Cannabis is not a panacea
Cannabis as a
cure-all hurts
its legitimacy
By: Dr. Ife Abiola
Let’s preface this. We’re huge proponents of cannabis and its many treatment routes, but does that mean it’s for everything and everyone? Most certainly not. Credible information is needed to determine your unique needs and how cannabis may or may not be able to address them.
Picture this, someone you know has a serious illness – they have read cannabis is a viable treatment. They give it a go, but there is no improvement. In fact, because they neglected their initial treatments their health has declined further. Is it because cannabis doesn’t work? Far from it.
Access to credible information is crucial for the average Canadian to safely and effectively use cannabis products. With the wealth of information now available, we’ve advanced by leaps and bounds in the last year alone - But with every advancement there are drawbacks. One of the main issues clouding the waters is the dissemination of false information about cannabis and its effects.
Around 50 per cent of people using cannabis are self-medicating for some issue, whether it’s sleep, pain, anxiety or otherwise. This is commonplace in the recreational space. For years, medical cannabis users were deprived of proper guidance and were often left to turn to the internet and anecdotal information. Social media posts, blogs and news agencies became enamored with cannabis. Much of the internet media strove to be early adopters and dug their heels into cannabis news and events before legalization.
With media, there is a tendency to attract attention with sensationalism and speculation rather than evidence and science.
An unbiased look at the possible benefits of marijuana is usually shrouded by some superfluous claim about cannabis “curing” a chronic disease. Furthermore, those who go down the route of wild claims tend to be the ones who garner the most attention. The exaggeration of the truth becomes an unfortunate inevitability. Parroting half-truths is deemed acceptable by these outlets if it seeks to decrease stigma or spark conversation.
Cannabis is a viable treatment, but several factors play into its efficacy, including: strain, dose and route of administration. Mainstream media doesn’t delve into this information because they simply don’t have to. Cannabis has been tragically painted in certain circles as a panacea. Those reading scores of articles, which are only a few levels above clickbait, are quick to abandon cannabis completely when holes are punched through the panacea title. They have set marijuana up for failure because they have been misinformed.
What is the best course of action then? Be discerning with what you read. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. If sources aren’t cited, it could be fabricated from a self-perceived “expert”. Cannabis needs to be appreciated for what it is - For some things it’s great, for others not-so-much, and for the majority of things the jury is out. It’s easy to be enthusiastic about marijuana these days; everyone who smokes a joint considers themselves an expert on some level. A cautious approach will be needed to ensure the internet doesn’t drag cannabis science back into the dark ages.
