The federal government is supporting a recent study , which has determined that marijuana has the power to eliminate cancer cells.
A group of federal researchers commissioned to prove the government’s anti- marijuana claim may have unknowingly leaked research, forcing the United States to admit that cannabis can kill cancer.
The research, which was conducted by a team of scientists at St. George’s University of London, found the two most common cannabinoids in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), weakened the ferocity of cancer cells and made them more susceptible to radiation treatment. The study, which was published last year in the medical journal Molecular Cancer Therapies, details the “dramatic reductions” in fatal variations of brain cancer when these specific cannabinoids were used in conjunction with radiation therapy.
“We’ve shown that cannabinoids could play a role in treating one of the most aggressive cancers in adults,”
wrote lead researcher Dr. Wai Liu, in a November 2014 op-ed for The Washington Post. “The results are promising… it could provide a way of breaking through glioma [tumors] and saving more lives.”
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine,” the report states. “However, scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.”
This is an interesting statement considering that marijuana remains listed as a Schedule I dangerous drug under the Controlled Substances Act, but it may suggest that reform of federal pot laws is on the horizon.
