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Medicinal Cannabis, “Cannabinoid Family,” and Cancer Cells Research

Wednesday, July 17, 2013



A Little Marijuana History ...

Marijuana has been made use of for medical functions dating back at least 3,000 years.

It was in the 1840s when marijuana was first presented to Western medicine by W.B. O'Shaughnessy, a medical doctor who worked in India for the British East Indies Company. Before marijuana was an useful treatment option for analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and anticonvulsant benefits.

The United States Treasury Department presented the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937. This Act imposed a levy of $1 an ounce of medical marijuana and $100 an ounce for leisure use. In the United States, the medical physicians were the principle challengers of this Act.

The American Medical Association (AMA) opposed the Act because physicians had to pay an unique tax for suggesting medical marijuana, make use of unique order types to get it, and extra record-keeping for recommending it.

Likewise, the AMA turned down the "idea" that cannabis was unsafe and they knew that by adopting the Act it would further impede scientific research into marijuana' medical value. In 1942, marijuana was eliminated from the United States' Pharmacopoeia.

Then in 1951, Congress passed the Boggs Act, which categorized marijuana with unlawful and unsafe narcotic drugs. And in 1970, with the adoption of the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana was then categorized as a Schedule 1 drug by Federal Law.

Drugs that are categorized as a "Schedule 1" drug are unlawful and stated to have "no accepted medical use," and various other drugs in this group consist of heroin, mescaline, methaqualone, and gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

Marijuana was (and still is) categorized as having no medical use by the United States government, although marijuana was distributed to clients in a federal project developed in 1978 called the Compassionate Use Investigational New Drug program.

The program was ceased in 1992.


What Are Cannabinoids and How Do They Work?

"Cannabinoids" is a blanket term covering a "family" of complex-chemicals that lock onto cannabinoid receptors (which are protein molecules on the surface of cells). The marijuana plant produces a resin, which contains this big, psychedelic "cannabinoid family" of chemical compounds.

For 1000s of years people have actually made use of marijuana for medical and leisure functions, just cannabinoids themselves were first removed from marijuana plants in the 1940s. The structure of the cornerstone of marijuana-- delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-- was discovered in the 1960s.

It had actually not been till the late 1980s that researcher discovered the first cannabinoid receptor, rapidly followed by another discovery: people develop cannabinoid-like chemicals within our bodies, called endocannabinoids.

The strongest potency of cannabinoids is found in the female flowers of the marijuana plant.


"Cannabinoid Family," Marijuana and Cancer Disease Study

Medicinal cannabis and cancer science have actually been limited because the plant is a Schedule 1 drug along with the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) has not granteded using marijuana as a therapy option for any condition.

marijuana cancer cells research The 2 Big Cs Just recently, recognition has been made by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) acknowledging the benefits of utilizing marijuana for individuals dealing with cancer cells consist of antiemetic effects, hunger excitement, pain relief, and enhanced sleep.

The NCI is a leader presenting patient to clinical research to help ensure that new treatment discoveries are translated into prospective marijuana and cancer cells therapies. This recognition has helped support a "new world" of natural medicines starting with medicinal marijuana and cancer to be frequently accepted as a treatment option.

"When cannabis regains its location in the United States Pharmacopeia, a status it lost after the passage of the Cannabis Tax Act of 1937, it will be viewed as among the best drugs in that compendium," according to Lester Grinspoon, Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.


Let's Wrap-up Marijuana and Cancer Cells

This summary will offer a quick overview of medical marijuana and it being available for clients as a natural treatment option for cancer.

Some essential details to recap:

  1. Medical marijuana has NOT been accepted by the FDA as a treatment choice for cancer nor any other medical conditions.
  2. Chemical elements of marijuana, called cannabinoids, trigger specific receptors located throughout the body to develop pharmacologic response, specifically in the main nervous system and the immune system.
  3. The possession and use of marijuana is unlawful by federal law in the United States (and lots of places around the globe also).
  4. Cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical medicines are commercially offered, such as dronabinol and nabilone, are GRANTEDED by the FDA (!?!?) to be prescribed by physicians as a medical treatment.


There are essential legal differences in between medical marijuana at the federal and state levels in the United States of America. Still at the federal level marijuana has been made unlawful by the Controlled Substances Act, just as of 2009, new federal guidelines have actually been enacted.

According to United States Lawyer General Eric Owner, "it will not be a concern to make use of federal resources to put on trial clients with severe diseases or their caregivers who are abiding by state laws on medical marijuana."

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