Our own Nishi Whiteley was interviewed by Dean Becker of the Drug Truth Network on “4:20 Drug War News”. Here are 2 snippets from the interview:
Partial transcript of the interview:
DEAN BECKER: I’m proud to be next speaking with Nishi Whiteley. She’s the author of a brand new book, Chronic Relief: A Guide To Cannabis For The Terminally And Chronically Ill. And with that, I want to welcome Nishi to the program. Hello.
NISHI WHITELEY: Thank you, Dean. I’m honored to be on your show.
DEAN BECKER: You know, you talk about, is it snake oil, or is it real medicine, and that’s what we’re up against now, isn’t it? Many of these politicians are proclaiming snake oil, and the scientists are saying real medicine. Talk about that, please.
NISHI WHITELEY: Ok. Well, I appreciate the question. At the beginning of this project, I thought that medical cannabis should be legalized, of course for sick people, hard to say it isn’t a medicine. But I wasn’t on board with recreational use. But, at this point, because of the safety of cannabis, and because we have so much solid science, it is impossible, or I should say it is my opinion, that it is impossible to be informed about cannabis and remain against cannabis legalization, especially for medical use. It’s just not possible, because the science that exists is extraordinary, and I have heard several prominent doctors say that, you know, we have more information about this plant than we have about the vast majority of FDA approved medicines.
I actually say in the book that we have more, we know more about the cannabis plant than 95 percent of FDA approved medicines. There’s more research done on it, and, you know, the volume of science that has come out from the time I stopped writing to now is also extraordinary. And so, you know, the, every day we are learning so much more about the components of the plant, and how the plant works in the human body, and all of the different ways that we might be able to use it to help people live better and die more comfortably.
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DEAN BECKER: In many ways, that it, it brought your mother dignity towards the end of her life. It’s brought dignity to that two year old kid, it’s brought dignity to so many people, and for it to just be cast aside as the devil’s drug, without looking at the science is, well, it’s evil, isn’t it?
NISHI WHITELEY: I agree completely, and I think that the most important thing for people to understand about cannabis and why it is in fact such a safe and versatile medicine is that the components of the cannabis plant, THC, cannabidiol, and terpenes, and all of those components, are critically important to health and healing. But the cannabinoids themselves actually mimic chemicals that are produced in the human body which are required for health and homeostasis. Homeostasis is a state of balance, and so these chemicals in our bodies, that mimic chemicals in the cannabis plant, we call them endocannabinoids, or the cannabinoids within. And those chemicals are part of a larger system that we call the endocannabinoid system, and it helps control, regulate, or modulate every single major biological function in the body.
And it is for this reason that cannabis is such an effective and versatile medicine. You know, when we look at what are the common denominators of disease, that’s going to be inflammation, oxidation, and most commonly pain. Right?
DEAN BECKER: Yes.
NISHI WHITELEY: And so, cannabis and components of the cannabis plant are incredibly effective at addressing all three of those things, because they’re working with the natural systems in our body, your system in our body, the endocannabinoid system, which is tasked with regulating those functions. So this endocannabinoid system is working on neuroprotection, or protecting brain cells. It’s reducing inflammation throughout all the system of the body. It’s helping with nausea, vomiting, pain control, temperature, all kinds of things.
Read or listen to the entire interview here: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/6095
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