FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARСH 19, 2020 • WELLNESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 35
wellness
Front and center:
The eff ort to normalize CBD
Cannabis is having a moment. Th is
plant - the focus of legal debate,
strong emotion and great confusion
- currently fi nds itself front and
center in American pop culture, in
Congress and in households across
the country. Where cannabis is not
currently is an even larger issue, as
many argue it has life or death consequences.
Cannabis is the plant that produces
marijuana - high in THC, or the element
that has psychotropic eff ects.
Th e same plant is manufactured to
produce CBD, derived from industrial
hemp that’s low in THC (less
than .03 percent) with no psychotropic
eff ects. And yet, the federal government
treated both marijuana and
hemp as a schedule one drug until
late 2018 when Congress passed the
Farm Bill. Th e Farm Bill allows hemp
to be grown as an agricultural crop.
Hemp has many uses, but in 2018 a
World Health Organization (WHO)
report showed that CBD derived from
industrial hemp has multiple health
benefi ts, including alleviating PTSD,
chronic pain, depression, anxiety,
insomnia, seizures and migraines,
among others. More importantly,
Th e WHO showed CBD had no
addictive impact. Additionally, U.S.
patent 6630507 also states the medical
benefi ts of CBD.
“I’ve lost more friends from suicide
since I’ve been out than I did in combat,”
said Malachias Gaskin, former
Army combat medic. “I want to ask,
why would we prescribe medications
where some of the side eff ects are suicide,
then question why we lose 22
soldiers a day to suicide?”
Gaskin is one of thousands of
veterans who are questioning why
the Veterans Administration is not
allowed to prescribe CBD derived
from industrial hemp as an alternative
to addictive opioids. Currently,
an estimated 22 veterans per day
commit suicide. Suicidal thoughts
are a known byproduct of opioids, of
which the VA is the largest prescriber
in the United States.
“I was on multiple VA-prescribed
drugs,” said Gaskin. “Due to the
issues related to my bursitis, my arm
was in a sling when a buddy told me
about CBD. I got a bottle of 300 mg.
Aft er taking it twice a day for three
days, I was back in the gym, lift ing
my full weight.” Gaskin said CBD
also helped him get much needed
sleep, devoid of nightmares.
Currently, the 116th Congress is
considering multiple bills aimed at
medical cannabis; however, none of
them is focused solely on medicinal
hemp, the one element that could
legally be pushed through thanks to
the Farm Bill.
“Hemp is now federally legal.
Th ere’s nothing stopping the VA
from studying it,” said Steve Danyluk,
founder, Warfi ghter Hemp and
author, Th e 2019 Medicinal Hemp
Research Act. “So, what’s the holdup?
Every day we wait, more veterans
are dying.”
Danyluk founded Warfighter
Hemp in 2017 aft er retiring as a lieutenant
colonel in the U.S. Marines.
His last tour was working wounded
issues at Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center, which
opened his eyes to the opioid impact
on veterans. He knew there had to be
a better solution.
He’s working with legislators to
introduce the 2019 Medicinal Hemp
Research Act, which would allow
the VA to study CBD derived from
industrial hemp and ultimately prescribe
CBD as it currently does other
supplements.
“CBD derived from industrial
hemp can be easily sourced and provided
to veterans and anyone suff ering
from chronic pain. We have hundreds
of testimonials that it works.
We now need Congress to do the
work to pass a bill forcing the VA to
study it,” said Danyluk.
Warfi ghter Hemp grows its hemp
on Colorado’s largest organic hemp
farm. Th is 100 percent organic, U.S.-
grown hemp results in high-quality
CBD, of critical importance, as some
CBD is shipped from overseas under
unknown conditions. Fift y percent
of Warfi ghter Hemp proceeds go to
support veteran charities.
To learn more about what you can
do to help get the 2019 Medicinal
Hemp Research Act introduced and
passed, visit https://warfi ghterhemp.
com/va-2019-medicinal-hemp-research
act/ to complete a form and
send to your Congress person.
— Courtesy of BPT
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