"Cannabinoids: The Marijuana Miracle Medicine"

[Maurice]

To quote "“There are more cannabinoid receptors in the brain and vital organs than any other receptor,” Bryne said. “The big discovery is that the human body is filled with cannabinoid receptors.”

Wow! Thanks MND.

Here- http://mensnewsdaily.com/2010/08/22/cannabinoids-the-marijuana-miracle-medicine/

Cannabinoids: The Marijuana Miracle Medicine

Sunday, August 22, 2010

By Mike LaSalle

With protections for VA medical marijuana patients now secured by VHA DIRECTIVE 2010-035, some are wondering why the DEA continues to treat marijuana as a Schedule I drug.

And what — if any — is the significance of the Directive in light of last year’s federal policy announcement ending raids on Cannabis clinics in those 14 states that allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana?

According to Al Byrne, Chief Operating Officer of Patients Out of Time, it means that the federal consensus against medical marijuana is about to collapse.

An an interview with MND, Byrne said that the biological importance of endo-cannabinoids in the human body are only now becoming known. For Byrne, new research is driving the bid to reschedule Marijuana.

“There are more cannabinoid receptors in the brain and vital organs than any other receptor,” Bryne said. “The big discovery is that the human body is filled with cannabinoid receptors.”

Personal opinions about the drug war not withstanding, the human body and Cannabis are matched not just by nature, but by choice: human use and consumption of the Cannabis plant is literally pre-historic.

In his review of the History of Cannabis in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity, Ethan B. Russo, M.D., writes that:

“Cannabis sativa L. is possibly one of the oldest plants cultivated by man…. [T]his most versatile botanical has provided a mirror to medicine and has pointed the way in the last two decades toward a host of medical challenges from analgesia to weight loss through the discovery of its myriad biochemical attributes and the endocannabinoid system wherein many of its components operate.”

It is arguable that medicinal use of Cannabis was known long before the age of writing. Ancient Egyptian Papyrus artifacts document numerous Cannabis recipes for sundry human ills, from inflammation to pain control.

Russo cites a translation of a recipe published in the Fayyum Medical Book, originally written in an Egyptian Demotic script. The document represents a Cannabis-based remedy from the 6th century BC:

To stop tumors: extract of herbs, papyrus, sap of the hur-tree, lotus leaf, cannabis, heated with sweet clover

Modern science has confirmed the folk remedies of ancient Egypt: a study is available today showing that a Cannabis extract inhibits blood vessels that feed brain tumors, thus causing the tumors to shrink.

In another study, Cannabis was found to Reduce Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Tumor Growth.

And of course a famed Harvard study released in 2007 showed that THC — the well-known psychoactive molecule produced by the cannabis plant – cuts lung cancer growth in half, and stops its spread.

The human body actually produces its own endocannabinoids for use in the regulation of various organs. For this reason alone, the medical value of Cannabis may eventually be applied to many other physical ailments.

What happens when the body cannot produce enough cannabinoids of its own?

“It’s called ‘cannabinoid deficiency’,” Al Byrne told MND.

Could craving for cannabinoids may be a symptom of Cannabinoid Deficiency Syndrome? Certainly patients who have a wasting disease are cannabinoid deficient — which might explain why these patients are helped by ingesting marijuana.

Byrne said the interest in Cannabis medicine among medical professionals was growing. “In 2003, the American Nurses Association passed a resolution saying that Nurses should educate themselves about the medical value of Cannabis.”

Byrne pointed out the Marinol — a synthetic form of THC — was listed under Schedule III, while Cannabis — the natural source of THC — is still listed as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

“How can THC have medical value as a pill, but not as a plant?” said Byrne. “And why are we taking medical advice from drug enforcement agents instead of doctors?”

Learn more at medicalcannabis.com

Possibly related posts...

2010-08-19 -- Did the V.A. Unseat Marijuana From Schedule I? (6)

2010-07-23 -- Cannabis Minister Roger Christie Refused Bail in Religious Freedom Case (11)

2010-08-06 -- 4/20 Update: Marijuana, Religion, and the First Amendment (18)

2010-07-20 -- A New Mission for Liberty: Ending the Insane Drug War (31)

2010-03-02 -- We don’t need no stinkin’ badges (Arrest your own, but leave Mexico alone) (11)

2009-03-31 -- The War On Drugs – Time For A Change (10)

Tags: cannabanoids, Cannabis, drug war, endo-cannabanoids, MARIJUANA

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 at 3:35 am and is filed under Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. | 511 views | Trackback | Print This Post |

email: editor at mens news daily com | More from Mike LaSalle

Stumble It!

