This article is sponsored by CMW Media, the premier public and media relations agency proudly serving the cannabis industry worldwide.
Next week, HempMeds Mexico President Raúl Elizalde will speak about cannabidiol (CBD) at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Drug Scheduling Convention in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 6th, 2017.
The invitation reflects the leadership role that organizations and governments throughout Central and South America have taken in adjusting their laws to allow the importation of CBD products to treat a variety of conditions including epilepsy and cancer. In contrast, some European nations like the United Kingdom have had a back and forth relationship with CBD products. In the U.S., meanwhile, fragmented state laws have seen the formation of CBD-product buyer’s clubs in some regions.
Elizalde and his family testifying before Mexico’s Senate about the efficacy of CBD in treating epilepsy. (Courtesy of CMW Media)
In the address, Elizalde hopes to educate world leaders about CBD, urging them to not consider CBD psychoactive and not schedule it as a drug. It’s an issue the long-time medical CBD advocate speaks to from personal experience.
After his daughter’s diagnosis with Lennox-Gastault Syndrome, a rare form of severe epilepsy, Elizalde founded the Por Grace Foundation to help other families affected by the disease. In addition to helping over 300 families, the Por Grace Foundation hosted a series of awareness events that eventually led to the first patients in Mexico being given special authorization to import medical cannabis products, setting the stage for more medical cannabis reform. The foundation has also helped to fund further scientific research into the efficacy of CBD products.
“I am honored to be a part of this incredible opportunity to be invited to speak in front of such a prestigious audience on a topic in which I am deeply passionate about,” said Elizalde.
Elizalde hopes to share not only his own story, but those of the many patients and families whose lives have been impacted and improved by access to medicinal CBD products. He’s urging the public to share their experiences with CBD so that Elizalde can bring these powerful stories to the attention with United Nations leaders. To follow Elizalde on his journey to Switzerland and share your story, visit the RaulWHO? Campaign website.
Elizalde has brought his advocacy to the boardroom as the president of HempMeds Mexico, the first company to provide Mexican citizens with access to medical products derived from cannabis (THC-free hemp CBD) after the Health Department of Mexico, COFEPRIS, issued the country’s first-ever import permits for the company’s Real Scientific Hemp Oil in 2016. More recently, the government of the state of Mexico has started providing the product directly to epilepsy patients.
“We are honored and excited to speak to United Nations leaders on a global stage about CBD as a supplement aimed to maintain and improve the wellbeing of millions,” said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. “We hope to bring light to the many benefits of CBD and convince decision-makers not to schedule CBD as a drug, but rather as a supplement.”
