better known as marijuana, it has been used for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. It’s been heralded as a “cure-all,” revered for its healing properties. Marijuana was a popular botanical medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, common in U.S. pharmacies of the time. It wasn’t until 1970 that the herb was declared a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the U.S., a classification reserved for drugs with “high potential for abuse” and “no accepted medical use.” Three years later the DEA was formed to enforce the newly created drug schedules. Although delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (known as THC) is the primary psychoactive ingredient (when aged or heated), other known compounds with biologic activity are cannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabichromene, cannabigerol, tetrahydrocannabivarin and delta-8-THC. Cannabidiol (CBD) is thought to have significant pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory activity without the psychoactive effect of delta-9-THC. While marijuana continues to be abused for recreational use, the tremendous health benefits (including fighting cancer, epilepsy, chronic pain, anorexia, MS, heart disease, glaucoma, and more) can now be harnessed without the psychoactive ingredient of THC.
Cannabis originated in Central Asia, but today it’s grown worldwide. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, cannabis use for medicinal purposes dates back at least 3,000 years. It was introduced into Western medicine in the 1840s by W.B. O’Shaughnessy, a surgeon who learned of its medicinal properties while working in India for the British East Indies Co. It became useful because of its analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic and anti-convulsant effects.
The term “marijuana” (derived from the Mexican slang “marihuana”) was popularized in the early 1930s by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (which later became the DEA) in order to make this amazing plant sound sinister and to elude the public’s existing familiarity and comfort level with the plant and the medical application of cannabis/hemp tinctures. “Marijuana” was not a commonly smoked recreational drug at the time.
In 1937, the U.S. Treasury Department introduced the Marihuana Tax Act, which imposed a levy of $1 per ounce for medicinal use of cannabis and $100 per ounce for recreational use. This was opposed by physicians who were not required to pay a special tax for prescribing cannabis, use special order forms to obtain it and keep records detailing its professional use. The American Medical Association believed that evidence of cannabis’ harmful effects was limited and the act would prevent further research into its medicinal worth.
By 1942, cannabis was removed from the U.S. Pharmacopoeia because of persistent concerns about its potential to cause harm. In 1951, Congress passed the Boggs Act, which included cannabis with narcotic drugs for the first time. In 1970, with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, cannabis was classified as a Schedule I drug, giving it no accepted medicinal use.
Under the Compassionate Use Investigational New Drug program, established in 1978, cannabis distribution was distributed to patients on a case-by-case basis, but this program ended in 1992.
Today, in the U.S., it’s a controlled substance and is classified as a Schedule I agent, which means that it’s a drug with increased potential for abuse. However, it is now approved for recreational and/or medicinal use in many states (over 30) around the country. The term cannabis is used to describe a product of the Cannabis Sativa plant that is bred for its potent, sticky glands that are known as trichomes. These trichomes contain high amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (called THC), which is the cannabinoid most known for its psychoactive properties.
As noted in the above documentary “Cannabis: A Lost History,” written, directed and narrated by Chris Rice, marijuana has been “an integral part of human civilization,” featuring in ancient Japanese cave paintings, as well as Chinese and Siberian burial rites dating back to 3000 B.C. Based on the evidence — especially the discovery that the human body is equipped with a cannabinoid system — it appears our relationship with cannabis goes back to the very dawn of the human species.
Historical remnants from all around the world also reveal the importance of cannabis in medicine and spirituality. For example, Taoist monks in ancient China burned cannabis as incense, and consumed it with ginseng — a combination thought to open your psychic centers, allowing you to see the future. Cannabis was also revered as sacred in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.
Cannabinoids and the Cannabinoid Receptor System
The marijuana plant contains more than 60 different cannabinoids; a group of 21-carbon–containing terpenophenolic compounds produced uniquely by cannabis species that the human body is uniquely equipped to respond to. These plant-derived compounds may be referred to as phytocannabinoids. The two primary ones are cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the latter of which is the psychoactive component (except in raw, unaged form). Cannabinoids interact with your body by way of naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors embedded in cell membranes throughout your body. Other known compounds with biologic activity are cannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabichromene, cannabigerol, tetrahydrocannabivarin and delta-8-THC.
There are cannabinoid receptors in your brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, immune system and more; the therapeutic (and psychoactive) properties of marijuana occur when a cannabinoid activates a cannabinoid receptor. Your body also has naturally occurring endocannabinoids similar to THC that stimulate your cannabinoid receptors and produce a variety of important physiologic processes.
