After Tylenol tirade, Trump’s shoutout to ‘hemp-derived CBD’ for health

Days after Donald Trump’s tirade against the use of Tylenol, the United States President has advocated for the health benefits of ‘hemp-derived CBD’.

Trump on Sunday shared a video on his platform Truth Social, which underlined the health benefits of cannabis. It further suggested that including CBD under Medicare would be the “most important senior health initiative of the century.”

The nearly three-minute video, made by The Commonwealth Project, also includes a Fox News clip, which explains the economic benefits of medically legalising marijuana. It says that this would amount to cost savings of “$64 billion a year if cannabis is fully integrated into the healthcare system.”

The video also calls the 2018 Farm Bill “groundbreaking”, highlighting it as the “first step” towards modernising healthcare with the integration of cannabis. The legislation, introduced by the Trump administration during his first term, had federally legalised hemp containing up to 0.3 percent THC.

With Trump posting the video on social media, the speculation around him considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug might strengthen, The Daily Beast reported.

The US President had, in August, expressed an interest in reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, Wall Street had reported quoting sources. He had also spoken about loosening federal marijuana restrictions during his presidential campaign trail.

The video, which delved into the details of why ‘hemp-derived CBD’ should receive health coverage, also referenced and explained the endocannabinoid system.

“It makes all of the other systems work smoothly with each other. Like a conductor ensuring the different sections of an orchestra all play a beautiful symphony together,” the video explained.

The video states that the endocannabinoid system has been acknowledged and studied by the medical experts, and added that this system weakens with age, thus leading to medical issues.

The clip claims that doctors prescribe “dangerous and addictive” pharmaceuticals” and recommend lifestyle remedies to combat these, adding that the health improvements through these are only “fractional”.

While calling ‘hemp-derived CBD’ a “game-changer”, the clip claims that the endocannabinoid system can be “restored faster” through its use. “When the system is restored, pain subsides, sleep is improved and stress is reduced,” the narration says, while claiming that this also slows down disease progression.

It further claims that 20 per cent of elderly people are using CBD for pain, arthritis, “cancer symptoms”, alzheimer’s and other medical issues. According to an earlier report by The Guardian, seniors in the US aged 65 and above are turning to cannabis for medical purposes more than any other age group in the country. The video says that doctors are, however, “not equipped to provide guidance” on it.