Cannabis Sativa. A annual herbaceous plant, it is a plant that has been used for centuries. First classified by Carl Linnaeus, cannabis has a long recorded history of use including relgious and spiritual purposes, medicine, recreation, industrial fibre, food, and seed oil.
It first became heavily demonized in the early 1900’s, and totted to have no medicinal value for decades. In recent years, research in cannabis sativa has begun to show a new story. A recent study by the University of Texas suggests that chronic use may be linked with greater connectivity in the brain. This may have great impact for those suffering from Alzheimer’s.
“What’s unique about this work is that it combines three different MRI techniques to evaluate different brain characteristics,” said Dr. Sina Aslan, founder and president of Advance MRI, LLC and adjunct assistant professor at The University of Texas at Dallas. “The results suggest increases in connectivity, both structural and functional that may be compensating for gray matter losses. Eventually, however, the structural connectivity or ‘wiring’ of the brain starts degrading with prolonged marijuana use.”
It is important to note that size and density of grey matter in the brain does not correlate to to lower intelligence or slower decision making processes – one can have a smaller brain and have a higher IQ.
Why is this important to the everyday investor looking at this industry? Cannabis Sativa is currently a schedule I drug, a class reserved for dangerous drugs with no medicinal value. It is research like this that allows legislators and policy makers to make informed descions.
If the status were to change, this would allow for greater access by the public and private sectors for a variety of purposes. Currently with heavily controlled legislation Health Canada expects this industry to grow over $1 billion in the first 5 years. As we learn more about this partially understood plant, who know what doors will open down the line?
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