Cannabis Contains Cancer-Busting Compound

A recent study on cannabis is taking the web by storm. Namely, two scientists at the California Pacific Medical Center have discovered that cannabidiol, or CBD, the second most-abundant compound in marijuana, has the ability to stop aggressive forms of metastatic cancer.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.

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 on many forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate tumors, and is non-toxic. It will be used in clinical trials very soon.

Note that unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most-abundant compound in cannabis, CBD is not psychoactive. In other words, it doesn’t cause a high.

Cancer patients will be given an isolated form of the substance for it to have an effect. To prevent cannabis abuse, the researchers warn that you can’t ingest therapeutic amounts of CBD by smoking cannabis.

Let Science Do The Talking

The discovery is astounding. While it’s too early to call it a cure, it’s a step in the right direction. One can’t 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 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… deemed as of no medical use in treatment in the United States… and unsafe to be used under medical supervision.

One can’t help but wonder how a substance is deemed of no medical value whatsoever if researching it is illegal.

We no longer live in the 70s. Cannabis does have medical potential, the benefits of which were discovered through scientific research, thanks to relaxations in prohibition.

It’s also safe to use under medical supervision.

Let’s hope that the findings prove to be as promising as the researchers expect, and that CBD’s cancer-busting properties are real.

Relax the prohibition laws and allow scientific research to be conducted on all Scheduled substances, and we may achieve significant breakthroughs

Let’s also hope that legislators, lobbyists and public opinion in general 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.

Moving Forward

Far for an idealist’s pipe dream, the prospect is within reach, a process that has already begun.

Psylocybin, for example, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms” (Schedule I), was found to be beneficial to terminal cancer patients.

And MDMA, the main ingredient in “ecstasy”, alleviates post-traumatic stress disorder.

Let’s note that the research studies that came up with these findings were conducted over the past ten years or so, after tons of grueling red-tape. Researchers and organizations had to jump through endless hoops to obtain special licenses and permits.

Dare we spend another forty years in the dark? The Middle Ages are over, Nixon is gone, we’ve moved on. Substances can’t be deemed “evil” by moral decree. What makes the world go round is evidence, fact and data, of which we have none when laws that prohibit research on account of prejudice are in place.