Cannabis And Cancer Of The Brain

Eric brought to my attention this news. Marijuana kills brain cancer, new study confirms.

The active molecules in cannabis kill brain cancer — another study has revealed.

Scientists using an extract of whole-plant marijuana rich in pot’s main psychoactive ingredient THC as well as cannabidiol (CBD) showed “dramatic reductions in tumor volumes” of a type of brain cancer.

“High-grade glioma is one of the most aggressive cancers in adult humans and long-term survival rates are very low as standard treatments for glioma remain largely unsuccessful,” according to researchers Katherine A. Scott, Angus G. Dalgleish, and Wai M. Liu from the Oncology Department at St. George’s University of London.

Writing in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics this month, the team recounts how they decided to build on existing research that shows “cannabinoids have been shown to specifically inhibit glioma growth as well as neutralize oncogenic processes such as angiogenesis.”

Which reminded me of a post I did about a day ago on the same subject

The subject of the post was a press release by the National Brain Cancer Foundation.

The Cannabinoid Research Group of Complutense University in Madrid, Spain and Voices Against Brain Cancer, a national foundation headquartered in New York, announce today that a collaborative alliance has been signed by both organizations. The consideration of the benefits of Marijuana and the compounds contained within the plant known as “cannabinoids” for medicinal purposes is currently a prominent subject matter in North America. In an effort to fast track the propagation of accurate scientific based information on therapeutic opportunities incorporating cannabinoids, these two groups have formed an exclusive partnership in the United States.

[snip]

When asked about the research findings to date, Mr. Guzman noted that “published research clearly shows the anticancer action of cannabinoids impacting glioblastoma multiforma (GBM), and how chemotherapy results of tumor reduction are improved upon by adding cannabinoids as part of the treatment regimen.”

“We have an obligation to remain open minded about where the cure for brain cancer will come from, said Michael Klipper, Chairman of Voices Against Brain Cancer. Manuel Guzmán and his research team are world class leaders in the clinical research of cannabinoids and cancer.” We recognize our responsibility to disseminate the information associated with the published research, which supports the medicinal legitimacy and can help guide patients and government lawmakers when considering the use of Cannabinoids.”

So cannabis boosts chemotherapy or radiation treatment of brain cancer.

At 4 minutes into this next video the speaker says (approximately), “the government has known for 40 years that cannabis fights cancer”. That would be monstrous if true. Below the video I’ll provide some links to the evidence.

Fronm 2008: What Your Government Knows About Cannabis And Cancer — And Isn’t Telling You.

Even with successful surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy treatment, gliomas — a highly aggressive form of brain cancer that strikes approximately 10,000 Americans annually — tragically claim the lives of 75 percent of its victims within two years and virtually all within five years.

But what if there was an alternative treatment for gliomas that could selectively target the cancer while leaving healthy cells intact? And what if federal bureaucrats were aware of this treatment, but deliberately withheld this information from the public?

[snip]

In fact, the first experiment documenting pot’s potent anti-cancer effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at the behest federal bureaucrats. The results of that study, reported in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana’s primary 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 (eventually published the following year in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute), U.S. government officials refused to authorize any follow-up research until conducting a similar — though secret — preclinical 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.

Here is a link to that study: Antineoplastic activity of cannabinoids. Here is the header for that page:

Journal of the National Cancer Institute

1975 Sep;55(3):597-602.
Antineoplastic activity of cannabinoids.
Munson AE, Harris LS, Friedman MA, Dewey WL, Carchman RA.

So the government has known this since no later than the end of 1975. And did its best to see that no follow ups were done.

Some more links on the suppression of this information:
U.S. Government Repressed Marijuana-Tumor Research

Nixon Knew Cannabis Cures Cancer, Suppressed the Findings in Leiu of War on Drugs

Medicinal Marijuana Cannabis Research Suppressed by Jeffrey Dach MD

Cannabis Continues to Eradicate Disease Despite Efforts to Suppress It

Cancer currently kills 586,000 Americans a year. The research could have been completed and medical distribution set up in 5 years. So we have had about 35 years of 500,000 Americans a year dying of cancer that didn’t need to. That is over 17 million deaths to keep Prohibition in place. That is right up there with Stalin, Mao, and the Austrian Corporal.

Cannabis cures cancer. Cancer kills 586,000 Americans every year. Republicans (generally) favor killing those people to keep Prohibition in place. Every Prohibitionist is complicit in mass murder.

Pass it on.

Update: 22 November 2014 1341z

An advanced course on cannabis as medicine. About 1 hour by Dr. Donald Abrams who is also mentioned (with video) here.