In the meantime, if you are on a cancer-healing path and are considering using cannabinoids, here are some general guidelines that experts agree are worth considering:
- Do your own research. The best way to learn about the power of cannabis in healing cancer is to start digging. There are approximately 500 articles on Pubmed alone relating to cannabis and cancer. Learn about strains, qualified targeted research studies, what method of administration may be right for you, and the importance of balancing the Endocannabinoid System. Make sure it is legal in your state.
- Know your source. Unfortunately, because the medical cannabis industry is largely unregulated, charlatans selling bogus products definitely exist. You should not have to pay exorbitant amounts of money for any cannabis product that you buy from regulated pharmacies or online. Also, make quality a priority for you. Be sure that your product comes from an organic source and that you know that the plant has not been grown or processed using pesticides.
- Stick with natural cannabis products. Synthetically-produced cannabinoids such as Marinol are commercially available. However, anecdotal evidence has found that these do not work as efficiently as natural substances do.
- Work with a professional healthcare provider trained in cannabinoid therapy. These professionals are out there in increasing numbers, especially in states where the medical cannabis industry is well established or growing, such as California and Colorado. Reach out to a patient advocate group online if no qualified professionals are in your area.
- Make cannabis therapy an important part of your overall cancer-healing toolbox. A well-rounded naturally-based cancer healing protocol involves working with the body’s own healing mechanisms through a variety of means. For you, this may mean changes to your diet and lifestyle, reducing stress, getting quality sleep, moving your body, intense detoxing protocols, and using other supplements and proven natural methods in addition to the powerful healing power of cannabis.
See more here: https://www.cannabiscure.info/cannabis-treatment/
Big Pharma Takes Aim at CBD
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the drug industry is now trying to turn CBD oil into a drug, and hence illegal for sale as a supplement.20 Showing promise for a wide range of ailments, the drug industry sees cannabis as major competition, and rightfully so. June 25, 2018, GW Pharmaceuticals became the first company to gain FDA approval for a CBD-based drug.21,22
The drug in question, Epidiolex, was approved for the treatment of intractable childhood epilepsy in children aged 2 and older. Another product called Sativex is also awaiting FDA approval. Sativex has already been approved in a number of other countries for the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients. In a June 25 statement,23 FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb stated:
“This product approval demonstrates that advancing sound scientific research to investigate ingredients derived from marijuana can lead to important therapies … This is an important medical advance. But it’s also important to note that this is not an approval of marijuana or all of its components. This is the approval of one specific CBD medication for a specific use. And it was based on well-controlled clinical trials evaluating the use of this compound in the treatment of a specific condition.
Moreover, this is a purified form of CBD. It’s being delivered to patients in a reliable dosage form and through a reproducible route of delivery to ensure that patients derive the anticipated benefits. This is how sound medical science is advanced. So today, in addition to celebrating this scientific achievement and the medical advance that it represents … we should also reflect on the path that made this possible.
It’s a path that’s available to other product developers who want to bring forth marijuana-derived products through appropriate drug development programs. That pathway includes a robust clinical development program, along with careful review through the FDA’s drug approval process. This is the most appropriate way to bring these treatments to patients. This process also includes a review of the purity of a new drug and manufacturing controls.”
FDA Cracks Down on CBD Supplements
As expected, with its approval of the first CBD drug, the FDA has increased its scrutiny of companies making CBD extracts. In November 2017, four Colorado businesses received FDA warning letters for making “illegally unsubstantiated health claims” on their CBD products.24 In a November 1 press release, the FDA said:25
“[T]he agency today issued warning letters to four companies illegally selling products online that claim to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure cancer without evidence to support these outcomes … The deceptive marketing of unproven treatments may keep some patients from accessing appropriate, recognized therapies to treat serious and even fatal diseases.
The FDA has grown increasingly concerned at the proliferation of products claiming to treat or cure serious diseases like cancer. In this case, the illegally sold products allegedly contain cannabidiol (CBD), a component of the marijuana plant that is not FDA approved in any drug product for any indication.”
