Glaucoma is a disease that causes optic nerve damage in the eyes, usually caused by abnormally high pressure inside your eye. Worldwide, glaucoma affects 60 million people, is the second-leading cause of blindness after cataracts, is also the leading cause of blindness among African Americans and it affects and one in 10 over the age of eighty.

A study, conducted by researchers at University of California, San Francisco, Duke University School of Medicine and Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China found “women who used birth control pills for three years or more have twice the risk of developing glaucoma later in life.”

Several studies have shown that smoking marijuana can lower eye pressure in both normal people and those that suffer from glaucoma. Research has also shown that marijuana may not only treat glaucoma by reducing eye pressure, but it may also act on certain receptors to provide a type of neuro-protection against damage to the optic nerve.

Between our aging population and now potential increased glaucoma risk to many women, is this not yet another wake-up call to get cannabis off Schedule I status so additional R&D dollars can flow into more beneficial medical studies?