What is the importance of empirical data in the cannabis industry?
The existence of sufficient scientific evidence is a recurring debate within the industry. At present, there is a duality of opinion regarding such evidence for the therapeutic use of cannabis that suggests that it can both exist and not exist at the same time. shall we open the box?
In reality, the most salient sufficient evidence in the cannabis industry is the political and institutional barriers that continue to severely limit access to R&D, impeding scientific progress and the professionalised use of cannabis.
On the other hand, the stigma attached to recreational use remains the biggest drag on the generation of scientific knowledge, moreover such stigmatisation tends to obscure the beneficial effects even for indications for which robust studies are already available.
Empirical data based on research and clinical trials are the key to generating new areas of knowledge that can boost the potential uses of cannabis, and thus narrow the scientific gap resulting from the conservative restrictions imposed on the cannabis plant and, therefore, on cannabis-related research.
In short, all barriers limiting access to scientific knowledge must be broken down, given that research is, after all, the only way to provide sufficient scientific evidence.
María Pérez Rey, R&D Project Manager at CTAEX