Why Legal Pot is Better Than the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS

The ice bucket
challenge has raised a huge amount of awareness for Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” which affects
about 30,000 Americans.

Writing in The Hill, Andrew Gargano talks about an existing,
effective way to ameliorate the disease’s devastating symptoms:
Medical marijuana.

A number of studies have
shown that cannabis functions in many ways that are beneficial to
those with ALS, from serving as an analgesic to acting as a
soothing muscle relaxant. Cannabis also functions as
a saliva reducer, and so it has the ability to reduce symptoms of
uncontrollable drooling that is common among those with ALS.
Additionally, cannabis has been found successful
in use as an antidepressant, results which have also
been confirmed by
an anonymous, self-reported survey of ALS patients conducted by the
the MDA/ALS Center at the University of Washington.

Most importantly, however, is that a 2010 study found that
cannabis offered anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and
neuroprotective effects when tested on laboratory mice. The
researchers found that cannabis slowed the progression of the
disease and prolonged cell survival, ultimately concluding that “it
is reasonable to think that cannabis might significantly slow the
progression of ALS, potentially extending life expectancy and
substantially reducing the overall burden of the disease.”

While this information may seem incredibly relieving to anyone
who suffers from ALS, only 34 percent of
Americans live in the 23 states, and the District of Columbia, that
currently recognize the important medical uses of cannabis.

Read the whole thing.

Hat Tip: Students for Liberty Twitter
feed.