How to survive the coming food shortage.

6 Responses to “Cannabinoids: The Marijuana Miracle Medicine”

Paul Elam

2010-08-23 at 11:09 pm

@pj1

A few questions. There is, like with nearly every other crime, a discriminatory sexual gap in who the laws are enforced against.

Who do you think that works against?

Also, isn’t over sized and obtrusive government a big part of our overall problems?

Feminism isn’t the only way we are being robbed of individual liberties, and besides, as sad as it is, the marijuana debate is much more relevant to mainstream news and affairs than the men’s movement. MND will, I assure you, continue to expend significant energy addressing the issues of men and boys, but that doesn’t mean we ignore the enemies of freedom on any front.

No 0

1 Yes

#102864

pj1

2010-08-23 at 4:15 pm

Wake up and smell the coffee. This website is becoming irrelevant with pro-dope nonsense and such that has little to do with the plight of men in society.

Read ‘em and weep boys:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-of-men/8135/

No 4

1 Yes

#102844

M. Brecht

2010-08-22 at 11:00 pm

Wow, an article that doesn’t disseminate blatant, reckless propaganda about cannabis. This article actually discusses cannabis’s medical utility and cutting edge research. Amazing and refreshing. Please share more information about this vital medical topic.

The discovery of our body’s own cannabis — endocannabinoids — and the endocannabinoid system should be helping physicians understand why cannabis has so many medical properties and possibilities. But cannabis’s full acceptance in the medical field is hampered by the fact that most medical school curriculums don’t cover, with any needed depth, the medicinal uses of cannabis, one of the safest medicines known to man. And many politicians are lagging decades behind the medical truth and spend way too much of our tax money spreading blatant lies about an amazing medicine that should be a medical option for all.

And tragically, most medical schools and groups like the AMA have such cozy relationships with the pharmaceutical industry that there is a lot of money spent on spreading lies about a non-fatal substance that could put a measurable dent in the Phamaceutical Industy’s Lowest Line (PILL).

I hope some young students or young doctors see this article and follow the links to learn more about the medicinal value of cannabis and to help end the very real war on cannabis patients.

No 0

5 Yes

#102703

denbee

2010-08-22 at 10:53 pm

It would seem that all the positive research in the world will not counter the entrenched “reefer madness” mentality of the last 70 years. Besides, our police forces depend on the money prohibition generates. We are the low hanging fruit, the easiest to snag and the police have become addicted to marijuana prohibition…it is their easy money and full employment plan.

No 0

5 Yes

#102702

Daniel M

2010-08-22 at 7:50 pm

Cannabis/Hemp/Marijuana is plant. For the course of human history, its fibers have been used for productive ends, as hemp has tens of thousands of applications. One of which is smoking the substance to change one’s perspective. While this is not for everyone, the activity should not be criminalized.

Prohibition has ruined the lives of GOOD people, while enriching the most evil. Prohibition has stagnated the American economy, while criminal enterprises control this untaxed cash-crop. Prohibition has left America ignorant of the most logical solution to a number of problems…medicinal, industrial, chemical, and commercial.

free the leaf @ facebook.com/free.the.leaf

No 0

6 Yes

#102679

Malcolm Kyle

2010-08-22 at 9:54 am

There have been numerous such studies. Here are just five of them:

1) In response to passage of California’s medical marijuana law, the White House had the Institute of Medicine (IOM) review the data on marijuana’s medical benefits and risks. The IOM concluded, “Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana.” While noting potential risks of smoking, the report added, “we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting.” The government’s refusal to acknowledge this finding caused co-author John A. Benson to tell the New York Times that the government “loves to ignore our report … they would rather it never happened.” Joy, JE, Watson, SJ, and Benson, JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. 1999. p. 159. See also, Harris, G. FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana. New York Times. Apr.

21, 2006

2) Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.

3) Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn’t also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.

4) In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, “in a dose-dependent manner” (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, “Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer,” AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.

5) Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice’s lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.

[ref1ect1ons]

i just noticed that one of the comments mentions a 'men's movement' wtf is this?

[Maurice]

i just noticed that one of the comments mentions a 'men's movement' wtf is this?

 

The global Mens movement addresses male disadvantage in areas of family law, boys' education, mens' health, etc, etc.

It is the counterpart to the womens movement.

Here is a good start- http://www.dadsontheair.net/

and books by Warren Farrell (The Myth of Male Power)