Can Cannabis Cure Cancer? pt 2

[Sumato]

Can Cannabis Cure Cancer?


Given that 39.6% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, cancers affects nearly everyone. Chances are, someone close to you has battled cancer.


Oncologists, more than doctors in any other discipline within medicine, support the option of recommending cannabis as part of a treatment program for patients suffering from cancer. However, while the positive effects of using cannabis to alleviate cancer symptoms have been well documented, the U.S. government continues to classify cannabis as a Schedule I drug — high potential for abuse and no known medical use. Consequently, the federal government’s position on cannabis stifles much-needed research on cannabis as a “cure” for cancer.




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Moreover, the federal government’s position has fueled massive misinformation about cannabis as a potential cure for cancer. On the one hand, the federal government officially claims cannabis has no medicinal value. On the other hand, many pseudoscience “cancer quacks” unethically exaggerate claims of cannabis as the ultimate cure for cancer providing unsubstantiated help to thousands of cancer patients.

So what is the truth?

What is a Cancer “Cure?”
On the question of cannabis as a cure, Dr. Abrams, a cannabis advocate and one of the leading oncologists and cancer researchers in the world, cautions on the use of the term “cure”:

“Cure is a huge word in oncology. It usually implies that the patient has survived 5 years without evidence of their cancer. We are able to cure more cancers today than we were when I began my career as an oncologist. That has been through advances in diagnosis and treatment with conventional therapies.”

As a cancer and integrative medicine specialist at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Mount Zion in San Francisco and an oncologist for more than three decades, Dr. Abrams observes:

“[After] 33 years of being an oncologist in San Francisco, I would guess that a large proportion of the patients I have treated have used cannabis. If cannabis definitively cured cancer, I would have expected that I would have a lot more survivors. That being said, what we do know is that cannabis is truly an amazing medicine for many cancer and treatment-related side effects — nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia.”

Dr. Abrams’ opinion reflects a consensus within the credible oncologist and cancer scientific community: there is no doubt that cannabis is effective at treating cancer-related symptoms and treatment-related side effects, but the jury is still out on whether cannabis can actually “cure” cancer.




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If It’s on the Web, It Must Be True, Right?
Because cancer affects so many people, it’s natural to want confirmation that cannabis can, without question, cure cancer. The Web is rich with stories from people who claim cannabis, particularly “cannabis oil,” cured or reversed their cancer. When we asked Dr. Abrams why he thought there are so many anecdotal claims of cannabis curing people’s’ cancer, he cautioned:

“I note that many of the people who are very vocal about how cannabis oil cured their cancers seem to forget that they also received conventional therapies. If people really have used only cannabis oil and can truly document that they have cured their cancer (other than a skin cancer), they need to submit that data to the National Cancer Institute’s Office on Cancer Complementary and Alternative Therapy’s website so that evidence can be documented.”

Further, note that many of the numerous articles available that make declarative claims that cannabis cures cancer misrepresent studies, exaggerate claims, or omit key facts.




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Cannabis Cancer Research Shows Promise, But We Need to Do More
As we search for anti-cancer treatments, the anti-cancer potential of cannabis has been examined in numerous scientific studies on cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids, resulting in promising leads. Significant research has demonstrated that cannabinoids may inhibit or stop the growth of cancers — including breast, brain, liver, pheochromocytoma, melanoma, leukemia, and other kinds of cancer — from spreading or growing. Moreover, cannabinoids have proven to promote apoptosis, the programmed death of tumor cells, while stopping angiogenesis, blood vessel production to the tumor. One study, conducted by Madrid’s Complutense University, showed that in one-third of rats treated, the injection of synthetic THC eliminated malignant brain tumors while extending life in another third.




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The research is promising, but thus far it has been limited to preclinical studies, which are studies of drugs or treatments in animals prior to being carried out in humans. While the preclinical research offers hope, before anyone can confidently claim that cannabis can provide a “cure,” clinical research needs to be done.

Further, because cancer describes a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth, it’s unlikely there will be a single “cure-all” cannabis remedy. Likewise, naturally-derived or synthetic cannabinoid agonists may be need to be combined with traditional chemotherapeutic regimens or supplemental alternative medicines.

In order for cannabis to find its way into routine clinical cancer treatment, rigorous pharmacological and clinical studies need to be done. And to accelerate this process, the federal government should lift the federal ban on medical cannabis.




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Paradoxically, the federally-funded National Cancer Institute has warmed up to cannabis as a cancer treatment and has even quietly acknowledged that cannabis has been shown to kill cancer cells in preclinical studies. Nonetheless, the federal government has yet to make any significant strides to align their position with the scientific community and the overwhelming number of Americans.

With more and more states legalizing medical usage and the majority of Americans supporting medical cannabis, we can hope the federal government will finally modify its draconian prohibitory position and if indeed, cannabis can cure cancer, those suffering will no longer have to turn to questionable sources to learn how cannabis may help them.

• Esther Brown
  My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and she was at the point of death, with cancer of the Breast in it final stage is now back alive and she is so healthy now. Thanks to Rick simpson cannabis oil that we bought at: ricksimpson98@gmail.com, the Hemp oil was successfully used in curing my mother breast cancer within 3 months as stated in phoenix tear.
  Once again i want to thank Rick Simpson for his wonderful Hemp Oil we are now happy family with my mother back alive, strong and healthy.
  You can contact for your own medication at:{ cannabisoilcancercure@gmail.com }
  
  
  
• MarijuanaWiki.ML
  Cannabis has been tested by many scientist and doctors, and has been proven to have many health benefits. Recently it was discovered that regular consumption of cannabis can prevent alzheimer’s disease. Or how about the fact that cancers in the head or neck can be treated or prevented with cannabis use. A test done by the Harvard University revealed that cannabis can shrink tumors by 60% in only three weeks, full article here: http://cannabiswiki.blogspot.com/2016/08...-test.html There is so many awesome benefits of using cannabis. Hopefully it will be legal for everyone in all 50 states.
  
