Cannabis Contains Cancer-Busting Compound
person cannot ingest therapeutic amounts of CBD simply by smoking cannabis, the researchers warn.
A recent study on cannabis is taking the web by storm. Namely, two scientists at the California Pacific Medical Center have discovered that cannabidiol (CBD), the second most-abundant compound in marijuana, has the ability to stop aggressive forms of metastatic cancer by “turning off” ID-1, the gene responsible for its spread.
CBD has been laboratory tested and found to work effectively on many forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate tumors, and is non-toxic. It will undergo clinical trials very soon.
It is important to note that unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most-abundant compound in cannabis, CBD is not psychoactive. In other words, it does not cause a high.
Cancer patients will need to be administered isolated forms of the substance for it to have an effect. A person cannot ingest therapeutic amounts of CBD simply by smoking cannabis, the researchers warn.
The discovery is astounding. While it is too early to call it a cure, it is certainly a step in the right direction. One cannot help but wonder how much sooner CBD’s cancer-busting properties would have been discovered if the laws surrounding marijuana had not been draconian.
Cannabis contains 400 compounds, one of which (CBD) has been found to have cancer-busting properties (image source: wikipedia.org)
Marijuana is currently in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (1970) in the US, on account of its THC contents. Schedule I is a list of substances deemed most dangerous to human health. Substances that find their way on it are considered to have a high potential of abuse… no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States… and are unsafe to be used under medical supervision.
Of course one cannot help but wonder how a substance may be deemed of no medical or other value if research on it has been made illegal.
Clearly, cannabis does have medical potential, the benefits of which have been discovered through scientific research over the years, thanks to relaxations in prohibition. It is also safe to use under medical supervision. Let us hope that the findings prove to be as promising as the researchers expect, and that CBD is able to impede cancer in the way they claim it can.
Relax the prohibition laws and allow scientific research to be conducted on all Scheduled substances, and we may achieve significant breakthroughs
Let us also hope that legislators, lobbyists and public opinion take a lesson from this. Who knows what other groundbreaking discoveries are flying under our radar? Relax the prohibition laws and allow scientific research to be conducted on all Scheduled substances, and we may achieve significant breakthroughs.
Far for an idealist’s pipe dream, this is highly probable. The process has already begun. Psylocybin, for example, the psychoactive compound present in “magic mushrooms” (Schedule I), has been recently found to be beneficial to terminal cancer patients; and MDMA (the main ingredient of “ecstasy”), has been found to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder.
One must note that the research studies that produced these findings have been conducted over the past ten years or so after tons of grueling red-tape. Researchers and organizations have had to jump through hoops to obtain special licenses and permits.
Dare we spend another forty years in the dark? The Middle Ages are over. Substances cannot be deemed “evil” by moral decree anymore. What makes the world go round is evidence, fact and data, of which you can have none when laws that prohibit research on account of prejudice are in place.
About Nicolas D. Sampson
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I write fiction and non-fiction material, from novels, novellas and short stories, to articles, social commentary and aphorisms. Plus the occasional poem. I find faith our biggest asset and religion our biggest liability. I deem progress inevitable so long as...
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