Dr. Melanie Dreher, reefer researcher Despite political pressure to have it otherwise, Dr. Dreher's research reveals that pot-smoking moms can have smart, healthy babies. By Pete Brady - Sunday, November 1 1998 Dr. Melanie Dreher, reefer researcher Thanks for introduction Despite four deanships in highly regarded schools of nursing Chancellor’s medal Citation from the ambassador to Jamaica Alumni of the Year If you google me . . . I I thought a lot about how this presentation – share my experiences as a researcher that – in retrospect – reflect what was taking place in our society

medical anthropological study about the EFFECTS of use - Clinical component Ethnogaphic componenet Culture for marijuana in Jamaica recreationally Sacrament Medicine Culture for marijuana – set of social rules about who could use it

Became My disseration –Also funded by NIDA While I was there the debate was heating up in the United States and I was visited by representatives of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse No difference in productivity between users and non-users

In Jamaica, men smoked and women drank the tea As I recruited men for the study, hung out with them at work and got to hear their stories Busha’s would come and give the men something to smoke They would go from this

Working Men and Ganja: Marijuana Use in Rural Jamaica Author:  Melanie Dreher Institute for the Study of Human Issues. Philadelphia, 1982 Year:  1982 Led to publication of this book that has been stolen out of every university library in the United States Cemented my reputation as a reefer researcher People from NIDA called and asked me if I would consider doing a post-doc

I was interested in the role of women They prepared it, cultivated it, distributed it, sold it They also worked in the field but didn’t smoke like the men They gave it to their children to improve school performance, exams, concentration

Found its way into an NIH publication

They gave it to their children to improve school performance, exams, concentration

While doing the baby study . . . More and more women smoking . . .

I really liked this because it shows how creative you can be with hair rolers

Canisol: Rx for Glaucoma Professor Emeritus, Dr. Manley West University of the West Indies Canisol: Rx for Glaucoma

A Legal Marijuana User

Eli Lilly

This is a picture of the solid extract from which cannabis medicines were prepared - I think some might call it “hash”

Searle Used in the treatment of menopausal symptoms and dysmenorrhea, Acute symptoms following oophorectomy Combines ovarian therapy sedative and tonic medication

Typical prescription Unclear what malady afflicted Mrs. Puttock of Pond Creek, in the state of Oklahoma (where a prison term for possession of marijuana is now mandatory) but she was advised to apply cannabis the ailing “part” each night. I’ll just leave it to your imagination what that part might be.

And even Johnson and Johnson used it for corns

Even vets were aware of the medicinal value of cannabis for farm animals to relieve colic and cattle bloat Over the counter in a farms store you could get a compound that was 90% alcohol 16 g, Cannabis sativa Belladonna And Capsicum

Cannabinoid system is intricately involved in the normal human physiology- control of movement, paid, reproduction, memory, appetite, to name just a few. It helps us eat It helps us sleep It helps to relieve pain (conjunction with opioids) It helps us to forget – very important function (ADD) It helps us to do monotonous work As an anthropologist: evolutionary value: pain of childbirth, It’s role in emotion (what makes us uniquely human – man is a social animal – achieved through cooperation It provides pleasure for important human functions such as eating and sex.-human’s don’t have a heat

And along came. An assuming scientist named Raphael Mechoulam (Nobel Prize) was quietly working in Israel Delta 9 THC – tetrahydrocannabinol – psychoactive ingredient in cannabis (over 30 active ingredients – Manley West in Jamaica could invent medication for Glaucoma) In 1988 Dr. Allyn Howell at St. Louis University discovered the specific receptor in the brain for THC (we now know exist all over the body) In 19 Mechoulam found the endogenous cannabinoid system – endocannabinoid (anandamine – inner bliss)

William DeVane

Allyn Howlett

CBD: Reported Therapeutic Effects Behavioral Heath Anxiety and stress Depression Schizophrenia Panic Withdrawal from tobacco addiction Inhibition of reward-facilitating effects of morphine and cocaine Obsessive-compulsive behavior Disruption of consolidation of specific and generalized fear memories PTSD Aggression Obesity (food consumption, appetite reduction, metabolic syndrome) Female sexual satisfaction/orgasm

Medical Uses of Cannabis Cancer Opioid Addiction Anorexia Bronchial Asthma Chemotherapy-induced Harm Constipation Cocaine Addiction Dementia Fibromyalgia Glaucoma Lymphoma Neuropathy Multiple Sclerosis Tourette Syndrome Pain Brachial Plexus Neuropathies Insomnia Multiple Spasticity Memory Disorders Social Anxiety Disorders Inflammatory Bowel Disease Nausea

CBD: Reported Therapeutic Effects Behavioral Heath Anxiety and stress Depression Schizophrenia Panic Withdrawal from tobacco addiction Inhibition of reward-facilitating effects of morphine and cocaine Obsessive-compulsive behavior Disruption of consolidation of specific and generalized fear memories PTSD Aggression Obesity (food consumption, appetite reduction, metabolic syndrome) Female sexual satisfaction/orgasm

CBD Reported Effects: Neurological Protection Preventing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy Restless Leg syndrome Epilepsy and convulsions Chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain Retinopathy associated with diabetes Memory rescuing effects of neurodegenerative disorders Protection against neuron damage due to neurological diseases or injuries Parkinson's disease Huntington’s disease Alzheimer’s disease Cerebral infarction Hepatic encephalopathy Traumatic brain injury Cerebral ischemia Spinal cord injury

CBD Reported Effects Neuro Protection Auto-immune diseases (e.g. diabetes type 1) Inflammation (Crohn’s disease, colitis, pancreatitis, rheumatoid arthritis) Reduce infarct size and increases blood flow in stroke Retinopathy associated with diabetes Anti-emetic and anti-nausea Protects against myocardial, liver, renal ischemic/reperfusion injury Protects against hypoxia/ischemia injury Neuro protection against neuronal damage due to Parkinson’s Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, cerebral infarction, hepatic encephalopathy; traumatic brain injury, cerebral ischemia, spinal cord injury, memory rescuing effects Epilepsy and convulsions Protects against airway obstruction

CBD Reported Therapeutic Effects: General Medical Auto-immune diseases (e.g. diabetes type 1) Auto-immune diseases (e.g. )GVHD Auto-immune Familial Mediterranean fever Inflammation (Chrohn’s disease, colitis, pancreatitis, rheumatoid arthritis Retinopathy associated with diabetes Anti-emetic and anti-nausea Protects against hypoxia/ischemic injury Cancer and resistance to cancer chemotherapy; cancer cell migration; inhibits angiogenesis Chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain Protects against airway obstruction Osteoarthritis Gout Kidney injury

A Prisoner Shortage

The term Reefer Madness was coined to signify the drug crazed abandon Women cry for it Men die for it To this day there has never been a death attributed to marijuana use. In 1937, after testimony from Harry Anslinger , head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the Marijuana Tax Act was pushed through Congress Five years later, all possession and use of the drug was outlawed. Despite weeks and weeks of testimony from the AMA and the pharmaceutical industry, it was removed from the Physician’s Desk Reference in 1942