Cannabis may become 'the aspirin of the 21st century'

Cannabis may become 'the aspirin of the 21st century'
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
19 April 2003

Cannabis, the third most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco, could win a new role as the aspirin of the 21st century, with growing evidence that its compounds may protect the brain against the damaging effects of ageing.

Although the drug distorts perception and affects short-term memory, it may also help prevent degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntingdon's and motor neurone diseases. Scientists at the Institute of Neurology in Queens Square, London, say the "huge potential" of cannabis compounds is emerging, as understanding of its biological and pharmacological properties improves.

Professor Alan Thompson and his colleagues wrote in Lancet Neurology: "Basic research is discovering interesting members of this family of compounds that have previously unknown qualities, the most notable of which is the capacity for neuroprotection."

The results of two trials in patients with multiple sclerosis are expected this summer and the first cannabis-based medicines are being considered for licensing. None of them will have the psychoactive properties of the raw drug when smoked or ingested.

Professor Thompson's team says: "Even if the results of these studies are not as positive as many expect them to be, that we are only just beginning to appreciate the huge therapeutic potential of this family of compounds is clear."

Cannabis was thought to affect the cells like alcohol by seeping through the cell membrane. But in 1990 the first cannabinoid receptor was found, which revolutionised the study of cannabinoid biology. The discovery revealed an endogenous system of cannabinoid receptors, similar to the opioid system, to which the drug bound when it was ingested. Just as endorphins are the body's natural equivalent of heroin, a fatty acid called anandamide (Sanskrit for "inner bliss") is the natural equivalent of cannabis.

The natural system of cannabinoid receptors plays a role in maintaining the balance of chemicals in the brain which regulate the rate at which neurons fire. By altering this system, scientists believe it may be possible to slow or prevent the process of brain decay. David Baker, lead author of the Lancet review and senior lecturer at the Institute of Neurology, said: "Alzheimer's disease is the result of very slow degeneration caused by the death of nerve cells. We probably don't see symptoms until 30 to 40 per cent of the nerve cells have died. Something regulates this decay and if we could slow it by even a small fraction we might delay by a decade the point where someone loses their memory."

But cannabis is a double-edged sword, with potentially damaging side effects. "It may be possible to develop drugs that allow selective targeting of different areas of the brain and spinal cord and there may be a way of limiting the negative effects," Dr Baker said.

A study by Dr Baker and colleagues, in which the natural system of cannabinoid receptors was removed in mice, showed that the rate of nerve loss was increased, indicating its role in preserving brain function. The study, which has been accepted for publication in a medical journal, "really clinches the argument", Dr Baker said.

He added: "Cannabis has gone from the drawing board into trials in record time, largely because of patient pressure. Hopefully it will work and be acceptably safe."

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/hea...p?story=398495

[JonSlice]

Cannabis has been used for medicinal reasons for thousands of years in numerous places of the world.

It's good to see research done finally to give some credit to the truth.

Now if they could just get to work on making that fuel from hemp the world might still be able to be saved.


I'd like to get Ashcroft stoned.
Think of the passed-out-on-the-couch pictures you could get of that guy.

I love how people gush about the "therapeutic qualities" of marijuana and how it's great to make clothes and shoelaces out of and all that. I'm not disputing that those are true, but it's pretty clear why everyone (including myself) would like pot to be legal in this county.

Just admit that you want it legal because you like to get stoned out of your fucking gourd, okay? Nobody's buying your therapy horseshit.

And unfortunately I think it's going to be a very long time before we see marijuana legalized in this country. We are such an uptight society that we can't even handle the drugs that are legal properly. Lots of huge social changes on many different levels need to occur first for the decision to make any more substances legal.

We're just not ready. I hate it. We'd be so much better off without this country's set of archaic morals and rules that we are all forced to try and live by.

M

Originally posted by WarLord
Plus, you have to remember that organized crime bosses are people too.

They have kids to feed and put through college.

Who are we to deny them that?

[JonSlice]

Originally posted by -m-
I love how people gush about the "therapeutic qualities" of marijuana and how it's great to make clothes and shoelaces out of and all that. I'm not disputing that those are true, but it's pretty clear why everyone (including myself) would like pot to be legal in this county.

Just admit that you want it legal because you like to get stoned out of your fucking gourd, okay? Nobody's buying your therapy horseshit.

And unfortunately I think it's going to be a very long time before we see marijuana legalized in this country. We are such an uptight society that we can't even handle the drugs that are legal properly. Lots of huge social changes on many different levels need to occur first for the decision to make any more substances legal.

We're just not ready. I hate it. We'd be so much better off without this country's set of archaic morals and rules that we are all forced to try and live by.

M

I'd love to see pot legal so I can smoke it all the time without anyone giving me shit for it but unfortunately that's not a good enough reason to make it legal. The benefits have to be shown to the masses so that they see it's not just about getting baked and playing video games. I'd also like to see it legal so I could grow my own plants. They are really quite amazing plants and it would be nice to be able to grow them without fear of being sent to prison. What REALLY drives me to want pot legalizes is it, the entire plant not just the buds, has sooo many uses that aren't being used that are better alternatives for our economy and ecology then the resources we are currently using. I'm sure i'll stop smoking pot some day but I will still want it legalized and utilized in industrial use.

It's definitely going to take a complete social revolution for pot to be legalized in this country. It's got too many religious, political and corporate officials that have made pot the 'evil' thing it is today over the years. America believes pot is the devil because they've been told it is by the authorities through propaganda and lies for generations. People have to wake up to the lies they're told and demand their government give them the truth.

They use hemp industrially now. A lot of clothing is made with it. Adidas even put out a line of shoes a few years back that were made entirely of hemp (dope ass kicks btw).

If you're dying to try out it's other uses why don't you go get a job at a textile factory?

