DOPE VERSUS CANCER

Michael Roth's "preliminary evidence" suggesting that the THC in marijuana
may promote a carcinogenic effect (This Week, 25 July, p 16) flies in the
face of Louis S. Harris's findings in Analgesic and Anti-Tumor Potential of
The Cannabinoids (Medical College of Virginia, 1972) that delta-8 THC,
delta-9 THC and cannabinol are quite active as anticancer agents.

At the time of Harris's research, no anticancer agent that was much more
potent than delta-9 THC existed and no compounds differentiated between
tumour and normal cells the way delta-9 THC does. Considering that delta-9
THC alone increased survival in cancerous rats by 36 per cent, it seems
very unlikely that THC promotes carcinogenic effects.

THC's known anticarcinogenic properties are probably the reason the Center
for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, has never been able to trace any
cancers to marijuana use.

Redford Givens San Francisco

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)