  
  
• Peter Jon Callahan
  Leafly you haven’t done proper research. I actually have. Here are the facts.
  
  1. Cancer is the most profitable health problem in the world. The worldwide wellness industry is 10 trillion dollars and of that a tenth (1 trillion) is just for cancer treatments that don’t work very well.
  
  2. The health industry will not let go of a trillion dollar annual industry and let people cure their cancer from a flower that they grew in their back yard.
  
  3. Cannabis is the best cancer cure because it has so many medical compounds that attack cancer in so many ways. None of these chemicals harm the patient, unlike Big Pharma treatments. I have found 33 cancer attacking medical compounds in cannabis. They are CBD, THC, CBG, CBGa, THCa, CBN, CBDa, CBC, Anandamide, Linalool, Myrcene, Beta-myrcene, Limonene, Caryophyllene, Alpha-Pinene, Quercetin, Terpinolene, Humulene, Eucalyptol, Pinene, Nerolidol, Alpha-bisabolol, Beta-bisabolol, Alpha-cadinene, Carvacrol, Alpha-cucumene, Dihydroactinidiolide, Beta-elemene, Farnesol, Geraniol, Beta-ionone, Safranal and γ-Terpinene.
  
  4. Your proof is some doctor who says that his patients used some cannabis during cancer and since there weren’t more cured patients cannabis can’t cure cancer? To cure cancer with cannabis oil you need to consume TONS of cannabis, not just a little bit. I am talking about 90 to 180 grams in a span of 3 to 4 months. No one is claiming that smoking a joint once a week cures cancer. You need many many grams of high quality cannabis oil eaten in a short period of time to cure cancer properly.
  
  5. Did you do your own experiment? I actually found people with cancer and tried it out before I shot the idea down. If you haven’t done any experiments yourself and you just want to listen to the authority bought up by big money, then you lose credibility. Do your OWN cannabis experiments, then come back to me and claim it doesn’t cure cancer. People can’t blabber all they want, but the REAL proof and truth can only be found if you actually find cancer patients and try healing them. Until you do that you have ZERO credibility on this subject.
  
  Source? I wrote two books on medical cannabis curing cancer.
  
  
  
• wowFAD
  The assertion that “the numerous articles available that make declarative claims that cannabis cures cancer misrepresent studies, exaggerate claims, or omit key facts” is disingenuous considering the very next passage in *this* article extols the various breakthroughs in cannabis cancer research. Maybe I don’t skim blogs as much as other people, but the articles I read about cannabis, the ECS, and cancer don’t oversell the treatment potential.
  
  If anything, it’s the ever-shrinking subset of the medical community that, due to societal pressures, are reluctant to shed their preconceived notions and consider the therapeutic potential of cannabis-based treatments. Doctors still tip-toe around this issue because, as the DEA revels in reminding us, cannabis remains in Schedule I. Doctors more concerned about factors *other* than the best treatment for their patients are the most reluctant. Some are afraid of the legal implications of recommending a treatment option the federal government considers criminal. Others are far too enamored with the pharmaceutical industry, which spends $4.1 billion per year advertising their “medicines” directly to consumers, but $20+ billion per year marketing drugs directly to DOCTORS.
  
  Cancer is never simple. It varies from patient to patient, case to case. Generally speaking, a cell becomes cancerous when a carcinogen damages the part of a cell’s DNA that encodes mitosis, causing cell division to malfunction. When a normal, healthy cell divides, the new cell grows bigger and takes over for the old cell, and the old cell is supposed to undergo natural cell death after the division occurs (apoptosis). However, a cancerous cell doesn’t follow these steps properly. Sometimes, the old cell “forgets” to undergo apoptosis and sticks around. Worse yet, sometimes the old cells divides *again* and *again*, producing more abnormal cells with the same cell division malfunction, which in turn divide again and again. The abnormal cells keep accumulating. Generally speaking, this is how tumors form. Their expression varies greatly depending on how the mitotic process is malfunctioning and the location/type of tissue (brain tumors are very different from bone cancer) as well as the individual differences of the patient. So the idea that modern medicine will be able to pin down every possible variation of cancer that can occur and develop a targeted, precision treatment is overly optimistic and woefully naive.
  
  When it comes to these types of conditions, targeted medicine is often insufficient. Doctors monkey-bar from one pharmaceutical treatment to another, hoping one will work, forcing ineffective (and often toxic) drugs upon people who are already sick. Sometimes, this game of treatment wack-a-moles works out for a patient. However, it is often the case that a safer, more effective approach to non-specific, indefinite medical conditions are holistic treatments such as preparations of whole-plant cannabis. Pharmaceutical companies don’t make a dime from holistic treatments, which is why medical professionals seduced by profit-driven healthcare will never endorse cannabis as a medicine. The sooner our society puts the well-being of patients before the almighty dollar, the better. Too many people are suffering needlessly while “Big Pharma” rushes to profit from disease. It’s a healthcare travesty.
  
  

[Crash]

"...draconian prohibitory position"

That's the whole problem right there. This archaic point-of-view by most governments only hinders advances in medicine that could effectively cure; or at least slow down; some - if not all - diseases.

But what really gets me going is the fact if one of their own is affected and suffering from a disease - they are the very first to jump on those and use these very medical alternatives they so (publicly) condemn.
Hypocrisy at it's finest! :!see_no_evil_monkey::!hear_no_evil_monkey::!speak_no_evil_monkey: