Benefits Of Herbs Aren't Studied Because Of Political Correctness

Dear editor:

In your editorial on Sept. 20 about marijuana, you says, "But we just
don't know. Through our ignorance and unwillingness to think beyond
conventional terms, we've managed as a society to relegate too many
useful herbs and plants to the trash heap of potential."

I would argue that it is not "we" who are unwilling to study these
herbs, but Health Canada, which has deliberately forced any studies of
marijuana to focus on the negative effects, by refusing to provide
cannabis to any study which could find politically "incorrect" results.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Agency in
the US have also refused in this manner to allow positive studies to
take place.

Is it any wonder then that "we" don't know of many officially
sanctioned studies to show the benefits of cannabis or, for that
matter, many other herbs, extracts, and natural products such as
stevia, melatonin, etc.?

Jason Lalancette,
Saanich, BC