Chelsea Clinton Suggests Cannabis Can Be Deadly

By New Frontier Analysts

While campaigning on behalf of her mother, Chelsea Clinton recently made a public statement suggesting that medicinal cannabis has caused fatalities after interacting with other medications. Clinton claimed that there was anecdotal evidence of this happening in Colorado as a counterpoint to the anecdotal evidence that cannabis can be used to help with seizures and other illnesses.

However, there is actually a body of evidence present to suggest cannabis is effective in treating illnesses and there is no evidence to suggest it has been involved in any fatalities. In fact, even the DEA admits that cannabis alone is not fatal. Clinton did make sure to reiterate that if elected, Hillary Clinton would try to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I, and a Chelsea Clinton spokesperson told the press that Chelsea “misspoke.”

This is important because Hillary Clinton is one of the major party candidates for president and the current front runner. Statements made during this campaign could have impacts on the rhetoric surrounding the legalization debate for the next four years. Even if Chelsea Clinton isn’t the candidate, to have a representative of a major candidate make false statements regarding medical cannabis is a major setback. Clinton is making promises to reform regulations regarding cannabis, but this becomes troubling when her camp still seems plagued by the kind of misinformation used to solidify prohibition in the first place.

This incident goes to show how rampant misinformation is. When people here notable figures that are to be trusted make these kind of false claims, the falsehoods become accepted as truth. This also illustrates the kind of inaccurate information that lawmakers have been taking into account in their decision making processes. Members of the industry may need to take action to educate the public and government officials on the realities of cannabis to prevent more inaccuracies from spreading and gaining acceptance.

New Frontier Analysts

Our data scientists drill deep with rigorous analytics to provide insight into key trends and market opportunities. We track the state of cannabis and its regulation in all major legal markets.