BY RUTH HILL R.N.
Cannabis Corner (CC) is responding to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article dated Saturday/Sunday, May 11-12, 2024| THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW with Bertha Madras | by Allysia Finley. I will use the pejorative word marijuana instead of cannabis as it is obvious Finley and Madras do not know the botanical name Cannabis: C. sativa L. and C. indica L.
The WSJ’s interview with Ms. Bertha Madras was as much a propaganda interview as the Wuhan virus coming from a bat. This article was laced with lies, inuendo and outright propaganda from the World Health Organization.
Where’s the Expert
First Finley tries to make readers believe Ms. Bertha Madras is a foremost expert on marijuana. Her bonafides are from the Allan Memorial Institute of Psychiatry an affiliate of Montreal’s McGill University. Nowhere in the article does Finley site a study by Ms. Madras or a reference in PubMed, the recognized NIH: National Library of Medicine. Nor does Madras explain how marijuana was legal for 5000 years until President Richard Nixon, against the advice of his own Medical Advisory Commission, instituted the Schedule System for drugs that put marijuana in the same category as cocaine, LSD, and methamphetamines.
Madras and Finley may be unaware of the 7,913 studies on the mammalian endocannabinoid system (ECS) discovered by Rafael Mechoulam, an Israeli scientist. The ECS is the brain’s computer system for regulating equilibrium and homeostasis. Based on this article, Ms. Madras lacks the capability of explaining mammalian physiology, biology, and chemistry to her readers.
Real Science of Marijuana
Mechoulam discovered, with other scientist, that mammals have receptors on every cell for anandamide and 2-AG. Anandamide is the exact same molecule as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). 2-AG is the exact same molecule for cannabidiol (CBD). Finley can find these studies by just Goggling research on cannabis or marijuana. While Madras besmirches the marijuana plant, she is either lying or totally bereft of knowledge about the advances in nervous system since the 1960s.
There are over forty (40) countries that have legalized marijuana for medical or adult use. These include Canada, Thailand, and Uruguay. There are scientific studies across sixteen countries including the UK, Spain, Israel, Germany, Canada, and China, but not the US.
The Propaganda
Madras with the help of propagandist Findley, inverts the addiction level of marijuana vs alcohol and opiates. It is well documented in PubMed that the addiction level for marijuana is the same as coffee, 9 percent. The addiction level for alcohol is 20 percent. She never explains the multiple chronic diseases from alcohol consumption. Both cigarette smoking and alcohol cause heart disease, peripheral artery disease, cancer, emphysema, and asthma. Where is the reference from Madras for marijuana causes these chronic diseases?
Madras compounded her propaganda by assuming the cannabis industry wants to push marijuana on minors under the age of 18. All laws in the 24 states that legalized marijuana and the other 14 that permit it for medical purposes DO NOT approve of selling marijuana to minors. Yet that is the reason she believes reclassification is a mistake.
Who is Madras fooling when she states waking up after a hangover from alcohol is just fine and dandy when waking up after being high on marijuana the user “just sits there and sits there promoting brain adaptation and feeling worse than a hangover from alcohol.”
Americans Know Better
Where’s the evidence marijuana causes schizophrenia? CC cannot continue to read this gobbledygook of pure fake science. Madras somehow believes users of marijuana are always taking high doses. Her explanation of the brain’s adaptation of anandamide and THC from the plant is total nonsense. This woman doesn’t have the knowledge to teach biology to middle school children.
NOTHING in this article is true. Thank God the American people see through this as evidenced by the many states wanting to legalize adult use. CC invites all nurses, doctors, and scientists who specialize in cannabis to voice their shock that the WSJ is filling their readers with fake science. It demeans their once esteemed reputation.
Please send comments to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com to give your opinion on the Madras article.
