[2015.06] National Geographic Magazine.pdf

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JUNE 2015
THE NEW SCIENCE
OF MARIJUANA
Should Captive
Dolphins
Be Freed?
Dry Times
Are Here for
the Aral Sea
Living
Goddesses
of Nepal
JUNE 2015 • VOL. 227 • NO. 6
In Tokha, Nepal,
Kumari Dangol has
been worshipped
as a living goddess
since she was a
baby. She’s now
nine years old.
78
Living Goddesses of Nepal
By Isabella Tree Photographs by Stephanie Sinclair
In Nepalese tradition a little girl can become a living goddess—but only for so long.
30
High Science
With marijuana’s rising
acceptance comes more
debate about its potential
benefits and drawbacks.
By Hampton Sides
Photographs by Lynn Johnson
58
Born to Be Wild
Can dolphins return to
the sea after captivity
in a marine park? Some
can—once they relearn
how to be wild.
By Tim Zimmermann
98
Little Park of Wonders
Its world-renowned fossil
bed and stunning vistas
make Canada’s Yoho
National Park a standout.
By McKenzie Funk
Photographs by Peter Essick
114
Sins of the Aral Sea
Diverted to water crops,
what was once a vast
inland sea is 90 percent
gone. Can it be revived?
By Mark Synnott
Photographs by Carolyn Drake
132
Proof
|
Bug-Eyed
A high-powered microscope reveals insect
and spider eyes as marvels of adaptation.
Story and Photographs by Martin Oeggerli
On the Cover
Crossbreeding has yielded countless strains of cannabis.
The flowering herb, commonly known as marijuana, can grow up to
16 feet tall.
Photo illustration by Bill Marr
Corrections and Clarifications
Go to
ngm.com/more.
O F F I C I A L J O U R NA L O F T H E NAT I O NA L G E O G R A P H I C S O C I E T Y
FROM THE EDITOR
Science of Marijuana
A Hard Look at a Soft Drug
You might remember this TV antidrug ad.
“This is your brain,” says a grim-faced guy. He holds up an egg. “This is
drugs,” he says, gesturing to a skillet on the stove and then cracking the egg
into the hot pan. “This is your brain on drugs.” The egg sizzles and congeals.
“Any questions?”
Well, yes—lots of them. And decades after this crusade aired, relatively
few have been answered, especially about marijuana.
Now that nearly half the states in this country
allow medical marijuana, voters in four states have
legalized pot for recreation, and a majority of Ameri-
cans favor legalization, research about how marijuana
affects our brains and bodies is an urgent issue.
There is less hard science about marijuana than
you might think. “For nearly 70 years the plant went
into hiding, and medical research largely stopped,”
Hampton Sides reports in this issue. “In America
most people expanding knowledge about cannabis
were by definition criminals.”
Now, Sides and photographer Lynn Johnson find,
“the science of cannabis is experiencing a rebirth.
We’re finding surprises, and possibly miracles, con-
cealed inside this once forbidden plant.”
But the federal government still classifies marijua-
na as a dangerous Schedule I drug, declaring that, like
heroin, it has no accepted medical use. Unless mar-
ijuana is reclassified to Schedule II status—allowing
it to be studied with fewer restrictions—answers will
be slow. Bipartisan bills to change its status have been
introduced in both the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives; chances of passage are unclear.
Some top-ranking federal health officials privately
bemoan the paucity of marijuana science but tiptoe around the subject in
public statements. Not so Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who
introduced a bill along with fellow Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New
Jersey and Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican. Marijuana, Gillibrand
says, has “always been demonized. But when you focus on patient-centric
advocacy and get patients in front of lawmakers, they will realize how stupid
the law is … It is absurd we are not permitted to do scientific research.” Gilli-
brand isn’t sure if there will be a vote on the bill this year, but she is hoping
for a hearing to bring the concerns to light.
The timing couldn’t be better. The disconnect between the willingness
of some states to regulate, sell, and tax marijuana and the federal reluctance
to allow research to progress leaves an increasing number of people without
the knowledge to make informed, science-based choices.
At the CannLabs
facility in Denver,
Colorado, cannabis
products undergo
rigorous testing for
quality control.
Susan Goldberg,
Editor in Chief
PHOTO: LYNN JOHNSON
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