THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: CAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA BE USED TO FIGHT CANCER?

The People's Pharmacy: Can medical marijuana be used to fight cancer?

I would like you to know about medical marijuana for cancer. In her
late 30s, my wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, stage 4a. It
was a 6 centimeter tumor that had grown around the hepatic artery and
portal vein.

At first I thought marijuana was just for nausea caused by her chemo,
but then I found a study in the journal Cancer Research (July 1,
2006). It showed that cannabinoids specifically fight pancreatic tumor
cells.

I changed her diet and started her on a regimen, and she now is
cancer-free. The regimen is being studied at the University of
Wisconsin. I hope others can benefit from medical marijuana.

For years, marijuana research was suspected of being a way to
rationalize people getting high. But as a recent article in Science
News points out, scientists now are starting to take it seriously
(June 19). The article you cite demonstrates that compounds from
marijuana make pancreatic tumor cells commit suicide.

Other cancer researchers have followed up with studies on its
effectiveness against a range of tumors in test tubes, including
breast, colon, glioblastoma brain tumors and lymphoma, a blood cancer.
None is yet in a clinical trial, but this will be an interesting field
to watch. We are delighted your wife had such a good response to such
a difficult-to-treat cancer.