The warning letters26 also rejected claims that CBD oil can be classified as dietary supplements since Investigational New Drug (IND) applications have been submitted for the CBD-containing drugs Sativex and Epidiolex. This suggests the agency is not just aiming to clean up the cannabis industry’s propensity to make illegal claims; it also raises concerns that the legality of all CBD products is in question now that at least one CBD-containing drug has been approved.
Many CBD Products Are Mislabeled
The FDA scrutiny is not entirely unwarranted, however. A November 2017 study27 in JAMA found only 30 percent of CBD extracts sold online accurately list the amounts of cannabinoids on the label. And, while CBD is very safe, accuracy is still of utmost importance.
The FDA and DEA will also use information like this to push CBD into pharma-only territory. The JAMA study used triplicate tests to analyze the cannabinoid content of 84 CBD products purchased online, along with a 10-point method validation procedure. A 10 percent plus or minus allowable variance was used, which is consistent with herbal product labeling in general in the U.S. According to the authors:
“Observed CBD concentration ranged between 0.10 mg/mL and 655.27 mg/mL (median, 9.45 mg/mL). Median labeled concentration was 15.00 mg/mL … With respect to CBD, 42.85 percent of products were underlabeled, 26.19 percent were overlabeled, and 30.95 percent were accurately labeled.
Accuracy of labeling depended on product type, with vaporization liquid most frequently mislabeled … and oil most frequently labeled accurately … Concentration of unlabeled cannabinoids was generally low; however, THC was detected (up to 6.43 mg/mL) in 18 of the 84 samples tested … Of tested products, 26 percent contained less CBD than labeled, which could negate any potential clinical response.
The overlabeling of CBD products in this study is similar in magnitude to levels that triggered warning letters to 14 businesses in 2015-2016 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (e.g., actual CBD content was negligible or less than 1 percent of the labeled content), suggesting that there is a continued need for federal and state regulatory agencies to take steps to ensure label accuracy of these consumer products.”
Educate Yourself on the Scientific Evidence Supporting Medical Marijuana
If you’re still on the fence when it comes to giving people the right to use medical marijuana, one of the best ways to still your fears is to look at the research, and look at what doctors are doing in clinical practice. To start, I recommend listening to my interviews with Gedde and Dr. Allan Frankel, in which they discuss many of the medical benefits of cannabis. Other helpful resources include:
- The International Association for Cannabis website, which maintains a Clinical Studies and Case Report page.28
- Cancer.gov,29 the U.S. government’s cancer website, contains research relating to the use of cannabis
- PubMed30 is a searchable public resource containing a vast amount of medical literature, including studies involving cannabis
- The Journal of Pain31 is a publication by the American Pain Society with a long list of studies on the pain-relieving effects of cannabis
- National Institute on Drug Abuse32 provides information about preclinical and clinical trials underway to test marijuana and various extracts for the treatment of a number of diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease, inflammation, pain and mental disorders
- ProCon.org lists 60 peer-reviewed studies on medical marijuana and cannabis extracts published between 1990 and 2014, listed by the condition treated33
Health Concerns: WHAT ARE THE MEDICAL DANGERS OF MARIJUANA USE?
Marijuana has often been touted as one of the safest recreational substances available. This is perhaps true; many reputable scientific studies support the conclusion that cocaine, heroine, alcohol, and even cigarettes are more dangerous to the user’s health than marijuana (NOTE: But, recreational marijuana use can be gateway to these other drugs or substances). In addition, the celebrated pharmacological properties of cannabis have led thirty-six states to permit its use as a therapeutic drug for, among others, those suffering from AIDS; various painful, incurable and debilitating illnesses; the harmful side effects of cancer chemotherapy, and glaucoma. Additional research is being conducted concerning the use of marijuana on the treatment of anxiety and mental disorders.
Nonetheless, it would be fallacious to conclude that because the chemicals in marijuana have been found to present fewer dangers than some very harmful substances, the medical or recreational use of marijuana is perfectly safe. In a recreational context, marijuana has been shown to affect health, brain function, and memory. And in a medical context, marijuana is like any other powerful prescription drug: it has potentially dangerous side effects, and the decision to use it to treat patients must involve the same balancing test as the one required for chemotherapy or AZT: do the therapeutic effects of the drug outweigh its harmful effects? Though there are many more studies to be done on this issue, current data shows that the answer to this question may not always be “yes.”
