[hopeunlimited]

Some Studies and References for Hemp and THC


International Cannabinoid Research

An Alberta researcher says the federal Conservatives are putting Canada back in the "dark ages" by eliminating the $4-million medical marijuana research program. *[Sep. 25, 2006] "There are still many unknowns about the medical benefits of cannabis use. Ending research grants will put us back in the dark ages," said Dr. Helen Hays, with the University of Alberta's department of family medicine. She has worked with chronic pain sufferers since 1981. "Right now most of what we go on is anecdotal evidence. What we need is some elegant research to offer definitive answers to whether cannabis reduces chronic pain."

*["Programs that don't meet the needs of Canadians” - The marijuana research program falls into this category]

1842 - 1890 Extracts and derivatives of the hemp plant are the second and third most prescribed medicines in the U.S.A. Eli Lilly, Parke-Davis, Squibb, Brothers Smith and other firms produce these medicines through 1930. During this time, not one death or severe side-effect is attributed to use.

April 14, 1937 Marijuana Tax Law is introduced to the House Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. Congress, chaired by Robert L. Doughton. In subsequent committee hearings Dr. James Woodward, speaking for the American Medical Association (AMA), testifies against the proposed legislation stating that the plant Congress intends to outlaw is a perfectly safe substance used to treat scores of illnesses for over 100 years in America and that the ignorance of the proposed prohibition will deny the world access to potential medical breakthroughs. Dr. Ralph Lorenz, general counsel of the National Oil Seeds Institute also lobbies against the proposed legislation, eloquently citing the key importance of the hemp plant to American industry and reviewing the thousands of years of benign use of hemp by millions of people worldwide.

Tod Mikuriya, MD, Former Director of Marijuana Research for the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health,provided an overview of medical use of Cannabis in California since the passage of Proposition 215 in November, 1996. As a result of federal pressure on physicians, many have been reluctant to recommend Cannabis in the treatment of conditions other than AIDS or cancer. Mikuriya has interviewed some 1800 patients who had been self-medicating with Cannabis for 94 distinct conditions, including chronic pain and post-traumatic arthritis. "There are a lot of people out there who are suffering needlessly as a result of inadequate medication", according to Mikuriya. Usually the history involves some sort of misadventure with prescribed medication, such as GI (stomach and intestine) bleeds from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or significant side effects from others. Cannabis appears to be unique in that it is useful in the control of autoimmune inflammatory diseases throughout the body. He also recommends it as "a gateway drug back" for alcoholics and heroin addicts.

ICRS Symposium June 18-20, 1999 Acapulco, Mexico.

1890s Popular American “marriage guides” recommend cannabis extracts for heightened marital pleasures. Women’s temperance groups, lobbying for alcohol prohibition, suggest cannabis as a suitable substitute for the “demon drink.”

1975 Researchers at the Medical College of Virginia discover that cannabis is incredibly successful for reducing the size of many types of tumors, both benign and cancerous.

In addition, the study concludes that the supposed “stepping stone” effect (which alleges that cannabis use acts as a gateway to the abuse of “hard” drugs) is invalid since none of the long-time marijuana-smoker test subjects had ever taken any narcotic type drugs.

Raphael Mechoulam and colleagues at Hebrew University in Jerusalem reported finding high concentrations of 2-AG in mammalian milk, suggesting that cannabinoids might play a role in maternal-offspring bonding, as well as appetite stimulation.

ICRS Symposium June 18-20, 1999 Acapulco, Mexico.
Vincenzo Di Marzo, PhD, who previously had found that anandamide and 2-AG inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation, reported that the endocannabinoids inhibit proliferation of prostate cancer cells by the same mechanism. They also inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells induced by nerve growth factor. Di Marzo concluded, "These findings suggest that novel anti-tumor drugs may be developed from these endogenous compounds."

ICRS Symposium June 18-20, 1999 Acapulco, Mexico.

Fay Guarraci, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology at Southwestern University in Georgetown Texas and colleagues reported that the CB1 receptor antagonist, SR141716A, also improves retention of conditioned fear, thus giving more support to the hypothesis that blocking endogenous cannabinoids may improve memory. Taken together the data presented this year suggest a role for endogenous cannabinoids in memory formation, the reduction of pain, inhibition of tumor growth, and treatment of movement disorders.

ICRS Symposium June 18-20, 1999 Acapulco, Mexico.

Professor Manuel Guzman’s research teams at Complutense University and Autonoma University in Madrid, Spain found that cannabis’ active ingredient, THC, killed tumor cells in advanced cases of glioma, a quick-killing cancer for which there is currently no effective treatment. Guzman says that the experiment, published in the March 2000 issue of Nature Medicine, tested THC at very low doses and at a late stage. He predicts that THC should work better if given earlier. Guzman's team says, “the drug …provoked a death spiral in cancer cells.” He injected the active cannabinoid compounds directly into the brain cancers after laboratory studies showed that THC killed glioma cells while leaving normal brain cells unharmed.

Professor Xia Zhang, and his neuropsychiatry research unit team at the University of Saskatchewan, in 2005, found that rats treated with HU-210, a potent synthetic cannabinoid, on a regular basis showed neurogenesis - the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus. The effect is the opposite of most legal and illicit drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, heroin, and cocaine. "Most 'drugs of abuse' suppress neurogenesis," Zhang says. "Only cannabis promotes neurogenesis." As a medicine, the plant is used to ease pain in multiple sclerosis patients, combat nausea in cancer patients, and stimulate appetite in people afflicted with AIDS. It has also been used to treat epilepsy and stroke.