Health & Fitness Tools

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

22nd September, 2013 - Posted by health news - No Comments

A Little Cannabis History …

Cannabis has actually been utilized for medical purposes going back a minimum of 3,000 years.

It was in the 1840s when cannabis was first introduced to Western medicine by W.B. O’Shaughnessy, a medical doctor who worked in India for the British East Indies Company. Before cannabis was a beneficial therapy choice for analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and anticonvulsant perks.

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

The American Medical Association (AMA) opposed the Act because medical professionals had to pay a special tax for suggesting medical cannabis, utilize unique order forms to acquire it, and additional record-keeping for recommending it.

Likewise, the AMA declined the “concept” that cannabis was dangerous and they understood that by adopting the Act it would further restrain clinical science into cannabis’ medicinal value. In 1942, cannabis was eliminated from the United States’ Pharmacopoeia.

Then in 1951, Congress passed the Boggs Act, which classified cannabis with illegal and hazardous narcotic drugs. And in 1970, with the adoption of the Controlled Substances Act, cannabis was then classified as a Schedule 1 drug by Federal Law.

Drugs that are classified as a “Schedule 1” drug are illegal and said to have “no accepted medical use,” and other drugs in this group consist of heroin, mescaline, methaqualone, and gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

Cannabis was (and still is) classified as having no medical use by the United States government, even though cannabis was dispersed to clients in a federal job established in 1978 called the Compassionate Use Investigational New Drug program.

The program was stopped in 1992.

Exactly what Are Cannabinoids and How Do They Work?

“Cannabinoids” is a blanket term covering a “household” of complex-chemicals that lock onto cannabinoid receptors (which are protein molecules on the surface of cells). The cannabis plant produces a resin, which includes this huge, psychoactive “cannabinoid household” of chemical compounds.

For 1000s of years humans have utilized cannabis for medicinal and leisure purposes, however cannabinoids themselves were first extracted from cannabis plants in the 1940s. The structure of the cornerstone of cannabis– delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)– was discovered in the 1960s.

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

The toughest potency of cannabinoids is found in the female flowers of the cannabis plant.

“Cannabinoid Household,” Cannabis and Cancer Disease Science

Medicinal marijuana and cancer research have been limited because the plant is a Schedule 1 drug in addition to the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) has actually not granteded using cannabis as a therapy choice for any condition.

cannabis cancer cells science The 2 Big Cs Recently, recognition has actually been made by the National Cancer cells Institute (NCI) acknowledging the perks of utilizing cannabis for individuals putting up with cancer cells consist of antiemetic benefits, hunger excitement, discomfort relief, and improved rest.

The NCI is a leader presenting patient to clinical science to assist guarantee that new therapy discoveries are equated into prospective cannabis and cancer cells therapies. This recognition has actually helped support a “new world” of organic medications beginning with medical cannabis and cancer disease to be generally accepted as a therapy choice.

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

Let’s Recap Cannabis and Cancer

This summary will provide a fast overview of medical cannabis and it being available for clients as a natural treatment choice for cancer cells.

Some vital details to recap:

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

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

According to United States Attorney General Eric Owner, “it will not be a concern to utilize federal resources to take to court clients with serious illnesses or their caretakers who are abiding by state laws on medicinal marijuana.”