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CANNABIS RESEARCH FOUNDATION PROJECT MANAGER TO BE HIRED ON NOV 15
By Ted | July 23, 2008
by Ted Smith
from CANNABIS DIGEST #18
The International Hempology 101 Society and Cannabis Buyers Clubs of Canada are working together to form at research foundation to study the medical benefits of cannabis compared to prescription drugs. This project will be officially kicked off on Nov 15, International Medical Marijuana Day, the final acceptance date for applications to get the job of creating the research foundation.
We have been forming the basis of a research project at the CBC of C since 2004. We realized through our court cases that we could not rely upon drug companies or the government to conduct research that would prove that medicine made from the whole plant can provide consistent relief from symptoms associated with many medical problems. In fact, drug companies do not conduct clinical trials for plants and are only interested in creating synthetic variations of naturally occurring substances or creating new chemicals in the laboratory. On the other hand, Health Canada was only actively involved in less than five medical cannabis research projects before funding for the program was axed by the Conservative government almost 2 years ago.
The courts, doctors, patients, Health Canada and the public continue to suggest that more research on the medical effects of cannabis need to be completed, but very little is actually being done in this country. The Medical Marijuana Access Division (MMAD) is not even supplying a simple survey to people who get licenses to grow and/or possess cannabis to record basic statistics regarding their uses of the herb and possible negative side-effects. As you can read in the letter sent to us from the current head of MMAD that is printed in this issue, the government is prepared to let the private sector have control over what cannabis products are tested and prepared for market. Therefore, we have decided to form a research foundation and a pharmaceutical company to conduct the type of research that we feel is necessary to maximize the potential medical benefits of the cannabis plant.
To begin creating these institutions we will be hiring the first employee of the International Hempology 101 Society after Nov 15, the last day resumes will be accepted for the position. The initial funds for this person’s wages will come from fundraisers, donations and the CBC of C. There will be several areas that this person will be required to focus their time upon. We will renew our attempts to encourage our members and others to complete our current research questionnaire. There will be an effort to build relationships with others in the research community. An advisory committee will be formed within one year to help guide the project and build a team of experienced professionals from various fields to ensure that everything proceeds properly. Finally, the groundwork will be laid by this person to incorporate both a research foundation and a pharmaceutical company that will legally create and distribute the various skin and edible products of the CBC of C.
There will be no attempt to conduct studies intended to make a specific strain of cannabis an approved drug for a variety of reasons. The idea that certain strains are the best for specific conditions or symptoms is valid, but patients are best served when they can use a variety of strains. People develop a slight tolerance to individual strains of cannabis, especially those who have constant pain. As well, using several varieties together often helps achieve relief of symptoms better than a single strain. There are certainly a number of other problems with putting cannabis strains through the drug approval process. Instead we will put our attention towards the legal creation of the skin and edible products while continuing to prove that the combination of smoking, eating and topically applying cannabis is better than using most prescription drugs.
Given the complexity of the situation, it is difficult to plan exactly how this research foundation and pharmaceutical company will grow, though we hope that within 5 years both institutions will be formed. It is likely that the research foundation will be the first to legally incorporate because the scope of that organization will reach beyond the use of the food and skin products. The pharmaceutical company will focus strictly upon developing the edible and topical products that the CBC of C has been using for years.
In order to raise funds for this project we intend upon being as transparent as possible by not withholding any information or procedures about the creation of these products from the public. It is our intention to share the standard operating procedures we use to make these products, as we have been doing so far, in the hope that the medical utility of this plant is maximized. We believe that anyone with a few skills and basic equipment could make high quality cannabis medicines. The person hired to create this project will require many skills to juggle these directives, but we hope to generate enough money through fundraisers, donations and sponsors to form a team of researchers. Wages for the position will be the same as the CBC of C staff, $12/hr, Mon-Fri, 10am to 6pm. To be transparent, we will be using a local book-keeper to help pay these wages directly from the bank accounts of the International Hempology 101 Society.
Topics: Articles, CD-18th, Summer 2008 | Comments Off
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