So, your body is actually hard-wired to respond to cannabinoids through this unique cannabinoid receptor system. We still don’t know exactly how far its impact on your health reaches, but to date it’s known that cannabinoid receptors play an important role in many body processes, including metabolic regulation, pain, anxiety, bone growth and immune function.1
In the mid-1990s, renowned Israeli researcher Dr. Ralph Mechaoulam, professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, made an exciting discovery that would forever change how we look at our biological relationship to plant medicine. Dr. Mechaoulam discovered a subtle system within the body that seemed to have a balancing effect on every other system. He called it the Endocannabinoid (EC) System and it can be found in all mammals, including humans.
The EC system consists of a series of molecular receptors that are designed to receive cannabinoids. In particular this includes cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as well as other related substances such as cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabinol (CBN).
Prior research in the 1980s led Mechaoulam and others to pinpoint two main receptors for cannabinoids − cannabinoid 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid 2 (CB2). Researchers at the time also defined the natural substances called endocannabinoids, which our body produces on its own in a similar way it produces endorphins. Phytocannabinoids (namely THC, CBD, and their variants), on the other hand, come directly from the cannabis plant.
Cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 are designed by the body to be specific targets for THC, while our natural endocannabinoids help to synthesize it. The process of THC-cannabinoid receptor binding and what this does for the body is what researchers have been studying for over two decades. They are doing this in order to find out exactly how cannabis works in healing cancer.
Cannabis Oil vs CBD Oil
Cannabis oil and CBD oil are not the same thing. So what is CBD oil? Cannabidiol (CBD) oil has a high concentration of cannabidiol, while cannabis oil contains both CBD and THC. CBD oil is created by extracting CBD from either the cannabis or hemp plant and then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil. CBD does not produce a euphoric “high” or psychoactive effect because it doesn’t affect the same receptors as THC.
CBD cannabis oil or CBD hemp oil are both said to be non-psychoactive. However, it gets confusing because any oil that is CBD-dominant is considered a CBD oil, and it produces different effects from THC-dominant cannabis oils. Most CBD oil comes from industrial hemp, which typically contains more CBD than marijuana. CBD oil is now a legalized option in many states for people who are interested in the possible benefits of cannabis oil. (3)
The Earliest History of Cannabis
According to the featured video, the earliest written references to cannabis are found in the Chinese Materia Medica, said to be written by Shen Nung around 2800 B.C. The oldest known copy of this book dates back to 50 B.C. Nung is one of three “celestial emperors” revered in the Chinese culture. “Half emperor, half deity, he is said to have ruled over China long before written history,” Rice says.
Nung is credited with inventing agriculture — including the hoe, plow and irrigation — as well as acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Often depicted draped in leaves and chewing on various plants, Nung was the first pharmacologist, experimenting with and recording the health effects of plants. Nung documented around 100 different conditions that responded well to cannabis, including gout, rheumatism, malaria and absentmindedness.
Before Nung declared its medicinal attributes, the cannabis plant, called “ma” in Chinese, had been used for centuries in the production of textiles, paper, rope and pottery. Around 200 A.D., a Chinese physician named Hua Tuo performed the first surgery using an anesthetic — a formula called Ma Fei San, which translates to “cannabis boiling powder.”
For thousands of years, cannabis remained one of the 50 essential plants used in TCM. It was only removed from widespread use in recent times due to its controversial legal status. The film also reviews the history of cannabis in Indian culture. In the Vedas, the sacred text of India, cannabis (bhang) is listed as one of five sacred plants, and the Hindu god Shiva is referred to as “Lord of the bhang,” meaning the Lord of cannabis.
According to the Mahanirvana, “bhang is consumed in order to liberate oneself,” and liberation is the path to immortality. The ancient Egyptians, Persians and Greeks also used cannabis in a variety of ways, including medicinally and for spiritual upliftment. References to cannabis are even found in Islamic, Judaic and Christian texts, although an error in translation appears to have crept into the Bible along the way. The original Hebrew term “kaneh bosm,” or cannabis, is found several times in the Old Testament.
In Exodus, chapter 30, God instructs Moses on how to make a holy anointing oil: “Take for yourself choice spices: 500 shekels of pure myrrh, half as much fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of kaneh bosm and 500 shekels of cassia and mix these with olive oil.” In more modern Bibles, kaneh bosm has been translated as sweet calamus. The problem is this plant does not have the properties that the Bible ascribes to kaneh bosm.
According to the film, a 12th century painting found in a Sicilian basilica also “appears to show Jesus near a pot leaf.” The painting is titled “Jesus healing the blind.” Interestingly enough, “modern scientific studies have since proven that cannabis delays retinal degeneration,” Rice says.
