Serious Question ...

[1StrongBlackMan]

I've been skimming articles on DU and other places suggesting that cannabis treats cancer. Didn't Bob Marley doe from brain cancer?

[leftofcool]

1. I am not sure cannabis treats cancer but it helps with pain from cancer

As well, it helps you to want to eat after chemo. I doubt that anything would help with terminal brain cancer unless you smoked it for the pain.

[Malraiders]

2. No OP, your are mistaken.

In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of a toe. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match that year, but was instead a symptom of the already-existing cancer. Marley turned down his doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs, and instead the nail and nail bed were removed and a skin graft taken from his thigh to cover the area.[51][52] Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980.[53]
The album Uprising was released in May 1980. The band completed a major tour of Europe, where it played its biggest concert to 100,000 people in Milan. After the tour Marley went to America, where he performed two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the Uprising Tour.
Bob Marley appeared at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 23 September 1980; it would be his last concert.
Shortly afterwards, Marley's health deteriorated as the cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received a controversial type of cancer therapy (Issels treatment) partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After fighting the cancer without success for eight months Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.[54]
While Marley was flying home from Germany to Jamaica, his vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. Bob Marley died on 11 May 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life."[55] Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy[56][57] and Rastafari tradition.[58] He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his red Gibson Les Paul (some accounts say it was a Fender Stratocaster).[59]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley

[F4lconF16]

6. Thanks for the info.

Pseudo-science is dangerous stuff. Medicine is important.

Edit: not sure my comment was in keeping with the spirit of the group, sorry.

[bravenak]

3. I believe he did. Uh oh, I guess not.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

4. There was a study indicating that THC may be able to shrink tumors...

However, that doesn't imply that smoking pot will cure cancer.

It does, however, alleviate some of the symptoms of cancer (ie, pain, appetite loss, depression, et al).

I love pot. It's great. It gets you high. Mellows you out. Makes ya feel good. But there is a LOT of woo surrounding it's usage in medicine.

[fredamae]

5. Yes, Marley died

from brain cancer.

Not long before then, circa 1974, there was a federal study that reported the cancer killing benefits of cannabis. That news, as I'm told, hit "some" Media for about one cycle and then that was it. Why? My theory is that there was a ton of money being dumped into a new for profit industry fighting cancer with big pharma drugs/research etc

There have been great success stories in treatment..and some not successful.
As I understand this...it is not necessarily through typical consumption, but rather particular medicines/concentrates from the Whole plant that is used for treatment. The "research jury" is still out on to what degree daily, typical consumption (non-medical) offers protections.
I highly recommend speaking with a knowledgeably physician(s) who works with these types of treatmentsfor the best information and advice.

I have often wondered if Sen Kennedy knew..and if he did...did he try cannabis for treatment?

[LunaSea]

7. Some papers

Don't smoke it for medicinal effect, eat it instead.


http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v95/n2/abs/6603236a.html

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/17/6475.abstract

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/308/3/838.abstract

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/01/03/cannabis-is-key-to-good-health-when-we-eat-it-vs-smoking-it/

Much more-
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/08/23/20-medical-studies-that-prove-cannabis-can-cure-cancer/

[AgingAmerican]

8. Not enough cannabinoids delivered by smoking

To be effective against cancers, it must be delivered orally and in high concentrations. A gram of cannabis oil or more per day. Cannabis oil is pure liquid cannabinoids, and can be up to 90% THC.

It takes about 5 weeks, normally, to get a patient up to that level because they get so high off it. The cannabinoid CBD can be used to dampen the 'high' and get there quicker. CBD is also the cannabinoid most effective against aggressive cancers and it kills pain better and with less side effects than morphine.

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. So ..

The places where cannabis is legal, one can buy oil. No?

What is the cost?

[AgingAmerican]

12. Here in Wa. State

We have cannabis farmers markets. If you know someone, you can get the oil for about $15 per gram. RSO normally costs $20-$30 per gram. It costs even more in so called 'dispensaries,' most of which care more about profit than anything else.

The oil used for cancer is called RSO or Rick Simpson Oil. The 'honey oil' that people smoke recreationally contains residual butane and is not good for cancer patients.

RSO is made with alcohol or naptha. We use 190 proof everclear for ours. It is cheapest to grow your own and produce your own oil.

Do you know someone who needs it?

[1StrongBlackMan]

18. Not really ... yet ...

My sister-in-law started spotting and they found a mass. She has more testing soon.

You mentioned producing your own ... hasn't there been a lot of explosions from that?

Is there a How To Do on-line?

