cannabisnews.com: Outside View: Your Brain on Pot





Outside View: Your Brain on Pot
Posted by CN Staff on September 24, 2004 at 10:32:00 PT
By Paul Armentano, A UPI Outside View Commentary
Source: United Press International
Washington, DC -- Clinical research touted by the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research that shows marijuana's components can inhibit the growth of cancerous brain tumors is the latest in a long line of studies demonstrating the drug's potential as an anti-cancer agent. Not familiar with it? You're not alone.
Despite the value of these studies, both in terms of the treatment of life-threatening illnesses and as items of news -- the latest being that performed by researchers at Madrid's Complutense University that found cannabis restricts the blood supply to Gliobastoma multiforme tumors, an aggressive brain tumor that kills some 7,000 people in the United States per year -- U.S. media coverage of them has been almost non-existent. Why the blackout? For starters, all of these medical cannabis studies were conducted overseas. Secondly, not one of them has been acknowledged by the U.S. government.This wasn't always the case. In fact, the first experiment documenting pot's anti-tumor effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at the behest of the U.S. government. The results of that study, reported in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana's psychoactive component "THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."Despite these favorable preliminary findings, U.S. government officials banished the study, and refused to fund any follow up research until conducting a similar -- though secret -- clinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods had greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls.However, rather than publicize their findings, government researchers shelved the results, which only became public after a draft copy of its findings were leaked in 1997 to a medical journal which in turn forwarded the story to the national media. However, in the eight years since the completion of the National Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to fund a single additional study examining the drug's potential anti-cancer properties. Is this a case of federal bureaucrats putting politics over the health and safety of patients? You be the judge.Fortunately, scientists overseas have generously picked up where U.S. researchers so abruptly left off. In 1998, a research team at Complutense's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology discovered that THC can selectively induce program cell death in brain tumor cells without negatively impacting the surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by six weeks. Last year, researchers at the University of Milan in Naples, Italy, reported in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics that non-psychoactive compounds in marijuana inhibited the growth of glioma cells in a dose dependent manner, and selectively targeted and killed malignant cells through a process known as apoptosis.And finally, this month, researchers reported that marijuana's constituents inhibited the spread of brain cancer in human tumor biopsies from patients who had failed standard cancer therapies.Nevertheless, federal officials in this country have refused to express any interest in funding -- or even acknowledging -- this clinical research. By doing so, they are doing a disservice not only to the scientific process, but also to the health and well being of America's citizenry. Neither patients nor science deserve to be held hostage in America's drug war, and it's time for the federal government to cease trampling on both.Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for the NORML Foundation in Washington. -- http://www.norml.org/Newshawk: Paul ArmentanoSource: United Press InternationalAuthor: Paul ArmentanoPublished: September 21, 2004Copyright 2004 United Press InternationalContact: tips upi.comWebsite: http://www.upi.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmCannabis May Help Combat Cancerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19494.shtmlMarijuana May Yield Cancer-Fighting Drugshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19489.shtmlCannabis Hope for Brain Cancer http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19338.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by goneposthole on September 25, 2004 at 12:01:21 PT
hide and seek
I will correct my misspelling of the the word 'willful'. Dsylexia coupled with not paying attention is just one of my many faults. My fault book is completely filled cover to cover.The government hides the evidence as if it weren't even there. Those who seek it find it somehow. Willful and malicious are the only two words that seem to fit in this unholy waste of a drug war.It's hopeless... for the US government. They will capitulate. 
