PORTLAND, Ore. — Dr. Rachel Knox is on a mission. In her 2019 TEDx Portland talk, she challenged everyone listening to think differently about their health and their bodies. As a physician, she has dedicated her life and practice to understanding a wellness model that is an alternative to what is considered the standard. She champions a greater understanding of what is called the endocannabinoid system of the human body, a connective system of chemical signaling that, in her understanding, helps keep the body regulated and balanced.
If the word sounds familiar, it should. Dr. Knox is a proponent of a return of cannabis as a prescriptive therapy and emphasizes in her lectures and practice that it had been used in medical practice for centuries until it was banned in the early 20th century, primarily because of the hallucinogenic effects of THC, of the compounds that naturally occur in marijuana. But it is the other compounds found in cannabis, CBD in particular, that Dr. Knox and others believe have valuable therapeutic and medicinal effects.
In her May 2020 conversation with Brenda Braxton, when the talk shifted to the ongoing adoption of more mainstream cannabis use, Dr. Knox shared that for economic reasons during the pandemic and shutdown of the nation, she believes the expansion of cannabis deregulation will be more widely considered because of the taxation benefits it could provide state and local governments.
It is also her belief that a better understanding of the endocannabinoid system is a matter of self-empowerment with the understanding that if positive and holistic healing and health are kept in better balance the need for standard medical intervention is reduced.
Rachel Knox's 2019 TEDxPortland talk
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This article is part of a continuing series presented by KGW in partnership with TEDxPortland.
