Is Marijuana a Natural Health Miracle?

Is marijuana a natural health miracle? The list of benefits continues to grow.

Last month, New Jersey passed a bill allowing chronically ill patients to alleviate their pain legally by smoking marijuana. If anything, New Jersey is beginning to show some common sense.

There is an extensive list of health benefits of taking marijuana. A recent study done by The Scripps Research Institute shows that THC, the chemical responsible for marijuana's "high," can help slow the process of Alzheimer's disease. Other studies show that THC is an effective treatment for nausea, beneficial for patients such as those undergoing chemotherapy. Marijuana also acts as a pain reliever and is often used by patients with multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. Additionally, as Hunter Johnson, 21, points out, when you take Marijuana, "you sleep good, have a good appetite."

Any negative impact of the drug comes from the actual smoke, not the cannabis that produces the benefits. But even the smoke has an advantage. The delivery of marijuana through smoke makes the effects felt by patients within minutes, which is ideal for the treatment of pain or nausea. But smoking marijuana isn't the only way of ingesting it. Read more

The Benefit of Long-Term Marijuana Use

Another health benefit of marijuana has been found: it reduces the risk of developing head and neck cancer. Notice that it's smoking marijuana that confers the benefit.

For some time it has been acknowledged that the cannabiniods in marijuana smoke have potential antitumor properties. Now an epidemiological study conducted at Brown University has found that the practice of long term marijuana smoking reduces the risk of developing head and neck cancer (HNSCC). Read more

Marijuana Is Far Safer Than Alcohol

Marijuana is far safer than alcohol, so why are the feds prohibiting it and driving people to drink?

For 35 years the federal government has been well aware – yet publicly denied – that cannabis possesses potent anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties. Even under the Obama administration, which promised to "base [their] public policies on the soundest of science," the myth that pot promotes cancer persists. In fact, the White House’s website, whitehousedrugpolicy.gov, presently warns, "Marijuana has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract."

Or not.

In a clinical abstract published online on journal of Cancer Prevention Research website in July, a team of U.S. investigators reported – with absolutely no mainstream media fanfare – that lifetime marijuana use is associated with a "significantly reduced risk" of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Read more

THC in Marijuana Kills Brain Cancer Cells

New research suggests that the active ingredient in marijuana kill brain cancer cells. Of course, experts issued the obligatory warning not to smoke pot to fight brain cancer, but some patients are doing it anyway.

New research out of Spain suggests that THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana -- appears to prompt the death of brain cancer cells.

The finding is based on work with mice designed to carry human cancer tumors, as well as from an analysis of THC's impact on tumor cells extracted from two patients coping with a highly aggressive form of brain cancer. Read more

Marijuana: Aphrodisiac

Marijuana has been used as an aphrodisiac for thousands of years. Josey Vogels investigates why it turns people on.

Marijuana has been used as an aphrodisiac for thousands of years. The ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicine systems used cannabis to increase libido, produce long-lasting erections, delay ejaculation, facilitate lubrication and loosen inhibitions. Some Tantric sex practitioners drink a substance called bhang, a sort of spiced marijuana milkshake to enhance the sexual experience. According to one source, Indian prostitutes eat bhang sherbet to help them feel sexually aroused. In 19th century Serbia, female virgins were given mixtures of lamb’s fat and cannabis on their wedding night to make sex less painful. Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern and Northern African cultures used cannabis for sexual purposes in a potent form known at kif as recently as the early 20th century.


So what exactly is it about weed that turns people on? Read more

Another Healthful Attribute of Marijuana Discovered

Researchers have discovered another healthful attribute of marijuana: it reduces tumors.

The active ingredient in marijuana appears to reduce tumour growth, according to a Spanish study published on Wednesday.

The researchers showed giving THC to mice with cancer decreased tumour growth and killed cells off in a process called autophagy. Read more

Marijuana for Memory

Is there anything that marijuana isn't good for? scientists are finding new evidence that specific elements in marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.

It's not as dangerous as scientists think it should be, and it can even be considered medicine. Also, it may affect different people in different ways.

The more researchers study the effects of marijuana, the more evidence scientists find that specific elements in it can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells. Development of a legal drug that contains certain properties similar to those in marijuana might help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Though the exact cause of Alzheimer’s remains unknown, chronic inflammation in the brain is believed to contribute to memory impairment. Read more

Chemicals in Marijuana May Fight MRSA

Here's another medical use of marijuana that the federal governments prevents Americans from benefiting from because of the so-called War on Drugs. A new study shows that cannabinoids may be useful against drug-resistant staph infections.

Chemicals in marijuana may be useful in fighting MRSA, a kind of staph bacterium that is resistant to certain antibiotics.

Researchers in Italy and the U.K. tested five major marijuana chemicals called cannabinoids on different strains of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). All five showed germ-killing activity against the MRSA strains in lab tests. Some synthetic cannabinoids also showed germ-killing capability. The scientists note the cannabinoids kill bacteria in a different way than traditional antibiotics, meaning they might be able to bypass bacterial resistance.

At least two of the cannabinoids don't have mood-altering effects, so there could be a way to use these substances without creating the high of marijuana. Read more

Marijuana May Be Effective for Nerve Pain

Is there anything marijuana isn't good for? Besides relieving PMS, glaucoma, itching, insomnia, arthritis, depression, childbirth, attention deficit disorder, and ringing in the ears, a new study shows that patients with nerve pain showed reduced pain intensity from smoking marijuana.

The growing body of evidence that marijuana (cannabis) may be effective as a pain reliever has been expanded with publication of a new study in The Journal of Pain reporting that patients with nerve pain showed reduced pain intensity from smoking marijuana. Read more

Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal

Legal drugs are killing three times more Floridians than all illegal drugs combined. Are the wrong drugs illegal? Who are more dangerous drug pushers: street dealers or the pharmaceutical companies? Notice that zero deaths are attributed to marijuana.

From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.

An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined. Read more