[AgingAmerican]

21. Butane honey oil is what you're thinking of

the Rick Simpson oil is not made with butane. there are instructions in the link I provided in the previous post for making it yourself. at the link, he uses naphtha though we think it is better to use 190 proof Everclear because it consumable.

[1StrongBlackMan]

19. And ...

I've been doing a little surf on the topic and wonder ... does anyone think/suggest that cannabis oil can has a preventative effect?

I ask that because I have risk factors.

[Gregorian]

22. From what I've read, yes. "Ultra low" dosages are prescribed.

I've looked to see what ultra low is, and the best I can come up with is (for real plant material) a thumb sized bud/day (eating). So this is dietary cannabis, not heating it up. Heating it is what gives it the psychoactive chemical. I eat a popcorn size bud every night, and it might as well be spinach in terms of a high. There was also a spec. on juiced leaves, which I've forgotten. But it was reasonable.

The cannabis specialist that I met with, explained the importance of cannabinoids for regulating a variety of biological functions, and said that one of the reasons modern people are so sick is cannabinoid deficiency.

[Scootaloo]

9. How do you define "treat"?

it can certainly help with some of the symptoms - pain, appetite loss, and the like. But if you mean "cure," then no. Cannabis obviously has medical properties. However there's a lot of hucksterism peddling it as a magical cure-all.

[AgingAmerican]

13. This is very true

But is has been proven to halt metastasis in aggressive cancers and shrink tumors.

It has been found to work in studies involving laboratory animals. Problem is taboo gets in the way of doing clinical trials in humans.

Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells

Desprez, a molecular biologist, spent decades studying ID-1, the gene that causes cancer to spread. Meanwhile, fellow researcher Sean McAllister was studying the effects of Cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-toxic, non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the cannabis plant. Finally, the pair collaborated, combining CBD and cells containing high levels of ID-1 in a petri dish.

“What we found was that his Cannabidiol could essentially ‘turn off’ the ID-1,” Desprez told HuffPost. The cells stopped spreading and returned to normal.

“We likely would not have found this on our own,” he added. “That’s why collaboration is so essential to scientific discovery.”

Desprez and McAllister first published a paper about the finding in 2007. Since then, their team has found that CBD works both in the lab and in animals. And now, they’ve found even more good news.

“We started by researching breast cancer,” said Desprez. “But now we’ve found that Cannabidiol works with many kinds of aggressive cancers–brain, prostate–any kind in which these high levels of ID-1 are present.”

[Scootaloo]

16. "Cannabidiol" and "Cannabis" are different things though

it's like the relationship between acetylsalicylic acid and willow trees, basically. You've got to ingest a fairly disgusting amount of willow (it's not a pleasant taste) in order to get the effect of two tabs of aspirin. Further, the test measured direct application of the compound to cancerous cells. This can't be achieved by smoking weed, and would require you to eat a lot of the plant in order to get the effect.

[AgingAmerican]

17. Cannabinoids are the related compounds found in cannabis

They are in oil form. They can be easily extracted and purified using alcohol, Naptha, CO2, methane or butane. For medical use, we use mostly alcohol.

The resulting oil is about 90% cannabinoid. It can be further purified by 'winterization' which involves dissolving it in alcohol then freezing it. This separates the cannabinoids (cannabis oil containing the active related compounds) from residual plant waxes, chlorophyll and other water solubles.

The resulting oil is anywhere from 40% - 90% THC. We use CBD dominant strains for cancer, and mix them with high THC strains. The CBD will dampen the THC high so the patient doesn't get too high. The more CBD in the oil, the less high the patient experiences. This is awesome because CBD is known to halt aggressive cancers.

To make a long story short, it is pretty easy to extract and concentrate the active compounds.

[Scootaloo]

20. That's actually interesting

Always neat to learn at-home manufacture methods for stuff.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. There is actually some evidence, as others have noted, that THC can shrink tumors.

Unfortunately due to the drug war, research into this sort of thing has been limited, traditionally, although that is changing.

"Cure" cancer? Pretty doubtful- at the very least, Tim Leary and Carl Sagan both died of forms of cancer, so....

still, it may have benefits above and beyond the already considerable ones in terms of anti-nausea/stimulating appetite for chemo patients, pain relief, etc.

[AgingAmerican]

14. They are finding different cannabinoids are effective

...at treating different forms of cancer. It isn't fully known which cannabinoids treat which cancers, so when oil is given to a patient, we try to use different strains mixed together to get the full range of cannabinoids.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. It wouldn't surprise me.

Like I said, there is some actual evidence to that effect. It's not all "woo"

[TheJames]

23. THC-a, an element

of raw, that is, un-carbolized, cannabis usually ingested as juice of whole plant, is known to be an aggressive treatment for many types of cancer.