Paul Armentano of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports via AlterNet
Scientific discoveries are published almost daily in regard to the healing properties of the cannabis. But most of these findings appear solely in subscription-only peer-reviewed journals and, therefore, go largely unnoticed by the mainstream media and by the public. Here are five just-published cannabis-centric studies that warrant attention.
- Men Who Smoke Pot Possess a Reduced Risk of Bladder Cancer
- Long-Term Pot Exposure Isn't Damaging to Lung Health
- Alcohol, Not Pot, Alters the Brain
- Marijuana Use Doesn't Lead to Depression
- Marijuana Possesses a Unique Margin of Safety Compared to Other legal and Illegal Drugs
The BBC's Radio 4 has been running a series this week regarding the use and abuse of cannabis in the UK, and they offer this report of part of the discussions that have been aired. From the report:
Cannabis is bad for you, cannabis is good for you - confused? That's not surprising. Complicated and controversial, cannabis is revealed by recent science to have a dual personality, with a dark side and a more positive one. Radio 4's PM programme is this week running a whole series on cannabis, and the debate surrounding it.
Key to understanding this strange plant are two of the ingredients that make it up, known by their initials as THC and CBD. I asked Professor Val Curran of University College London to describe how they work and she came up a memorable answer:
"In a way, THC and CBD are a bit like yin and yang. The THC makes you stoned, but it can also make you anxious. It can also make you feel a bit psychotic, and it will seriously impair your memory.
"The other side of the yin/yang is CBD, which has almost the opposite effects. CBD calms you down, it has anti-psychotic properties and it also offsets the effects on memory, so that on CBD-containing cannabis you're less likely to forget what's going on."
So the first step to understanding cannabis is to realise how it can vary, how different types contain very different quantities of these polar opposites, with dramatically different outcomes.
One of the problems highlighted is that the cannabis available today (particularly 'skunk') is often much stronger than was available 20 - 30 years ago, and the balance of THC to CBD has changed, with potentially serious consequences. For example: "If you smoke high-potency skunk at all, then you are three times more likely to be psychotic. If you smoke high-potency cannabis every day, you are five times more likely to be psychotic." There is much more in the article, so give it a look.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Pax on Saturday February 21 2015, @02:04PM
it's medicine and has been used as such for thousands of years. Also no mention that CBD(the cannabanoid that gives the heavy stone and is present is higher numbers in the likes of black hashish) is actually a known and studied anti-psychotic??????
however here's the rub.. www.fullfacts.org looked at this so called study in South London and ripped it apart.
source https://fullfact.org/factcheck/health/cannabis_psychosis_risk_skunk_hash-39451 [fullfact.org] comment
what is crazy is that they "study" only included 100 people from a part of South London, 24 of those admitted they cannabis was used at "SOME POINT" and this somehow constitutes a scientific study?? MY ACHING ANUS !!!!! THAT is a statistically insignificant amount of people and a bullshit study which will be happily cherry picked and quoted a LOT as this is... AN ELECTION YEAR..... bullshit.. THAT WHAT IT IS!