The American History of Cannabis
In the U.S., the prohibition of marijuana began to turn in 1996 when California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. Since then, many others have followed. In 2012, Colorado and Washington state became the first states to legalize its recreational use. Today, the majority of Americans support cannabis either as a medicine, for recreational use, or both. Surveys show at least 4 in 10 Americans have tried marijuana, while nearly 60 percent support full legalization.
A 2013 survey found a majority of physicians — 76 percent — also approve of the use of medical marijuana.2 CNN’s chief medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta also made a highly publicized reversal on his marijuana stance after the production of his two-part series “Weed,” which aired in 2014.3
The American history of cannabis goes back to our Founding Fathers, who cultivated the plant for industrial purposes. George Washington, for example, is said to have grown more than 100 hemp plants at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.4 Cannabis is called hemp when being used for its fibers, which are extracted from the stem and constructed into rope, clothing and paper.
Hemp plants are low in tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) levels and therefore do not get you high. During the 17th century, hemp was viewed as an important cash crop. It was used for rope by navies around the world, and as a thick durable linen ideal for clothing and packaging heavy materials. Hemp seed oil was used in soaps, paints and varnishes.
Hemp oil — obtained by pressing benefit-rich hemp seeds — is slightly different than cannabis oil, although they both come from the same genus, Cannabis, and the same species, Cannabis Sativa. The term hemp is used to describe a Cannabis Sativa plant that contains only trace amounts of THC. Hemp is a high-growing plant that’s commonly grown for industrial uses, such as oils and topical ointments, as well as fiber for clothing, construction, paper and more.
The battle that has raged over marijuana is a long and arduous one. You can read a brief history of marijuana prohibition in the Huffington Post.5 Still, movements to legalize marijuana have persisted throughout, starting as early as 1973, when Oregon became the first state to decriminalize cannabis. The most successful movement to date, and the one that produced the first legal marijuana market in decades, is the medical marijuana movement.
Medical cannabis is now legal in 30 U.S. states,6,7 the majority of which allow limited use of medical marijuana under certain medical circumstances, although some limit medical cannabis to oils or pills only. Eight states have legalized it for recreational use.
A number of municipalities have also created their own marijuana rules, either decriminalizing it, legalizing it, enacting rules that direct city law enforcement to cease arresting individuals for marijuana possession, or making cannabis offenses the lowest priority for law enforcement.
What Can Cannabis Treat?
As mentioned, your body makes its own cannabinoids, similar to those found in marijuana, but in much smaller amounts. These endocannabinoids appear to perform signaling operations similar to your body’s neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin. Cannabinoid receptors can be found on cell membranes throughout your body. In fact, scientists now believe they may represent the most widespread receptor system.8
The fact that your body is replete with cannabinoid receptors, key to so many biological functions, is why there’s such enormous medical potential for cannabis. Even though research has been limited by its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, its list of medicinal benefits is still quite long. For example, cannabis has been found useful in the treatment of:9,10,11,12,13
- Seizure disorders such as epilepsy
- Mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders and Tourette’s syndrome
- Pain (in one study,14 three puffs of marijuana a day for five days decreased chronic nerve pain)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Spasticity, dystonia and tremors
- Heart disease
- Multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune issues
- Autism
- Parkinson’s disease
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Cancer, including melanoma, leukemia and cancers of the brain, breast, prostate, lung, head and neck,15 thyroid, colon and pituitary
- Nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite16
- Insomnia
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Crohn’s disease
- Anorexia
- Alzheimer’s disease (the U.S. government, through the Department of Health and Human Services, holds a patent on CBD as a neuroprotectant) VIDEO
- Hepatitis-C
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
- Asthma
- Drug dependency and withdrawal
- High blood pressure
Cannabis Oil Benefits
1. Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Chronic stress can kill your quality of life, so stressed-out folks are always looking for proven ways to change this reality. Cannabis oil has the ability to both release pleasure hormones and relax the mind. It reduces stress and allows a calming and peaceful feeling to take over the body. Chemical components of cannabis, called cannabinoids, activate specific receptors found throughout the body to produce pharmacologic effects, particularly in the central nervous system and the immune system.
A 2013 study conducted at the University of Haifa in Israel found that cannabinoid treatment after a traumatic experience may regulate the emotional response to the trauma and prevent stress-induced impairment. Cannabinoid treatment minimized the stress receptors in the basolateral amygdala (the nuclei that receives that majority of sensory information) and hippocampus (the part of the brain that is thought to be the center of emotion). (4)
Can’t sleep? Cannabis oil also works for people with insomnia. The calming effects of the oil help people to sleep calmly, relieving issues of anxiety and restlessness. A 2015 scientific review published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy found that cannabis treatment is effective for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research suggests that cannabinoids, the psychoactive components of unrefined cannabis, regulates neurotransmitter release and produces a wide range of central nervous system effects, including increased pleasure and alteration of memory processes.
