Originally appearing here. There has been a virtual ban on scientific research on marijuana since the La Guardia Committee report came out in 1944. In this scientific study, commissioned by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in 1939 to study the effects of marijuana, La Guardia tricked Harry Anslinger, the head of the FBN (Federal Bureau of Narcotics) into supplying marijuana for his team of scientists and physicians to study. During this 5-year study the researchers disproved many of the government’s accusations against marijuana. Harry Anslinger condemned the results of this study as unscientific, but he knew that he could never again let scientists study marijuana. This was the beginning of prohibition on the truth. The exact same thing happened again in 1972 when President Richard Nixon commissioned the Shafer Report. This commission was comprised of conservatives personally handpicked by Nixon himself. This study again confirmed the relative safety of marijuana and pointed out the harm to society by criminalizing citizens using this virtually harmless medication. The Shafer commission recommended that simple possession be decriminalized. It also challenged the constitutionality of marijuana prohibition. President Nixon, who commissioned the study, denounced the report. It seems the government’s position was already chiseled in stone and they didn’t want scientific information to confuse the issue. NIDA or the (National Institute of Drug Abuse) in conjunction with the DEA and FDA controls all studies or research on marijuana because of its classification as a Schedule 1 drug. They are not in the business of proving marijuana has medical benefits and routinely deny applications of any studies which would show and medical benefits. Only studies trying to prove harm are approved. Multiple millions of dollars have been spent trying to prove harmfulness of marijuana but to date, no government study has proven any significant problem. Currently, MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) has filed a lawsuit against the government for the restriction of scientific research on marijuana. Truly the prohibition of the scientific study of marijuana is the biggest conspiracy story of the century. ASA (Americans for Safe Access) has a nice overview of this subject entitled; “The Obstruction of Medical Cannabis Research in the U.S.” which outlines the problems we currently face. (www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org) The interesting part of this is that the U.S. government has a patent on Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neruoprotectants (Patent 6630507 October 7, 2003). In this study and patent, it is proven that Cannabidiol and THC both decrease the size of a stroke by 50%. (Currently no other medicine even decreases stroke by 2%) It is interesting that our government has a patent on a substance that it prevents other scientists from studying! Who does that advantage? In the War on Drugs this may be considered a War Crime. To prevent the citizens from receiving potentially lifesaving medication with a proven safety record is a crime against humanity. The patent office accepting this patent should be proof of its validity and medical utility. Since Cannabidiol does not cause euphoria (or the psychoactive effects) and is safe at extremely high doses in humans there should be no excuse for not doing clinical trials. The risk of treating a stroke patent with Cannabidiol or THC is minimal compared to the potential benefit of reducing the size of the stroke by 50%. If you or a family member were having a stroke, would you risk being given this safe drug in the hopes it could limit the size of your stroke and subsequent disability? There have been no clinical trials on this even though the patent was given in 2003. WHY? In The British Journal of Pharmacology July, 2010 160 (5): 1234-1242, a study shows that there is a near 50% reduction in the size of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) when Cannabidiol is given during a heart attack. This study shows that this effect is present even if Cannabidiol is given after the heart attack has started. So it seems that the protective effects of Cannabis work in brain strokes and heart attacks. I predict that heart surgeons in the future will give a cannabinoid medication to patients before cardiac bypass as a cardiac protectant for reperfusion injuries. Suppressing scientific study (knowledge) is never a good idea. There can be no justification for this. Both sides on this issue should want the truth to come out. It seems however, the people against Cannabis don’t have a problem with suppression of research. They don’t want to know the truth because it goes against their belief system. If you try to educate them they will deliberately ignore the evidence. Many of them have financial motives not to understand. The suppression of the scientific study of Cannabis is proof of the ulterior motive of the Government. What is the ulterior motive? Follow the money. What money is generated by marijuana being illegal? Who profits from over 850,000 people being arrested each year for cannabis crimes? Anyone who profits from keeping medication from reaching sick humans is a criminal. Romans 14:3 states “Let him that doesn’t eat herbs not judge him that does.” You may want to keep this in mind whenever someone questions the legitimacy of a patient using medical cannabis. Would you want others to question your choices of medication? It is time for citizens to demand unrestricted legitimate scientific research on Cannabis. Governmental ignorance is not Bliss. Can anything based on the ignorance of scientific fact be correct? We can no longer tolerate Canna-Dunces. There are too many lives at stake. Kush Magazine explains how despite having a patent on the medical use of cannabinoids and maintaining a monopoly on the supply of marijuana for research, the federal government continues to block research that could make marijuana into a medicine.