Despite a Nobel Prize nomination and more than 450 published reference articles, the pioneer of cannabis research Raphaël Mechoulam remained largely unknown to the general public. He passed away last March, at the age of 92.
Our tribute to this great scientist who highlighted the therapeutic virtues of CBD.
Who is Raphaël Mechoulam?
Raphaël Mechoulam is undoubtedly the most convincing of the researchers who have studied the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. At the age of 92, every day of the week, Dr. Raphaël Mechoulam continued to advance his work on cannabinoids from his small office in Jerusalem.
A scientist specializing in the properties of the beautiful herb for over 50 years and a loving husband for over 60, this eternal “tête en l’air, a bit of a coward on the move” owed his vitality and undiminished passion“to the unfailing support” of his wife (all quotes taken from the documentary Le Scientifique, dedicated to him).
A little-known genius
A love born during his military service, during his first years in Israel, after fleeing anti-Semitic Bulgaria in 1949.
It was with him that he carried out his first experiments, which he admitted were “illegal”, and conducted the very first tests of pure THC… on humans (at a Tea Party with friends and spake-cake strength).
This more-than-alternative experimentation was the consequence of a taboo surrounding the plant. In 1964, the year he discovered THC, the cannabis he used was supplied to him by the police, initially without government approval.
He continued to discover cannabinoids over the years, and between 1992 and 1995, he proved the existence of endocannabinoid receptors and was the first to establish the basis of the eponymous system, fundamental to modern medicine.
A founding member of the IRCS (the International Cannabis Research Society), he has never stopped believing in the plant’s medicinal potential.
A pioneer in cannabis research
From the late 60s onwards, Mechoulam organized debates around the plant in his new country, providing “an opportunity for all opinions and perspectives, including the most dissonant, to be heard”.
This inclusive approach was directly responsible for the legalization of cannabis (also known as “God’s herb” in the Old Testament) in Israel in the 1990s. It was after treating hundreds of children suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy that he opened the door to therapeutic use in 1995; his quiet dissatisfaction with the positive results, compared to his limited means, having resonated all the way to the Ministry of Health.
For him, it’s simple: it’s all a question of measurement, to get the best possible result. Another argument in favor of legalization: cannabis from the underground economy always has more THC and not enough CBD. For him, if we want to limit the negative effects associated with the plant, we need above all controlled production.
Always cautious in his statements, his observations often struck a chord in the upper echelons of society.
It was largely thanks to his influence that CBD, and later cannabis in its entirety, was authorized in North America, following two intergovernmental studies conducted by him and involving “a sample of hundreds of people”.
The scientist who highlighted the therapeutic properties of CBD
Independent, collaborative studies are, in his view, at the heart of modern medicine, as opposed to research which, in Mechoulam’s view, “is all too often the preserve of corporations”.
That’s the last straw for a scientist who believes that cannabis “imitates human secretions” and that its virtues and properties belong more to humanity than to government and Big Business.
Persistent, he recently proved that Crohn’s disease patients can be cured with the help of CBD and predicted that in “5 to 10 years”, he would have accumulated enough data to know the exact dosage needed for mental disorders, which are by definition more complex to pin down.
If time has caught up with him, his colleagues and disciples at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have announced their willingness to continue research into CBD treatment for Crohn’s disease.
