Reducing inflammation, treating children suffering with epileptic seizures, a treatment course for autoimmune diseases and cancer. In some cases, nothing works quite like cannabis.

That’s the message Dr. Prakash Nagarkatti, vice president for research at the University of South Carolina, brought to 100 Greenville residents attending a forum last Sunday at the Greenville County Library on the science and medical uses of cannabis.

The event was hosted by Cannabis Forward and sponsored by KB Graphic Design, the Smoke & Brew tobacco shop, Creative Living Wellness and Fete Greenville. Cannabis Forward is a nonprofit organization focused on educating the community and healthcare professionals about the science of cannabis and its use as medicine.

In addition to Dr. Nagarkatti, the panel included Michael and Sabra Woodcock from Deep South Laboratories, a botanical extraction company, and retired Warrant Officer and Vietnam veteran Perry Parks, who works with the NC Cannabis Patient Network.

Cannabis Forward founder and director Emily McSherry says that though her organization is not a political one, they do encourage conversation about legalization. “We think that if anyone has a strong belief about cannabis legalization either way, they need talk about it with their legislators, confidentially.” she says. “There are several legalization bills being discussed in SC right now; find the one that works best for you and follow through with your legislators.”

Dr. Nagarkatti, who has been studying the use of cannabis to treat various autoimmune diseases for 15 years, says that the science is clear about the effect that cannabis can have. “The research that I’ve done shows that there are tremendous benefits to marijuana use in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer,” he says. “Marijuana can suppress inflammation, so therefore it can be used in treating a wide variety of autoimmune diseases. There are children who have epileptic seizures and it’s been shown clearly that nothing else works except marijuana. More importantly, the research showed that we can even use marijuana to treat certain types of cancer.”

Dr. Nagarkatti added that the government’s classification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, has created a misperception about the drug. “Marijuana was put under Schedule 1 with LSD, ecstasy and other compounds that don’t have any beneficial effect and are highly toxic,” he says. “The most important thing we need to tell the public is that unlike LSD, the marijuana plant has certain chemicals that we produce within us. That means that this is nothing artificial.”

Deep South Laboratories’ presentation dealt with the different methods of cannabis ingestion and dosage size, including methods where the drug had no psychotropic effects and thus didn’t create a “high” for the user. Park, who uses marijuana to treat his PTSD, talked about the use of cannabis to treat veterans with the disorder.

At least two attendees left with some useful knowledge about the medical uses of cannabis. “I have a niece who has epileptic seizures, and she’s exploring an opportunity to use cannabis oil to treat the severity of the seizures,” says Upstate resident Nissa, who asked that we not use her last name. “Before it was introduced to me as a need that my family or close friends might have, I threw the idea out as something I wouldn’t be interested in because I’m in addiction recovery.”

And for Jeffrey, who also requested we not use his last name, the forum provided valuable information he needed for his own life. “I have a chronic pain issue that runs in my family,” he says. “I’m starting to get inflammation in my joints, and I’m thinking about what my 50’s, 60’s and 70’s are going to look like. I wanted to see if it worked if you ingested it, and if could find a way to take it without the psychotropic effect.”

For more information, visit cannabisforward.org.