Cannabis: ABC's New Cover Herb

AUSTIN, Tex.The American Botanical Council's (ABC) HerbalGram has a new cover herb: cannabis. For the first time in its 30-year history, the journal will feature the cannabis plant on its cover to accompany its cover story on Israel's federal medicinal marijuana program.

"There is obvious growing social demand for and acceptance of medicinal cannabis, and for this, and other reasons, ABC has increased its cannabis coverage in recent years," said Mark Blumenthal, ABC founder and executive director. "Now, more than 20 years since our first cannabis story, we have decided to recognize this important plant with the first-ever HerbalGram cannabis cover."

Blumenthal noted ABC is not the only industry organization recognizing the plant's importance. In January, the American Herbal Products Association's (AHPA) Cannabis Committee drafted regulatory recommendations for medical marijuana dispensing in three states. AHPA founded the committee in 2010, and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) gave AHPA its Patient Partnership Award for its work on these medical marijuana issues.

"As members of the medicinal cannabis community continue to work on quality standards, scientific research, and legal advocacy, ABC will maintain its medicinal cannabis coverage," Blumenthal said. "From our perspective, cannabis is just another medicinal plantone with a compelling history and an apparently promising future."