“Why is marijuana needed when it is already available in pill form?

     "It", if referring to marijuana, is NOT available in pill form.  "It", if referring to THC - the main psychoactive compound in cannabis - is sold by prescription under the name *Marinol* (Dronabinol).  That may seem like a trivial point but we must keep in mind that THC and marijuana are not the same thing.
     Marijuana contains at least 66 active cannabinoids in addition to THC. Research has shown that these other compounds contribute significantly to marijuana’s therapeutic effects. For example, cannabidiol (CBD) has been shown to have anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and anti-inflammatory actions, as well as the ability to protect nerve cells from many kinds of damage. CBD also moderates THC’s effects so patients are less likely to get excessively “high.” Other cannabinoids naturally contained in marijuana have also shown significant
therapeutic promise.
      Also, people who use the pill find that it commonly takes an hour or more to work, while vaporized or smoked marijuana takes effect almost instantaneously. They also find that the dose of THC they have absorbed (in the pill form) is often either too much or too little. Because slow and uneven absorption makes oral dosing of THC so difficult, The Lancet Neurology wrote in May 2003, “Oral administration is probably the least satisfactory route for cannabis.”  In its 2008 position paper on medical marijuana, the American College of Physicians noted, “Oral THC is slow in onset of action but produces more pronounced, and often unfavorable, psychoactive effects than those experienced with smoking.”

     Now let's consider those who use cannabis for its anti-nausea properties.  As Mark Kris, M.D., one member of an expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health in 1997 to review the scientific data on medical marijuana, explained during the group’s discussion on February 20, 1997: “[T]he last thing that [patients] want is a pill when they are already nauseated or are in the act of throwing up.”
     Thousands of patients risk fines and/or jail time for using cannabis even though they could use a THC pill legally.  They obviously think it is worth the risk to use the whole plant versus merely one chemical from the plant.  It is time to legalize cannabis for medicinal use and stop punishing people for choosing a natural medicine for their ailments.

Marijuana or Tobacco (Cigarette) Smoke... Which is Worse?

     I remember sitting in my 5th grade class listening to the D.A.R.E. officer speak about the dangers of marijuana. One thing that stuck with me was that smoking a joint was equivalent to smoking a whole pack of cigarettes in regards to the amount of lung damage incurred.  Fast forward to this year.  A common thought that has been passed around among cannabis smokers is that cannabis smoke is safer than tobacco smoke.  I decided to do my own homework and search for clinical studies and scientific explanations. The following is what I have found:

WARNING! 

THIS ARTICLE CONTAIN BIG SCIENTIFIC WORDS AND STUFF... 

IT MAY GET BORING!

     When comparing cannabis to tobacco, I am going to be a little unfair.  I will be comparing commercially manufactured cigarettes to organically grown cannabis.  Why?  Because the vast majority of tobacco that is smoked is in the form of a cigarette made by one of the giant tobacco companies while cannabis, because of its current legal status, has not been exploited by industry and is generally grown by individuals or businesses who only use safe, organic products on the plants.  It may not be fair but it is a more accurate way of representing common usage.

    Tobacco smoke is laden with carcinogens created from the incomplete combustion of organic matter (the tobacco leaf).  Couple that with the myriad of items added to tobacco and a bigger danger occurs.  This *LINK* has a list of nearly 600 government-approved additives commonly found in cigarettes. While these substances may not pose much of a problem when ingested (they are all approved for use in food), combustion of these same additives produces thousands of various chemicals, most with the potential to cause cancer or other harmful effects.   Wait! I just got started...  Let us not overlook the *radiation found in cigarettes*.  It is a known fact that the fertilizers used by these tobacco giants contains radioactive elements that accumulate in and on the plant.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it!  (Actually, don't.)

     Cannabis on the other hand, because of the care put into growing it by hand, is simply that - cannabis!  Cannabis growers will use natural fertilizers like earthworm castings and bat guano (poop).  Sure, "N-P-K"s  (like fertilizers you might purchase for your garden) are used by some growers but those that do perform a "flush" prior to harvest to ensure the purity of the finished product. 

     As we continue to delve into the contrasts of the two smokes, we find that science has revealed to us a distinguishing factor - a family of chemicals known as cannabinoids (found exclusively in cannabis).  I will not go into full detail of how cannabinoids work in our body or how our own bodies actually have  receptors exclusive to cannabinoids and their endogenous equivalents.  That will have to be a future blog entry.  For now, let us focus on a particular study...

     Researchers at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the UCLA School of Medicine, have pitted tobacco and cannabis against each other in how much they encourage cancerous growth through the  activity of the enzyme CYP1A1 in the liver.  Activity of this enzyme on *polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons* (PAHs) has been linked to the formation of carcinogens in the body, leading to cancer.  What are PAHs, you ask?  Stay with me here.  When we cook a steak on the grill, PAHs are formed.  When we burn a campfire, we have produced PAHs.  PAHs are a by-product of combustion.  Unfortunately, our bodies do not take too kindly to them.  Our liver metabolizes them into nastier chemicals that cause genetic mutations, even to the point of altering or halting a cell's normal apoptosis.This would ultimately lead to the development of cancer.  Anyway, the researchers discovered that cannabis does exhibit far greater tar build-up (meaning more PAHs) in the lungs (because it is generally packed looser than cigarettes when smoked, cannabis smoke is typically held in the lungs longer, AND cigarettes generally have filters).  The crazy thing is that the researchers found that THC found in cannabis tar reduced the effects of the PAHs in tar by inhibiting the actions of CYP1A1 .  The full findings are located  *here*.  The study is not to conclude that smoking is safe.  Anything you smoke will have some risks involved.  It is refreshing to know that scientists are discovering that cannabis and its exclusively-found cannabinoids may very well be the saving grace of the cannabis smoker.