Pot activists seem to always have quite the bad case of diarrhea of the mouth.

M

[JonSlice]

Originally posted by -m-
They use hemp industrially now. A lot of clothing is made with it. Adidas even put out a line of shoes a few years back that were made entirely of hemp (dope ass kicks btw).

If you're dying to try out it's other uses why don't you go get a job at a textile factory?

Pot activists seem to always have quite the bad case of diarrhea of the mouth.

M

There's actually a lot more uses then just textiles and there is not a lot of clothing made from hemp fibers. And it is far from being utilized for industrial use just because adidas made some shoes out of it a few years ago. Besides, textiles are just the tip of the iceberg of what hemp can be used for.

I don't see where getting a job in a textile factory and diarrhea of the mouth have anything to do with what we're discussing. Don't be a dick just because i've pointed out my point of view on the subject.

I wasn't being a dick man.

You were going on and on about the many uses of marijuana and how it is versatile in it's possible uses, hence implying that this country does not utilize said uses.

I was simply pointing out that we do use hemp for a lot of things, including but not limited to clothing and shoes. This lead me to conclude that your statement wasn't based on anything close to reality, hence the diarrhea of the mouth comment.

But I'll take what I said back. I'm sure that you'd be making plenty of shirts if you could legally grow your own pot.

M

[JonSlice]

Originally posted by -m-
I wasn't being a dick man.

You were going on and on about the many uses of marijuana and how it is versatile in it's possible uses, hence implying that this country does not utilize said uses.

I was simply pointing out that we do use hemp for a lot of things, including but not limited to clothing and shoes. This lead me to conclude that your statement wasn't based on anything close to reality, hence the diarrhea of the mouth comment.

But I'll take what I said back. I'm sure that you'd be making plenty of shirts if you could legally grow your own pot.

M

It's a fact that we don't utilize hemp, just because a couple companies are using it to make some cloth does not mean it's being utilized anywhere near it's full potential. There are so many more uses that I didn't even want to go into because it would have gotten me labeled as some hippy or I would have been told to move to the commune. It's completely in reality that we do not use cannabis for near as many things that it could be used for where it would be a better resource to use then what we're currently using because it is completely renewable in a very short amount of time. Cannabis grows so fast and in so places it is a great plant to use for our industrial needs. It can be used to replace cotton and synthetic textile fibers, it can be used for paper with better results and cleaner manufacturing process, it's pulp can be processed into building materials to replace lumber and it has faster renewal then wood, it's oils have several uses, and the cellulose can be used for thousands of things with a little research (this research would already be done if it hadn't been completely outlawed in the 1930s).


If I were allowed to grow my own plants I wouldn't use the fibers to make t-shirts. I'd grow them to enjoy watching one of the most advanced plants on earth grow and to smoke the bad ass buds that came from it. I'm not gonna lie, I'd like to grow my own bud but it goes beyond just wanting to get stoned.

BTW, I failed to mention the kicker of this whole argument.

That industrial hemp that you're dying to have become the next big thing in this country won't get you high. It is still a Cannabis plant, however the way it is cultivated leaves it with only 1% THC content.

You have been officially owned.

M

[JonSlice]

Originally posted by WarLord
One impetus behind the outlawing of hemp production, as it used to be legal prior to WW II, were Senators from southern states concerned about the impact widespread hemp production would have on the cotton industry. So, the criminilization of the production and possession of hemp was an economic one as much as it was a sociological one.

Cotton wasn't the only industry that flexed is wallets to contribute to the outlawing of hemp. Dupont, which pretty much was the chemical industry from what I understand, was a major player in the prohibition. I think the criminalization was much more economic then it was sociological but the government made it a sociological issue through the propaganda it used to transform society's view of marijuana. They gave the message that it was the 'killer weed' and that it made people go insane so that people would cry to the politicians to make marijuana illegal (interestingly they were smoking hashish while they were making these cries against pot not knowing they come from the same source). The politicians would listen to the cries of the constituency and outlaw the whole plant, even though it's only the buds that induce a high, to protect the industries that they were buddies with.

[JonSlice]

Originally posted by -m-
BTW, I failed to mention the kicker of this whole argument.

That industrial hemp that you're dying to have become the next big thing in this country won't get you high. It is still a Cannabis plant, however the way it is cultivated leaves it with only 1% THC content.

You have been officially owned.

M

Actually, i've heard this kicker before and it's not completely true. The parts that they use for industrial uses actually will not get you high, stems, stalks and such. But the buds are still the same. In a lot of areas that use industrial hemp the farmers are required to cut the buds off when they start to bloom and destroy then. The left over parts are used for industrial purposes and wouldn't get you high if you smoked it. I'd rather see this kind of practice in America, even if it's not allowed for medicinal or recreational use, then what we have today which is complete outlaw of any part of the plant.

Man, you just go out of your way to be condescending like you think you know what you're talking about.

[Krash]

Originally posted by JonSlice
Actually, i've heard this kicker before and it's not completely true. The parts that they use for industrial uses actually will not get you high, stems, stalks and such. But the buds are still the same. In a lot of areas that use industrial hemp the farmers are required to cut the buds off when they start to bloom and destroy then. The left over parts are used for industrial purposes and wouldn't get you high if you smoked it. I'd rather see this kind of practice in America, even if it's not allowed for medicinal or recreational use, then what we have today which is complete outlaw of any part of the plant.

Man, you just go out of your way to be condescending like you think you know what you're talking about.

Actually the previous post was correct, hemp can be cultivated in such a way that even the buds will only yeild around 1% THC.

[DJ Cubano]

I had to write a report on legalizing marijuana for one of the hardest professors at UTA and I got an A last year.....so I think we should be able to smoke it in the privacy of our own homes