Gary Johnson: The Future of Cannabis Oil

Marlise Karlin: It’s interesting, I smoked pot years ago, and I found that it wasn’t comparable to the harmful effects of alcohol.

Gary Johnson: Absolutely right. And in 1999, as Governor of New Mexico, I took a really high profile look at the drug. I espoused legalizing marijuana, to control it, regulate it, and tax it. I think that the world would be a better place if we didn’t arrest 900,000 people a year on marijuana charges, and have the costs that go along with law enforcement, arresting and processing those people in the courts. That’s a waste of time and resource when regardless what the penalties are, people still consume marijuana. When medical marijuana first hit the scene Marlise, I was in support of it from the standpoint of decriminalizing the activity, not recognizing what the medicinal side of it represents, which is just amazing.

Marlise Karlin: There is a considerable difference between what gets you high and CBD’s, the cannabis that’s being used for medicinal purposes. Can you just give a brief explanation of what the difference is between these two products?

Gary Johnson: There are 60 compounds in the cannabis plant, but let’s talk first about CBD oil. When it’s administrated to kids with epilepsy for example, they are finding it’s going to extend their life. There is no treatment at all that is effective, and these kids use this CBD oil and find relief. So you’ve got families right now that are moving to Colorado and Washington State because this oil is not available in their own state. It contains very, very small amounts of THC and because of that the government still labels it as a Class I narcotic. So for those listening, this is really analogous to the movie Dallas Buyers Club where aids patients were able to take a drug and their health improved. The federal government was arresting people buying and selling the drug, and the FDA would have nothing to do with it because tests had not been conducted. It was very, very frustrating. In this case the CBD oil needs to be researched and developed to go along with the fact that this stuff works. Whether it is for epilepsy, MS, or Parkinson’s, it’s even been shown to shrink tumors. Development needs to happen.