BIG NEWS!! National Cancer Institute acknowledges cannabis kills cancer.

[240 is Back]

I've never smoked pot before... but this may be a good reason to, haha!



Colleagues,

Interesting to see this new “Cannabis and Cannabinoids” section added to the National Cancer Institute website. You’ll note that the page doesn’t just acknowledge the “potential benefits of medicinal cannabis” to treat symptoms of cancer chemotherapy, but there is also an acknowledgement that cannabinoids potentially possess a “direct antitumor effect” in humans. This may be the first time the NCI, which is a branch of the NIH, has ever acknowledged this point.

Schedule I???!!! Still??!!

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/hea...

"General Information: Cannabis, also known as marijuana, originated in Central Asia but is grown worldwide today. In the United States, it is a controlled substance and is classified as a Schedule I agent (a drug with increased potential for abuse and no known medical use). The Cannabis plant produces a resin containing psychoactive compounds called cannabinoids. The highest concentration of cannabinoids is found in the female flowers of the plant. As a botanical, Cannabis is difficult to study because of the lack of standardization of the botanical product due to the many climates and environments in which it is grown. Clinical trials conducted on medicinal Cannabis are limited.

"The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.

Cannabinoids are a group of terpenophenolic compounds found in Cannabis species (Cannabis sativa L. and Cannabis indica Lam.). This summary will review the role of Cannabis and the cannabinoids in the treatment of people with cancer and disease-related or treatment-related side effects."
 

[kcballer]

Can't find the page myself.  But what i've read doesn't quite fly with that.  It'd be interesting if they can replicate whatever it is they did to prove it. 

I do know smoking cannabis increasing cancer risk in smokers of cigarettes. 

[Straw Man]

Can't find the page myself.  But what i've read doesn't quite fly with that.  It'd be interesting if they can replicate whatever it is they did to prove it. 

I do know smoking cannabis increasing cancer risk in smokers of cigarettes. 

main page:  http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional

regarding people who smoke both pot and cigarettes: 

In a retrospective cohort study of 64,855 men aged 15 to 49 years, participants were divided into cohorts based on their use of tobacco and marijuana: never inhaled either, inhaled only Cannabis, inhaled only tobacco, and inhaled tobacco and Cannabis.[5] Among the nonsmokers, two cases of lung cancer were diagnosed during the follow-up period. Among the men who inhaled tobacco either alone or in addition to marijuana, the risk of lung cancer increased tenfold. In the follow-up of men who inhaled marijuana alone, no cases of lung cancer were documented.

A case-control study of 611 lung cancer patients revealed that chronic low Cannabis exposure was not associated with an increased risk of lung cancer or other upper aerodigestive tract cancers.[6] A standardized questionnaire used during face-to-face interviews collected information on marijuana use expressed in joint-years, where 1 joint-year is the equivalent of inhaling one marijuana cigarette per day for 1 year. The results showed that, although using marijuana for 30 years or longer was positively associated in the crude analysis with each cancer type studied except pharyngeal cancer, no positive associations were found when adjusting for several confounders including cigarette smoking.[6]

Furthermore, a systematic review assessing 19 studies that evaluated premalignant or malignant lung lesions in persons 18 years or older who inhaled marijuana concluded that observational studies failed to demonstrate statistically significant associations between marijuana inhaling and lung cancer after adjusting for tobacco use.[7]

[kcballer]

Interesting.  I wonder how something can increase cancer with tobacco but not alone?   

Def needs more study in my opinion.  I especially worry about the mental health issues associated with Cannabis.  Now before you pull out a study, it's anecdotal at best, but i have a relative who is a prison psychiatrist.  He's noted a major increase in early cannabis use and inmates.  It wasn't always like that, but now it seems 90% of inmates have tried cannabis from a young age.   The ethical implications of giving cannabis to youngsters to study their development would stop any potential study in it's tracks.  But something to think about.

[Neurotoxin]

Cannabis Inhalation Associated With Spontaneous Tumor Regression, Study Says


http://cannabis.hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/03/22/cannabis-inhalation-associated-with-spontaneous-tumor-regression-study-says/


Here are just some of the many studies the Feds wish they'd never commissioned:

MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 1):

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.

MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER, (PART 2):

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.


MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 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.

MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 4):

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.

MARIJUANA DOES HAVE GREAT MEDICAL VALUE:

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." The report also 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

The American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, National Academy of HIV Medicine, two former U.S. surgeon generals, and hundreds of other medical professional groups all say that marijuana should be available to patients whose doctors recommend it.
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Cancer 'treatment' is a HUGE business in this country. Any potential cures would cut DEEP into profits.

This new study will end up under the carpet w/ the rest.




-Prognosticator


Tobacco advisory panel advises FDA to ban menthol cigarettes

March 18, 2011,
Menthol cigarette which is flavored with the compound menthol has been under scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a long time. FDA advisory panel says the minty smokes hurt public health and offer no benefits but did not make any specific recommendation for action by the FDA. Menthol cigarette accounts for an estimated 27% of the $80 billion cigarette market in the US that target to 19 million smokers.  Majority of menthol smokers are African-Americans, younger and lower income population.
--

The FDA decision? No Ban. Business is just too good!


-Prognosticator

Cancer treatment costs rise to nearly $50 billion a year in the USA - huge profits for cancer industrySaturday, October 23, 2010

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030140_cancer_industry_profits.html#ixzz1HXO90pT5

[OzmO]

So we gonna have a nation wide smoke out for cancer awareness and cure?

[Straw Man]

Interesting.  I wonder how something can increase cancer with tobacco but not alone?    

Def needs more study in my opinion.  I especially worry about the mental health issues associated with Cannabis.  Now before you pull out a study, it's anecdotal at best, but i have a relative who is a prison psychiatrist.  He's noted a major increase in early cannabis use and inmates.  It wasn't always like that, but now it seems 90% of inmates have tried cannabis from a young age.   The ethical implications of giving cannabis to youngsters to study their development would stop any potential study in it's tracks.  But something to think about.

I think the quote I highlighted is misleading.  It says that people who inhalde tobacco either alone or in addition to marijuana have a ten-fold risk in lung cancer.  So if just smoking cigarrettes alone increases the chance of lung cancer then the tenfold increase must come solely from tobacco

[kcballer]

I think the quote I highlighted is misleading.  It says that people who inhalde tobacco either alone or in addition to marijuana have a ten-fold risk in lung cancer.  So if just smoking cigarrettes alone increases the chance of lung cancer then the tenfold increase must come solely from tobacco

Not necessarily.  Cannabis alone may not cause lung cancer, but unless you tested tobacco alone and cannabis and tobacco together in a controlled environment you can not say definitively.  It's an assumption and possibly correct given the evidence, but an assumption not even the cancer society would make hence the language - Among the men who inhaled tobacco either alone or in addition to marijuana, the risk of lung cancer increased tenfold.

You also have to look at frequency.  Marijuana is smoked with less frequency by a majority of people than tobacco.  Tobacco is smoked consistently throughout the day.  The dosages are not equal so a comparison can not be fairly made. 

If a study was able to say - x people smoked cannabis 5 times a day, and y people smoked tobacco 5 times a day, then a comparison could fairly be made.