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Comment #15 posted by afterburner on September 25, 2004 at 09:01:04 PT
No Wonder the Feds Try to Suppress All Dissent
"In short, that makes the DEA, the ONDCP and the FDA accessories to murder." --kaptinemoMeanwhile back at the pharmaceutical ranch:CN BC: Column: All This Scary Drug Industry News And Nowhere To Smoke 23 Sep 2004 
Westender (Vancouver, CN BC) 
http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n1358/a09.html
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Comment #14 posted by goneposthole on September 25, 2004 at 07:07:05 PT
willfull and malicious conduct
When are the 'wrongful death' lawsuits going to be filed against the gubmint, indicting John Ashcroft, Barry McCaffrey, William Bennent, George Bush Sr., George Bush Jr. et al? Looks like they're culpable. May they all have their day in court to defend themselves against the charges to plead their feigned innocence and slough their guilt onto those unsuspecting 'fall guys'. They'll rue the day, for sure. It will cost them dearly.The deaths of those who have lost their lives in one way or another in this heinous 'war on drugs' are all in vain if some kind of justice doesn't prevail.
A rendered verdict in favor of the injured parties.It is just a matter of time. It's late, I know. Better late than never.
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Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on September 25, 2004 at 06:24:20 PT:
More of the painfully obvious
News of the anti-carcinogenic properties of cannabis is slowly, slowly seeping into the mass consciousness...and largely in part to this website, which has provided extensive information concerning those studies proving those properties since the first report back in 2000.Despite the wall of silence of the US media, the word is getting out, albeit in a fitful, almost tortuous way, but it's getting out. This is like an explosive charge with a very long fuse. Like the flame on that fuse, I am afraid it'll take a long time for the information to reach the parties most affected - cancer victims and anyone else The Herb can help - but when it does, I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of anyone working for the Feds in any medical regulatory capacity...like the FDA. With the fact that the first study exploring cannabis's efficacy at killing cancer cells having taken place in 1974, under the auspices of the Feds, they have NO excuse for their failure to follow through on this; the initial studies were paid for with taxpayer dollars. The 'disappearing' of these studies can only lead to one conclusion: this was a deliberate act which has indirectly assisted the unnecessary deaths of all those who could have benefited.In short, that makes the DEA, the ONDCP and the FDA accessories to murder.And to all those LEOs, Fed agents and their allies who read this on a daily basis to know what the 'enemy' is thinking, I say unto *you*: You are aiding and abetting murder by your support of the DrugWar. You may deny it all you wish, but with the rise of cancer in the population, your odds are now 50-50 that you or someone you love will be stricken with cancer in your lifetime. You now know the truth. You can't deny it. So, what will you do when the doctor tells you the awful news? Be a 'good soldier' and deny yourself a chance at saving your life or that of a loved one for the sake of your paycheck? This isn't rhetorical, antis; like I said, 50-50. Not my statistics, the American Cancer Society's. Cancer is stalking you as it stalks all of us, and with the odds of a coin flip, you better bank on getting that sick someday. What will you do?
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Comment #12 posted by Truth on September 25, 2004 at 01:35:14 PT
that's right
bring back herb!
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Comment #11 posted by dr slider on September 25, 2004 at 00:54:43 PT
Surreally it can't be true
Another thing I have to get straight... Mutts that can smell cancer in my piss are all over the news but our humble little buddy that can both cure and prevent tumors is blacklisted? 
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on September 24, 2004 at 19:46:13 PT
sukoi
Oops I re-read the article and it said useable. I need stronger glasses. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19544.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by Patrick on September 24, 2004 at 19:30:39 PT
This article...
..made me think of Homer Simpson....For starters, all of these medical cannabis studies were conducted overseas. Secondly, not one of them has been acknowledged by the U.S. government. Insert Homer Simpson smacking his head HERE… DuuuuhIs this a case of federal bureaucrats putting politics over the health and safety of patients? Insert Homer Simpson smacking his head HERE… DuuuuhNevertheless, federal officials in this country have refused to express any interest in funding -- or even acknowledging -- this clinical research. By doing so, they are doing a disservice not only to the scientific process, but also to the health and well being of America's citizenry. Insert Homer Simpson smacking his head HERE… Duuuuh
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 24, 2004 at 18:22:07 PT
sukoi
Thank you for this article. I'm glad he got it back even though it wasn't any good anymore. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19544.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by sukoi on September 24, 2004 at 17:58:33 PT
A little off topic...