Cross-sectional studies have found a direct correlation between more severe PTSD symptomatology and increased motivation to use cannabis for coping purposes, especially among patients with difficulties in emotional regulation or stress tolerance. When using cannabis treatment, military veterans with PTSD reported reduced anxiety and insomnia and improved coping ability. (5)
2. Alters Appetite
For people who are looking to gain weight, possibly after an illness or injury recovery, cannabis oil is known to increase appetite. The oil also induces hunger and stimulates the digestive system — this is possible because of the hormones that are triggered by cannabis inhalation and consumption.
According to the International Weekly Journal of Science, cannabis can prompt the release of hunger-promoting hormones or it can help to suppress these hormones. Nerve cells play a key role in this process, as the neurons in the brain release a hunger-suppressing hormone or one that promotes appetite.
Depending on which hormone is stimulated, cannabis can boost or suppress appetite. For this reason, cannabis oil can help patients with eating disorders or be a natural way to treat obesity. This manipulation of the cannabinoid system is becoming popular, and more research is being done to determine its efficacy for patients with weight concerns. (6)
3. Reduces Pain
Cannabis has been used for millennia as a pain-relieving substance. Evidence suggests that cannabinoids may prove useful in pain modulation by inhibiting neuronal transmission in pain pathways. There is evidence that medical cannabis reduces chronic and neuropathic pain in advanced cancer patients. (7)
Symptoms of fibromyalgia include chronic musculoskeletal pain. The use of cannabis oil for pain can also be a part of natural fibromyalgia treatment. A 2018 study published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology looked at the effects of medical cannabis on 26 fibromyalgia patients. The researchers found that after an average of about 11 months of medical cannabis use, all of the patients reported a significant improvement in every parameter on the questionnaire, and 13 patients (50 percent) stopped taking any other medications for fibromyalgia.
Overall, the medical cannabis treatment had a “a significant favorable effect” with eight patients (30 percent) experiencing very mild adverse effects. (8)
Overdoses from narcotic pain killers are now the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 50, and pharmaceuticals in general have for decades been among the leading causes of death in the U.S. According to Dr. Margaret Gedde, owner and founder of Gedde Whole Health and the Clinicians’ Institute of Cannabis Medicine, research clearly confirms that cannabis is safer and less toxic than many prescription drugs.
This includes liver and kidney toxicity, gastrointestinal damage, nerve damage and death. Moreover, cannabinoids often work when pharmaceutical drugs fail, so not only is cannabis safer but it’s typically more effective. Besides treating intractable seizures, one of the strongest areas of research regarding marijuana’s health benefits is pain control.
In 2010, the Center for Medical Cannabis Research released a report19 on 14 clinical studies about the use of marijuana for pain, most of which were FDA-approved, double-blind and placebo-controlled. The report revealed that marijuana not only controls pain but in many cases, it does so better than pharmaceutical alternatives.
If you compare opioids to marijuana, marijuana is unquestionably safer. Contrary to opioids, a cannabis overdose cannot kill you because there are no cannabinoid receptors in your brain stem, the region of your brain that controls your heartbeat and respiration.
What’s more, marijuana has been shown to ease withdrawal symptoms in those trying to wean off opioids, which are extremely addictive. In states where medical marijuana is legal, overdose deaths from opioids decreased by an average of 20 percent after one year, 25 percent after two years and up to 33 percent by years five and six.
4. Boosts Heart Health
Animal studies suggest that 2-AG, an endocannabinoid, can reduce in tension of the blood vessel walls, which is a positive effect when it comes to many cardiovascular conditions, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, atherosclerosis and heart attacks.
In 2014, for the first time, the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham conducted a study suggesting that 2-AG affects blood vessels by causing them to relax and widen. 2-AG is one of the body’s own endocannabinoids created to control communication between cells and mediating your body’s functions. (9)
5. Help for Skin Problems
Applying cannabis oil to the skin may help to improve skin conditions such as eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis (AD) and other forms of dermatitis. Cannabis oil contains THC and topical THC has been shown to suppress allergic contact dermatitis in mice by activating CB1 receptors.
Other molecules, similar to those present in cannabis, have also demonstrated significant anti-pain properties in research studies. Another reason why cannabis oil may help skin problem is its a cannabinoid content.