Does Cannabis Make You Stupid?

     I came across this article this week and knew that I had to share it on my blog.  I normally try to write my own articles on here but couldn't improve on what Jonah Lehrer says in his blog.  *Click here for a direct link to the article in reference.*  His article sheds some light on the myth that "marijuana use = stupidity".  I will say this: I have come across people who tell me "all the people I know who use marijuana are unproductive in their lives."  I feel like telling them that they don't get out much.  Should I mention to them that I know plenty of people personally who do not use cannabis and in my own opinion are unproductive as well?  Since we are judging other people's successes and failures, did smoking cannabis in office affect the productivity of Abraham Lincoln?  Let me guess... he wouldn't have been assassinated, right? (I'm being facetious, people!)  Who decides what is unproductive for another man?  Also, why assume that cannabis is the reason for the "lack of production" in their lives?
     When everything is taken into perspective, one can see that the prohibition of cannabis has been the biggest danger of its use.  Prior to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, cannabis was used on all levels of society - recreationally, medicinally, and industrially (is "industrially" a word?).  Once it was prohibited, use was restricted to only those willing to break the law - which is why prohibition never works!  Prohibition of cannabis created a subculture of "pot smokers" that became a bane to society in the minds of most who did not know the suppressed history of the plant.  It certainly didn't help that cannabis was given a bad name by government-sponsored media outlets (think "Reefer Madness").
     With the advent of state-sanctioned medical marijuana we are beginning to see a return to normalcy when it comes to society's acceptance of cannabis.  I say "beginning" because cannabis still has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream.  That is precisely why I created this blog.  Those that know the truth have an obligation to stand for it.  Please join with me by sharing this blog with people who do not understand the history, the cover-ups, the scientific discoveries, and the medical benefits of cannabis.

Cannabinoids vs. MRSA

      Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) kills about 20,000 people in hospitals in the U.S. each year.  MRSA is what some would call a "superbug" - Staph bacteria that have developed resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics (which include penicillins and cephalosporins).  These strains are a result of society's overuse and/or misuse of conventional antibiotics.

     We gotta love our cannabis-researching scientists!  In a joint effort between Italy's Universita del Piemonte Orientale and Britain's University of London, School of Pharmacy, five cannabinoids (cannabidiol [CBD], cannabichromene, cannabigerol, Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol [that's THC, folks!], and cannabinol were found to show a "potent activity against a variety of (MRSA) strains". Here is a *link* to the study's abstract.

     Maybe you know of someone who is battling a nasty MRSA infection...  There is hope and help available.  God provided mankind with a wonderful healing herb that has been suppressed for decades by governments.  We need to take back our freedoms - and this is just one more reason why!

     

Cannabinoids and Uterine Contractions

     I find myself ever amazed at the scientific research results of cannabinoids.  For most of my life, I was led to believe that cannabis offered NO medicinal benefits and only caused harm to one's body and mind.  Once again, I come across a study that puts the fables to rest.
     In 2004, The National University of Ireland's  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported that, contrary to popular belief, cannabinoids do not cause premature labor.  Here is a *link* if you would like to see the abstract.  In the study, scientists took human pregnant myometrial (middle layer of the uterus) tissue and exposed it to anandamide (a cannabinoid found naturally present within our bodies) and delta 9-THC (the main cannabinoid in marijuana).  These cannabinoids bind to the endocannabinoid receptor CB1 found in the tissue and cause a relaxant effect! The scientists concluded that cannabinoids do NOT directly induce contractions in the pregnant uterus and that anandamide may actually play an important role in pregnancy and childbirth.
     If only more research could be done, we could possibly find that cannabis may help prevent early labor and premature births. Unfortunately, as long as the DEA keeps cannabis listed as a Schedule 1 drug, further research will be very limited and it may be many years before we get a clue as to how great this plant actually is.
P.S.- I do not encourage pregnant women smoking cannabis or any other product for that matter...  There are other ways to receive the benefits of cannabis without smoking - expecting Jamaican women have for years been known to drink a tea made with cannabis!

Cannabis DOES kill brain cells!

     OOPS! I meant cancerous brain cells... I must get a rise out of intentionally misleading people... The title for today's post is true, but not in the fashion that most would infer.  Click *here* to read the abstract on a medical report from 2005 that explains how Delta 9 - THC and other cannabinoids destroy gliomas. What is a "glioma", you ask? Wikipedia defines a glioma as "a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine."  If you are new to the world of cannabis, maybe I should take a step back and provide links for more understanding of *cannabinoids*  and our own body's *endocannabinoid system*.

     What I don't understand is how in 2003, The U.S.A.'s government as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services was awarded a patent on cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants.  U.S. Patent 6630507. On the other hand, the U.S. government's own DEA still classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug - meaning it has NO MEDICAL BENEFIT...  Do you see the problem with that???
     The human body was designed for cannabinoids! Maybe "Big Pharma" should stay out of politicians' pockets and allow a God-given herb to provide medical benefits to the masses... Oh, wait... That would mean the pharmaceutical industry would lose BILLIONS of dollars from the reduction in sales of many of their so-called "wonder-drugs".