...but I thought that this showed at least a "little" compassion:Marijuana cultivator gets pot back from sheriffhttp://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2004/09/24/local_news/3.txt 
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on September 24, 2004 at 16:33:29 PT
Max Flowers 
I was wondering about the Kubbys today too. I don't think they have electric. Hopefully someone will let us know as soon as they know.
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Comment #5 posted by Max Flowers on September 24, 2004 at 16:25:54 PT
(offtopic) FoM
What's the latest with the Kubbys? thanks
MF
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Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on September 24, 2004 at 14:48:29 PT
iterate
I had a relative that had a malignant glioma. Note the word 'had'. Cannabis could have helped him, but what happened to him was a suffering death. One of the saddest ordeals one could ever encounter.Instead, a slew of mindless treatments of chemotherapy, radiation therapy ad nauseum that left him addled. It angers me. The federal government is responsible for his death.
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Comment #3 posted by siege on September 24, 2004 at 12:59:47 PT
Military Surgeon Volume 73 
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/panama/panama1.htmMARIAJUANA SMOKING IN PANAMATaken from: The Military Surgeon Volume 73 - July-December 1933This committee consisted of the Chief Health Officer of the Panama Canal, the District Attorney, the Chief of the Division of Civil Affairs, and the Chief of the Division of Police and Fire; also, the Department Judge Advocate, the Chief of the Board of Health Laboratory, the Superintendent of Corozal Hospital for the Insane, and a representative from the Medical Corps, U. S. Navy , acting in an advisory capacity.
After an investigation extending from April to December, 1925, the Committee reached the following conclusion: There is no evidence that mariahuana as grown here is a "habit-forming" drug in the sense in which the term is applied to alcohol, opium, cocaine, etc., or that it has any appreciably deleterious influence on the individuals using it.
 The Committee recommended "that no steps be taken by the Canal Zone authorities to prevent the sale or use of mariahuana, and that no special legislation be asked for."
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on September 24, 2004 at 12:30:45 PT
I just had a reaction to the Montel show
A medicine that a mother can grow in her own garden and bake in her own oven.It seems like such a simple thing but look just how threatening this idea appears to the major institutions of Western civilization.It just gets them all up in a tizzy. 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 24, 2004 at 11:20:57 PT
News Article from The Times Argus
Medical Marijuana Applications Open Next MonthSeptember 24, 2004 Associated Press 
MONTPELIER — The state will begin taking applications next month from people who want to legally use marijuana to cope with serious medical ailments.Katherine Perera of Hancock expects to be one of the first to apply, she said Wednesday. "I plan on registering and making myself legal."Perera has used marijuana for years to cope with nausea and lack of appetite produced by the cocktail of medicines she takes to combat HIV. She said she contracted the virus from a blood transfusion. She trekked to the Statehouse many times in recent years to lobby for passage of a law that would allow her to use marijuana without fear of going to jail.Last spring, the Legislature passed a "medical marijuana bill." Gov. Jim Douglas allowed it to become law without his signature.Under the new law, Vermonters such as Perera won't face prosecution for using or possessing small amounts of marijuana if they have state identity cards certifying they meet certain eligibility standards.To qualify for the protection, an individual must have terminal cancer or AIDS, or debilitating and intractable symptoms caused by AIDS, cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis or the treatments for any of these diseases.The state will start taking applications for the identity cards Oct. 28."We are on target for implementation on Oct. 28," Frances Aumand, director of division of criminal services in the Department of Public Safety, said Wednesday to lawmakers on the Health Access Oversight Committee. He said the application form will be posted on the department's Web site shortly before the target starting date.The state will have 30 days from the date of an application to verify an individual's medical condition by contacting the doctor the person listed on the form. Doctors won't be asked whether they recommend marijuana use, Aumand said.Aumand said his office has hired a computer firm to create the framework for a database of the users and caregivers. Police around the state must be able to check the list 24 hours a day. 
Copyright: 2004 Times Argushttp://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040924/NEWS/409240308/1003/NEWS02
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