Local cannabis company announces success with cancer treatment. Denver-based Cannabis Science, Inc. announced this week that a cancer patient has had success using the company’s cannabis-based product in the treatment of skin cancer. The biotech company, which develops pharmaceutical cannabis products, said this is the second patient to use the product successfully. “This patient has photo-documented dramatic results that we will release to the public once treatment is completed and has been properly vetted by clinical biopsy,” the company said in a press release. “Cannabis Science, in conjunction with several Colorado-licensed dispensaries and physicians, consults with a number of cancer patients who were seeking to inform themselves of the current peer-reviewed scientific literature, regarding modern and historical use of cannabis preparations for treating cancers so that they can make informed decisions regarding their self-directed cancer treatment.”
More from the press release: Crouse has leukemia. Things changed when he got cancer. Study: No lung danger from casual pot smoking. Add one more data point to the decades-old debate over marijuana legalization: A new study concludes that casual pot smoking - up to one joint per day - does not affect the functioning of your lungs. The study, published in the Jan. 11 edition of Journal of the American Medical Association, also offered up a nugget that likely will surprise many: Evidence points to slight increases in lung airflow rates and increases in lung volume from occasional marijuana use.
Air flow is the amount of air someone can blow out of their lungs one second after taking the deepest breath possible. The volume measure is the total amount of air blown out once someone has taken the deepest breath possible. Association Between Marijuana Exposure and Pulmonary Function Over 20 Years The study of 5115 men and women took place over two decades between March 26, 1985 and August 19, 2006 in 4 American cities: Birmingham, Chicago, Oakland, Calif., and Minneapolis. Echo of past findings Study co-author Dr. Science Weekly podcast: David Nutt reveals the truth about drugs | Science.
This week Science Weekly is dedicated to an extended interview with the scientist and former government drugs adviser Professor David Nutt. Prof Nutt has written a book Drugs – Without the Hot Air: Minimizing the Harms of Legal and Illegal Drugs and has been a vociferous and controversial figure in the debate around the harms and benefits of legal and illegal drugs. He is a psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist who has dedicated his career to deepening understanding of how drugs affect the brain and how they can be used for clinical benefit. In the interview he discusses his proposed research into the potential use of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and argues that official and societal fear about such drugs is inhibiting the progress of science and the development of beneficial treatments.
In the wake of the controversy, he set up the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs. Marijuana Found to Kill Cancer Cells – The Marijuana and Cancer Relationship. Study: Symptoms of MS may be relieved with Marijuana. Five Scientific Conclusions About Cannabis That The Mainstream Media Doesn’t Want You To Know. Photo Credit: N.ico via Flickr July 29, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. While studies touting the purported dangers of cannabis are frequently pushed by the federal government and, therefore, all but assured mainstream media coverage, scientific conclusions rebutting pot propaganda or demonstrating potential positive aspects of the herb often tend to go unnoticed. Here are five recent examples of scientific findings about pot that the mainstream media (and the Feds) don’t want you to know about. 1.
In the years immediately prior to the passage of the federal Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, exploitation journalists routinely, yet unfoundedly, claimed that cannabis use triggered psychotic and violent behavior. Writing in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, investigators assessed the impact of a lifetime history of substance use on mortality in 762 subjects with schizophrenia or related disorders. 2. 3. Or not. 4. 5. Respected Study Finds DEA Should Re-Classify Marijuana. The present classification of cannabis and its organic compounds as schedule I prohibited substances under federal law is scientifically indefensible, according to a just published review in The Open Neurology Journal. Investigators with the University of California at San Diego and the University of California, Davis reviewed the results of several recent clinical trials assessing the safety and efficacy of inhaled or vaporized cannabis.
They concluded: “Evidence is accumulating that cannabinoids may be useful medicine for certain indications. Control of nausea and vomiting and the promotion of weight gain in chronic inanition are already licensed uses of oral THC (dronabinol capsules). The lead author of the review, Dr. Last month, Ms.
Coalition advocates are presently appealing the DEA’s denial of their petition in federal court. Full text of the paper from The Open Neurology Journal, entitled “Medical Marijuana: Clearing Away the Smoke,” is available online here. Science Says: Lungs Love Weed. Breathe easy, tokers. Smoking marijuana in moderate amounts may not be so bad for your lungs, after all. A new study, published in this month's Journal of the American Medical Association, tested the lung function of over 5,000 young adults between 18 and 30 to determine marijuana's effect on lungs.
After 20 years of testing, researchers found some buzzworthy results: regular marijuana smokers (defined by up to a joint a day for seven years) had no discernable impairment in lung activity from non-smokers. In fact, researchers were surprised to find marijuana smokers performed slightly better than both smokers and non-smokers on the lung performance test. Why? The most likely explanation seems to be that the act of inhaling marijuana—holding each puff in for as long as possible—is a lot like a pulmonary function test, giving marijuana smokers an edge over their cigarette smoking counterparts. MORE: 5 Reasons Not to Smoke Synthetic Weed Attitudes are changing, however.