Days before addressing the United Nations, medical cannabis advocate and the head of HempMeds® Mexico discussed CBD with Azteca TV.
Raúl Elizalde appeared on the Mexican multimedia conglomerate Azteca TV Mexico this week to discuss his upcoming presentation at the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Drug Scheduling Convention on Psychotropic Substances. On November 6, Raúl — the head of Medical Marijuana, Inc. subsidiary HempMeds® Mexico and vocal advocate for medical cannabis — will share his personal story and knowledge regarding cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic cannabinoid found in cannabis.
At the convention, the W.H.O. committee will review the international scheduling of 16 substances, including CBD. Their decision will largely influence international policy and global access to CBD. In his appearance on Azteca TV, Raúl explained that the W.H.O. committee, made up of a panel of 13 drug addiction and abuse experts, will decide whether CBD should be considered psychoactive and then make a recommendation to the U.N. on how the substance should be regulated internationally.
“The World Health Organization will address cannabidiol along with a list of other substances that they are analyzing to know if they need to be updated and scheduled as psychoactive substances,” Raúl said in the interview. “Cannabidiol is not psychoactive and we wonder how cannabidiol ended up in a list of substances with some synthetic ones like ketamine and vigabatrin.”
Raúl briefly shared the story of his daughter, Grace, who since very young was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that caused her to suffer from over 400 seizures daily. Raúl was the first to sue the Mexican government for the right to import CBD hemp oil.
“We went out there and did it, until we had the opportunity to try a botanical cannabidiol oil. We gave it to her as part of her diet, in addition to her treatment.”
Raúl went on to share that he intends to encourage the W.H.O. committee to consider CBD as a nutritional supplement. He then went into explaining the differences between CBD and marijuana and its psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), reiterating that cannabidiol has no side effects and is not psychoactive.
Raúl underlined the significance of the upcoming review, and how the committee’s decision on the scheduling of the botanical extract would impact global access. He emphasized that their regulation “must include a way to allow access to quality botanical products.”
Follow along with Raul’s journey to the UN as he prepares to speak at the W.H.O. HERE.
