The Science of Medical Cannabis A Conversation with Donald Abrams, M.D

PRiMe4u | 25 October 2010

The Science of Medical Cannabis A Conversation with Donald Abrams, M.D.
From ReasonTV. Produced by Paul Feine & Alex Manning.
Donald Abrams, M.D. is chief of Hematology & Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital & the co-author—with Andrew Weil—of Integrative Oncology (Oxford University Press). Abrams has extensive experience working with cancer & HIV/AIDS patients & is a pioneer in the field of medical cannabis research.

The U.S. government classifies cannabis—along with heroin & LSD—as a Schedule I drug, the most tightly restricted category of drugs in the United States. According to the federal government, Schedule I drugs are unsafe & have "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."

However, as medical cannabis proponents have pointed out since the Controlled Substances Act was passed by Congress in 1970, cannabis has been used medicinally for thousands of years & there has never been a reported case of a marijuana overdose. Moreover, in recent years clinical researchers around the world have demonstrated the medicinal value of cannabis.