In experiments with marijuana and its active ingredient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) farthing the advances made in 2009 at Complutense University in Spain that found that THC induced the death of brain cancer cells in a process known as “autophagy”, Scientists from Complutense University and the University of Anglia in the UK have discovered specific receptors that are responsible for the THC’s disease-fighting effects.
Marijuana Kills Cancer
The researchers found that administering THC to mice with human tumors initiated autophagy and caused the growth of the tumors to decrease. This success was repeated in two human subjects with highly aggressive brain tumors. When targeting the cancer cells in the experiments, the researchers found that two cell receptors were particularly associated with an anti-tumor response.
“THC, the major active component of marijuana, has anti-cancer properties. This compound is known to act through a specific family of cell receptors called cannabinoid receptors,” says Dr. Peter McCormick, from UEA’s School of Pharmacy.
“By identifying the receptors involved we have provided an important step towards the future development of therapeutics that can take advantage of the interactions we have discovered to reduce tumor growth,” says Dr. McCormick.
In the United States of America, Marijuana is listed as a schedule 1 narcotic. It has that designation because the US Government claims that marijuana has “No Medicinal Value”. If marijuana does have medicinal value (as these studies clearly show it does), then it should be moved into another category where it can be freely prescribed by any Doctor… just like opiates and cocaine.
Yet with the plethora of real scientific data that shows that marijuana kills cancer (and treats numerous other conditions), it is still kept illegal for political gains. Keeping medicine from sick people for politics is truly twisted.
In 1640 English Botanist John Parkinson describes Cannabis as effective for treating tumors. glad to see the rest of science is catching up… 385 years later.
