…why this all seems like new information and your doctor doesn’t speak about it? Well, there’s an easy answer. Most doctors were not taught this in medical school. According to a survey of American Medical Schools, as of 2014:
“Not one of the medical schools surveyed had a department of endocannabinoid science or an ECS director. None of them taught the endocannabinoid science as an organized course. Only 21 of the 157 schools surveyed had the ECS mentioned in any course. 21/157 = 13.3%
In the United States of America, only 13% of the medical schools surveyed teach the endocannabinoid science to our future doctors.”
BUT WHY?
The endocannabinoid (en-do-can-NAB-in-oid) system is a complex system that was only discovered in the 1980-90s. The first cannabinoid receptor in the human body was discovered in 1988 and the first endogenous (meaning native to the human body) cannabinoid was discovered in 1992.
Given the stigma that is still attached to cannabis as medicine and it’s continued status as schedule 1 drug (which means the government is stating it’s a drug with no medicinal value…a claim which doesn’t hold water especially since the NIH currently holds patents on some cannabinoid medicines), it’s not overly surprising that the United States medical system is way behind the current science.
If you are choosing cannabis as your medicine, it’s important to understand it, because it’s very likely your doctor won’t. Here are some resources to get you started.
Before you read the studies on your own, it’s important to know WHY and HOW to critically read and analyze research. Check out this blog post for more information.
After you learn about your body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) on this page, click the links below to learn about related topics.
