Pot research touts benefits

America’s most expansive studies on the medicinal benefits of marijuana have concluded pot does indeed have therapeutic value.

After more than a dozen years of studies and $8.7 million in state funding, California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research found marijuana offers pain relief for nerve damage from injuries, HIV, strokes and other conditions, according to The Sacramento Bee.

The UC San Diego-based research center has exhausted its funding after hundreds of state-commissioned clinical trials in which HIV and AIDS patients were monitored before and after consuming marijuana, and researchers did such things as introduce a painful ingredient in chili peppers underneath the skin of pot smokers and tested a Volcano Vaporizer to gauge whether smokeless pot represented a healthier consumption method.

“Every one of the studies showed a benefit,” said Dr. Igor Grant, former director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. “The convergence of evidence makes me convinced there is a medical benefit here, and there may be a niche for cannabis.”