MARIJUANA PROVEN EFFECTIVE IN TREATING DIFFERENT TYPES OF CANCERS

Marijuana opponents in the federal government are up against the wall
and the wall is crumbling. The feds have fought marijuana use for
decades, disregarding its medicinal applications, in a senseless war
against the herb.

The demonized killer weed is turning out to be anything but that. As
myths about this ancient herb are dispelled, scientists are using it
to treat everything from chemotherapy-induced nausea to different cancers.

In August, The British Journal of Cancer published the results of a
study that found THC (the main active component in marijuana) is
effective in fighting prostate cancer. Reportedly, pot attacks
prostate cancer cell types that do not respond to the usual hormone
treatments.

A recent study by a team of Spanish researchers discovered THC kills
various brain cancer cells by a process known as autophagy. Michigan's
new law regarding marijuana use went into effect in April. Patients,
with doctor's prescriptions, get a state-issued ID Card (a lot like
California's) which allows them to grow and use marijuana to treat
pain and other symptoms of cancer and multiple sclerosis.

In October 2003, the University of California, San Francisco, released
the results of a study that said pot was effective when used in
combination with opiate pain medications. Dr. Donald Abrams, MD, UCSF
professor of Clinical Medicine and chief of the Hematology-Oncology
Division at SF General Hospital Medical Center, told the press,
"Marijuana uses a different mechanism than opiates and could augment
the pain relief of opiate analgesics."

The Marijuana Policy Project recently reported on a study that
suggests moderate amounts of marijuana use reduces risk of head and
neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study suggests cannabinoids
have potential anti-tumor properties.

A study released in July, "White matter in adolescents with history of
marijuana use and binge drinking," says marijuana use actually
protects brain cells. The study involved adolescents with alcohol use
disorders.

One group had just alcohol-drinking teens. The other group drank
alcohol and used marijuana. The report said that binge drinkers who
used marijuana retained more white matter than the other group. In
other words, alcohol destroyed more brain cells when a person didn't
use marijuana.

How many times have you heard someone say, "Pot destroys your brain
cells"? If that's true, what about this study? Why do doctors use
marijuana to fight brain cancer if it destroys brain cells? Remember
the Spanish study?

In April of 2007, Harvard University researchers released the results
of a study that concluded THC cuts tumor growth in common lung cancers
and reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.

A study conducted by UCLA's medical school in June 2005 concluded
smoking marijuana did not cause lung cancer. That impressive piece of
news, along with the Harvard study, seems to have been ignored by most
mass media outlets.

Fred Gardner, editor of the medical marijuana research journal,
O'Shaughnessy's, recently wrote an article, "Smoking Marijuana Does
Not Cause Cancer," about this groundbreaking UCLA study that barely
made headlines.

Gardner reported that an investigative team was contracted with the
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2002 "to conduct a large,
population-based, case-controlled study that would prove definitively
that heavy, long-term marijuana use increases the risk of lung and
upper-airway cancers."

Guess what? This study backfired! It turned out that increased
marijuana use did not result in higher rates of lung and pharyngeal
cancer. The study also concluded that tobacco smokers who also puffed
on pot were at a slightly lower risk of getting lung cancer than those
who didn't!

Perhaps the icing on the cake is the fact that UCLA Medical professor
Donald Tashkin led the investigation. Tashkin has led government
studies on marijuana since the 1970s and is well known for his belief
that heavy marijuana use causes lung and upper-airway cancers. To his
credit as a professional, he ended up disproving his own original hypothesis.

Despite the government's efforts to keep it illegal, it's apparent
that marijuana does offer help in the battle to treat cancer. The
facts about marijuana's medical potentials are finally causing cracks
in the government's wall of lies built up over the years.

As It Stands, it's time to bring down that wall.