EFFECTS OF HABITUAL MARIJUANA USE ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
The most potent argument against the use of marijuana to treat medical disorders is that marijuana may cause the acceleration or aggravation of the very disorders it is being used to treat.
Smoking marijuana regularly (a joint a day) can damage the cells in the bronchial passages which protect the body against inhaled microorganisms and decrease the ability of the immune cells in the lungs to fight off fungi, bacteria, and tumor cells. For patients with already weakened immune systems, this means an increase in the possibility of dangerous pulmonary infections, including pneumonia, which often proves fatal in AIDS patients.
Studies further suggest that marijuana is a general “immunosuppressant” whose degenerative influence extends beyond the respiratory system. Regular smoking has been shown to materially affect the overall ability of the smoker’s body to defend itself against infection by weakening various natural immune mechanisms, including macrophages (a.k.a. “killer cells”) and the all-important T-cells. Obviously, this suggests the conclusion, which is well-supported by scientific studies, that the use of marijuana as a medical therapy can and does have a very serious negative effect on patients with pre-existing immune deficits resulting from AIDS, organ transplantation, or cancer chemotherapy, the very conditions for which marijuana has most often been touted and suggested as a treatment. It has also been shown that marijuana use can accelerate the progression of HIV to full-blown AIDS and increase the occurrence of infections and Kaposi’s sarcoma. In addition, patients with weak immune systems will be even less able to defend themselves against the various respiratory cancers and conditions to which consistent marijuana use has been linked, and which are discussed briefly under “Respiratory Illnesses.”
In conclusion, it seems that the potential dangers presented by the medical use of marijuana may actually contribute to the dangers of the diseases which it would be used to combat. Therefore, I suggest that marijuana should not be permitted as a therapy, at least until a good deal more conclusive research has been completed concerning its debilitating effect on the immune system.
For more on this topic, please see Donald P. Tashkin, M.D., “Effects of Marijuana on the Lung and Its Immune Defenses,” Secretary’s Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Intiative: Resource Papers, March 1997, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Pages 33-51 of this address can be found at the website of the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University, located at http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/druginfo/tashkin- marijuana.html.
RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES
The main respiratory consequences of smoking marijuana regularly (one joint a day) are pulmonary infections and respiratory cancer, whose connection to marijuana use has been strongly suggested but not conclusively proven. The effects also include chronic bronchitis, impairment in the function of the smaller air passages, inflammation of the lung, the development of potentially pre-cancerous abnormalities in the bronchial lining and lungs, and, as discussed, a reduction in the capabilities of many defensive mechanisms within the lungs.
Marijuana smoke and cigarette smoke contain many of the same toxins, including one which has been identified as a key factor in the promotion of lung cancer. This toxin is found in the tar phase of both, and it should be noted that one joint has four times more tar than a cigarette, which means that the lungs are exposed four-fold to this toxin and others in the tar. It has been concretely established that smoking cigarettes promotes lung cancer (which causes more than 125,000 deaths in the US every year), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema) and increased incidence of respiratory tract infections. This implies, but does not establish, that smoking marijuana may lead to some of the same results as smoking cigarettes. It is notable that several reports indicate an unexpectedly large proportion ofmarijuana users among cases of lung cancer and cancers of the oral cavity,pharynx, and larynx. Thus, it appears that the use of marijuana as a medicine has the potential to further harm an already ill patient in the same way that taking up regular cigarette smoking would, particularly in light of the fact that those patients for whom marijuana is recommended are already poorly equipped to fight off these infections and diseases.
For more information, please see the Tashkin website mentioned at the end of the section on immune disorders. See also:
- www.sarnia.com/GROUPS/ANTIDRUG/mrr/ 21.96.10.html, for information on the link between chemicals contained in marijuana and lung cancer.
- http://www.marijuananews.com/latest_research_finds_that_heavy.htm, for an article concerning the link between marijuana and cancer, with commentary
MENTAL HEALTH, BRAIN FUNCTION, AND MEMORY
It has been suggested that marijuana is at the root of many mental disorders, including acute toxic psychosis, panic attacks (one of the very conditions it is being used experimentally to treat), flashbacks, delusions, depersonalization, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, and uncontrollable aggressiveness. Marijuana has long been known to trigger attacks of mental illness, such as bipolar (manic-depressive) psychosis and schizophrenia. This connection with mental illness should make health care providers for terminally ill patients and the patients themselves, who may already be suffering from some form of clinical depression, weigh very carefully the pros and cons of adopting a therapeutic course of marijuana.