According to the National Eczema Association, “Cannabinoids represent an exciting prospect for the future of AD therapy. With measurable anti-itch, anti-pain, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties, the effect of cannabinoids in patients with AD has already begun to be demonstrated.” (10) Cannabinoids can be found in both cannabis oil and CBD oil.
6. May Prevent Cancer
Among the most exciting research is that on cancer. Not only does cannabis help with the unpleasant side effects of traditional chemotherapy (including pain, nausea and insomnia), but the cannabis itself appears to be a natural chemotherapy agent. Researchers have found cannabis is pro-apoptotic, meaning it triggers cellular suicide of cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched, and anti-angiogenic, meaning it cuts off a tumor’s blood supply. Dozens of studies point to marijuana’s effectiveness against many different types of cancer. For example, Harvard researchers found THC cuts tumor growth in lung cancer while significantly reducing its ability to spread.18
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved alternative cannabis oil cancer treatment or use of cannabis oil for any other medical condition (it cannot be patented by the big pharma industry cartel that controls the FDA), but research shows it is effective without the side effects of conventional treatments. The National Cancer Institute also points out, “Chemical components of Cannabis, called cannabinoids, activate specific receptors throughout the body to produce pharmacologic effects, particularly in the central nervous system and the immune system.” (11)
Microbiologist Dr. Christine Sanchez of Compultense Univeristy in Madrid, Spain has been studying cannabinoids and cancer since the early 2000s. She was the first to discover the antitumor effects of cannabinoids.
“We now know that the endocannabinoid system regulates a lot of biological functions such as appetite, food intake, motor function, reproduction and many others and that is why the plant has such a wide therapeutic potential,” says Dr. Sanchez in a video interview for the web-based cable channel Cannabis Planet.
“We observed that when we treated [astrocytoma, a type of brain tumor] cells with cannabinoids, the THC…was killing the cells in our Petri dishes,” Dr. Sanchez says. “We…decided to analyze these components in animal models of breast and brain tumors. The results we are obtaining are telling us that cannabinoids may be useful for the treatment of Breast Cancer.”
Sanchez and other researchers have confirmed that the most potent effects against tumor growth occur when THC and CBD are combined.
Cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not have a psychoactive effect, has long been known as a potent anti-cancer agent. This is because of its ability to interfere with cellular communication in tumors as well as in its ability to instigate apoptosis, or programmed cancer cell death. Some research studies, including in vitro and animal-based trials conducted by San Francisco-based researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center, have also shown that CBD may affect genes involved in aggressive metastasis. It does this by helping to shut down cellular growth receptors.
Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (i.e. THC), the psychoactive counterpart to CBD, has been shown to reduce tumor growth as well. (As some researchers have shown, the psychoactive component only becomes psychoactive after heating or aging, thus if taken in its rawest form via juicing, drops, etc. should not have psychoactive effects) It has also shown to have an effect on the rate of metastasis, including for non-small cell lung cancer − the leading cause of cancer deaths globally. A 2007 study on THC and highly-aggressive epidermal growth factor receptor-overexpressing (EGF-expressing) lung cancer conducted by Harvard Medical School found that certain EGF lung cancer cells express CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. They found that the presence of THC effected metastasis of these cells by reducing the “focal adhesion complex,” which plays a vital role in cancer migration.
Studies have also been conducted on the combined effect of CBD and THC on lung, prostate, colon, pancreatic, liver, bladder, cervical, blood-based, brain, and other forms of cancer. These studies lend increasing evidence to the fact that cannabinoids are not only antioxidant phytonutrients but powerful “herbal chemo” agents.
Says Dr. Sanchez: “One of the advantages of cannabinoid-based medicines would be that they target specifically tumor cells. They don’t have any toxic effect on normal non-tumoral cells. This is an advantage with respect to standard chemotherapy that targets basically everything.”
Because cannabinoid therapy is relatively new in the mainstream, a current challenge for patients regarding its use is lack of regulation. This may change, however, with the possible passing of the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act, which has the support of 37 members of Congress.
CARERS would remove “marijuana” from the Controlled Substances Act Schedule I drug category, where it has been since 1970 − on par with heroin and cocaine. This classification is ridiculous since, by definition, Schedule I drugs have “no currently accepted medical uses” and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) holds a patent (U.S. Patent 6630507) on cannabis oil for medical use!
Think about it. How can HHS hold a medical use patent for cannabis oil if there are no medical uses for cannabis? OK, enough of the logic lesson. Let’s just say that there are some serious logic deficiencies in these laws.
If “marijuana” is rightfully removed from a Schedule I drug, this would open the door for more targeted, federally-funded research as well as increased patient access to this amazing healing plant.
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