Does medicinal cannabis not exist?
In a special column for Sechat, Solange Nappo seeks to understand how obscurantism and denialism affect our society
Column by Solange Aparecida Nappo*
Groundless statements asserting the non-existence of medicinal cannabis, recognizing only cannabidiol as an active medicinal component, or even incorrectly claiming that the cultivation of medicinal cannabis would be a maneuver for the legalization of marijuana, are invoked when there is a desire to cast doubt on the medicinal properties of cannabis. A composition of statements detached from reality that only muddles the serious discussion of the medicinal properties of the plant and hinders the advancement of the topic in the country.
The pioneering work in the 1970s by Prof. Elisaldo Carlini and his team, which demonstrated the anticonvulsant action of cannabis and the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the 1990s, were not enough for Brazil to engage in a deeper discussion about the medicinal properties of cannabis, a fact that has only recently begun to happen despite all the resistance from parts of society and dubious statements that end up compromising the merit of the discussion.
However, it is difficult to ignore the topic when consulting the Medline platform (with about 5000 scientific journals), more than 7500 articles on medicinal cannabis can be found; the creation of FACT (Federation of Therapeutic Cannabis Associations) which in a short time already brings together more than 30 associations; the foundation of SBEC (Brazilian Society for the Study of Cannabis sativa) which already has about 300 cannabis prescribing professionals associated; the analysis of the imports of cannabis-derived medications reveals that they have been increasing significantly, and in 2020 alone, Anvisa received about 16,000 import requests for these medications, representing an increase of more than 1700% compared to 2015.
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While doubts are cast about the existence of medicinal cannabis, delaying its availability in the country, society is organizing in different ways to access the medicinal use of the plant, which is so necessary for hundreds of patients who only have cannabis as a therapeutic alternative for their pathologies.
BBC News journalists, Leandro Machado and Felipe Souza, have aptly defined this movement of societal organization around the topic as a silent legalization of medicinal cannabis in Brazil.
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*Solange Aparecida Nappo is a university professor, Scientific Researcher at CEBRID (Brazilian Center for Information on Psychotropic Drugs), and columnist for Sechat.
The opinions expressed in this article are personal and the responsibility of their authors.