical advice since the spring.The 28-year-old man, who has no medical qualifications, said: ‘People over here know in America and other parts of the world cannabis is used to for medical purposes so it makes sense I know as much about the drugs I am growing as possible.
Expertise is Nowhere
Critics are easy to start complaining about thesewould be doctors. And of course, doctors in America are scoffing, saying such persons have no qualifications and that it is a dangerous practice. But there are many issues with this disdain from the medical sector for a number of reasons. Many medical marijuana “experts” are doctors who simply shifted camouflage when it seemed the tides of legalization were turning pro marijuana. They quickly did a couple of months “research”, got a license and called themselves experts, while very possibly proclaiming the dangers of marijuana in years past. But how does their two months of theoretical research compare to people who have been growing and smoking marijuana their whole lives? They have mere textbook knowledge and no experience as marijuana only recently became legalized in many states.
Then there is the more obvious point that nobody is really an expert in marijuana prescription. All that is really known about marijuana is that Indicas are generally prescribed for pain, insomnia and appetite. Sativas are generally prescribed for depression and mental disorders. Anxiety lies in the middle and hybrids can have different effects. At the end of the day marijuana is very much a subjective experience. And in relation to mental disorders in particular it is really a matter of trial and error, as these illnesses have no definitive biological markers and the same people with ADHD, ADD and schizophrenia can all have completely different symptoms. Different types of marijuana will generate different effects on each person. It is far more important to make sure the strain is of a high quality without any toxins than it is to prescribe the mythical perfect strain of weed for a particular patient. No amount of medical data can determine the perfect strain, as it is all touch and go, experimentation and trial and error at this early stage.
Far more dangerous is the fact that illegal growth operations are growing low quality weed and selling it to consumers. Illegal growth operations are not regulated and they use pesticides on their weed and other chemicals to encourage growth. The perfect blend of Indica to Sativa along with THC content is no good if your weed is chock full of formaldehyde and mercury. Dealers in the UK believe that it is only a matter of time before the UK legalizes weed, following the USA. This is quite possible. With Canada set to legalize recreational marijuana next year and the USA legalizing medical and recreational marijuana in various states, countries who are slow off the mark are going to lose out on tax revenue, as well as the revenue lost from tourism.
Some of the dealers in the UK had strong opinions about the marijuana market. One dealer from the midlands suggested that there was a real risk of corporations taking over the marijuana market now that money was involved, and that this needed to be stopped. ‘And it comes down to money, look how much tax the yanks are bringing in through cannabis, our government is going to want some of that action, I want to be selling weed legally, and am preparing for the day it becomes legal.We cannot let all the corporations and companies like Boots take over a market that we have been supplying for years and taking risks to do that’(Though this is almost definitely going to happen as small growers will get shut out),The same dealer suggested how medical marijuana was nothing new and that he had been selling the drug to patients with MS, arthritis, chronic pain and other ailments for decades.
In certain circles, mainly indigenous and spiritual groups along with black market criminals (two groups from opposite ends of the social circle), the knowledge that marijuana was a medical cure for all sorts of serious illnesses was commonly known. For many people, particularly those who lost loved ones to arthritis, MS, glaucoma, skin cancer, Parkinson’s, Crohns, ALS and more, the fact that marijuana was suppressed by corporate interests for so long will be an absolute outrage.
The Upside
Despite the dark history of marijuana suppression, things are now righting themselves, more or less. With the option to grow your own marijuana in certain states, the monopolies and criminality has been taken away. And with certification, regulation and toxin testing for marijuana the quality is going to rise. Corporations will have no choice but to supply high quality marijuana if they want to survive. In a healthy market with competition and options, people will go elsewhere if marijuana vendors are not playing ball. With regard to black market vendors acting as doctors, it is up to people to do their own research into marijuana and combine it with their own subjective experience of strains to treat their illnesses.