In the short term, marijuana use impairs perception, judgment, thinking, memory, and learning; memory defects may persist six weeks after last use. Mental disorders connected with marijuana use merit their own category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, published by the American Psychiatric Association. These include Cannabis Intoxication (consisting of impaired motor coordination, anxiety, impaired judgment, sensation of slowed time, social withdrawal, and often includes perceptual disturbances; Cannabis Intoxication Delirium (memory deficit, disorientation); Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder, Delusions; Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder, Hallucinations; and Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder.
In addition, marijuana use has many indirect effects on health. Its effect on coordination, perception, and judgment means that it causes a number of accidents, vehicular and otherwise.
For further information, you may find the following sites helpful:
- www.sarnia.com/GROUPS/ANTIDRUG/reality/updatejl.html, for information on links between marijuana use and mental health risks.
- www.sarnia.com/GROUPS/ANTIDRUG/mrr/21.96.10.html, for more information on the indirect effects of marijuana on health
- http://www.adf.org.au/drughit, the Australian Drug Foundation’s website
- http://marijuananews.com/a_safe_ high_.htm, a reprint of New Science magazine’s “Marijuana Special Report: A Safe High?” with commentary
- http://marijuananews.com/claim_four.htm, an article about the similarity of long-term marijuana use’s effect on the brain to that of “hard” drugs, with commentary
- www.drugs.indiana.edu/publications/iprc/misc/smokescreen.html, for general information on the health risks of marijuana.
- http://www.health.org, the homepage of the National Clearinghouse on Alcohol and Drug Information, for general information on marijuana.
Indeed, research shows that using marijuana can cause a variety of short and long-term effects. Any user should be well of the side effects and problems that could occur with the use of marijuana. It can be a gateway to even more powerful and addictive drugs. It is strongly discouraged for recreational use because it is addictive and may lead to many problems mentioned above and listed below.
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
- Short-term memory problems
- Severe anxiety, including fear that one is being watched or followed (paranoia)
- Very strange behavior, seeing, hearing or smelling things that aren’t there, not being able to tell imagination from reality (psychosis)
- Panic
- Hallucinations
- Loss of sense of personal identity
- Lowered reaction time
- Increased heart rate (risk of heart attack)
- Increased risk of stroke
- Problems with coordination (impairing safe driving or playing sports)
- Sexual problems (for males)
- Up to seven times more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections than non-users (for females) 22, 32 & 33
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
- Decline in IQ (up to 8 points if prolonged use started in adolescent age)
- Poor school performance and higher chance of dropping out
- Impaired thinking and ability to learn and perform complex tasks
- Lower life satisfaction
- Addiction (about 9% of adults and 17% of people who started smoking as teens)
- Potential development of opiate abuse
- Relationship problems, intimate partner violence
- Antisocial behavior including stealing money or lying
- Financial difficulties
- Increased welfare dependence
- Greater chances of being unemployed or not getting good jobs.33
TESTIMONIES
“I started using on a dare from a best friend who said that I was too chicken to smoke a joint and drink a quart of beer. I was fourteen at that time. After seven years of using and drinking I found myself at the end of the road with addiction. I was no longer using to feel euphoria, I was just using to feel some semblance of normality.
“Then I started having negative feelings about myself and my own abilities. I hated the paranoia [suspicion, distrust or fear of other people]. I hated looking over my shoulder all the time. I really hated not trusting my friends. I became so paranoid that I successfully drove everyone away and found myself in the terrible place no one wants to be in—I was alone. I’d wake up in the morning and start using and keep using throughout the day.” —Paul
More Testimonies at Drug Free World
Sources and References:
Sources:
- https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/07/07/cannabis-a-lost-history.aspx
- https://draxe.com/cannabis-oil/
- https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/cannabis-and-cancer/
- DrugFreeWorld.org
Testimonies on Healing with Cannabis:
