Shock is the first reaction you will have when one tells you that marijuana is the next solution to one of the world’s most deadly illness. But I guess the feeling is pretty amazing too. Imagine a world that is cancer free. Mind-blowing is the word!
And so the real question here should be, how great is the potential of the Cannabis plant in healing this dreadful disease called cancer?
Journey to the past
I know for a fact that thousands out there are ignorant about the countless astounding things marijuana can do other than being commonly known to be a drug with addictive capabilities and that nothing awesome can come out of it. But here is the shocking news, cannabis has for the longest time in history been used as a remedy for medical conditions.
In ancient China, India, Greece and even here in America, it was used medically to cure illnesses and ailments as an anti-inflammatory, antiepileptic and to dress wounds and sores of horses
Cannabis was introduced into Western medicine in 1839 as according to W.B. O’Shaughnessy, a surgeon who worked for the British East Indian Company. It was used for sedatives, anti-inflammatory and anticonvulsant effects/ purposes. Today, research has shown that cannabinoids may have benefits in the treatment of cancer-related side effects.
Research Findings
Marijuana simply refers to the dried leaves, flowers or seeds from hemp plant, Cannabis Sativa. The plant contains delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primarily psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. With high amounts of THC, other extracts can also be made from the cannabis plant. Cannabis contains other relatively important ingredients such as Cannabinol, Cannabigerol and Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is the only legalized ingredient in Cannabis for some of the recently added States that have legalized the use Marijuana for medical purposes.
Additionally, Cannabinoids as chemical components, they activate specific body receptors to produce pharmacologic effects in the central nervous system, as well as in our immune system. More incredibly, in 1986, an isomer of synthetic delta-9-THC in Sesame oil was licensed and approved for the treatment of Chemotherapy-associated nausea and Vomiting but under generic name dronabinol.
Closing remarks
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in a research that was conducted, it suggested that tumors are sensitive to cannabinoid-induced growth inhibition and that they have a strong likelihood of causing antitumor effects by mechanisms such as induction of cell death and inhibition of cell growth. Other recent research findings have confirmed the potential targets of CB1 and CB2 receptors in non-small cell lung carcinoma and breast-cancer, and in Vitro study of the effect of CBD on programmed cell death in breast cancer cell lines, found that CBD induced programmed cell death independent of CB1 and CB2.
Now I find myself asking this question over and over again, could Cannabis’ Cannabinoids (CBD) be the next solution to one of the world’s most killer illness? And if so, perhaps its time that the America’s legal system ponders upon removing the drug from it’s category of Schedule 1, which renders it most dangerous and addictive, hence illegal.
