Flipboard Blows the Headline on Cannabis

Into the gale of anti-cannabis propaganda - from virtually every quarter of the industrial and political world - the estimable newsfeed Flipboard makes a stark declaration: "Scientists want to unlock the full potential of pot".

No shite, Flipboard. Though instead of "Scientists", we'd say "Every thoughtful person in the world..."

We eagerly clicked on the link.

Imagine our confusion to find a Newsweek article with an entirely different focus: "WEED SCIENCE: RESEARCHERS MAP MARIJUANA DNA TO UNLOCK CANNABIS'S FULL POTENTIAL"

Turns out, the University of California at Davis is partnering with the biotech firm Front Range Biosciences to map the genome of the cannabis plant.

Because guess what? Cannabis has commercial potential.

"Cannabis can be used in the treatment of numerous conditions, from epilepsy to alleviating the side effects of cancer therapies, but the full extent of the plant’s medicinal benefits remain largely unexplored. A new research initiative hopes to address this by mapping the cannabis genome in a quest to unlock the full potential of pot.

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, partnered with biotech firm Front Range Biosciences (FRB) to conduct the genomics research to “advance understanding of cannabis for medical and nutraceutical uses.”

The research team at UC Davis has previously mapped the genomes of the cabernet sauvignon grape and the arabica coffee bean and now wants to focus on the hemp plant because of its commercial potential."

And sometime in the next several years, the estimable university, and the commercially eager research company, will release a report that questions the Entourage Effect. Because they couldn't find it in the genome.

The will conclude it must not be real, like a unicorn.