Marijuana fights brain cancer!

Appearing in the April issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation came an obscure medical discovery this past month in Spain,

The active chemical compound in marijuana aggressively targets brain cancer cells, and helps to kill them by encouraging them to dissolve themselves, according to a recent report by Spanish researchers.

As someone who could benefit from this breakthrough, I’m stunned this didn’t make popular mainstream news (can you read the sarcasm between the lines?)

Guillermo Velasco and a team of researchers at Complutense University in Spain have shown that the psycho-active chemical in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), encourages brain cancer cells to begin a process called autophagy, in which the cell basically dissolves itself.

The team noted that cannabinoids such as THC showed cancer-fighting effects in mice implanted with human brain cancer cells and in human patients with brain tumors. When mice implanted with human brain cancer cells that received the THC, showed significant reduction of tumor growth.

Two patients enrolled in a clinical trial received THC directly to the brain as an experimental treatment for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, a highly aggressive brain tumor. A comparison of biopsies taken before and after treatment showed that that tumors showed increased autophagy activity after receiving the THC.

None of the patients showed toxic effects from the treatment. Earlier assessments of THC in cancer treatment have also shown the therapy to be well tolerated. The researchers say that these findings might lead to new approaches for fighting tumor growth in brain cancer.

This breakthrough is absolutely amazing and sheds light on what can happen in a country that has decriminalized Marijuana. Spain decriminalized the personal possession and growing of Marijuana, but still has laws which prohibit its sale. However, even with this limited decriminalization model, Spain has a flourishing cannabis industry that also includes companies that are interested in medical applications.

As you can read, the country of Spain has far surpassed the right and passage of Freedoms allowed to American Citizens in this country. They have a NON-TOXIC medicine that FIGHTS BRAIN cancer which their citizens are allowed to use as freely as they would like.

In contrast, Americans go to prison (some for 20 – 99 years) for growing and using the same medicine for the same reasons.

I wonder if the United States government would allow American Citizens to resign our citizenship and move to Spain so we could finally live in a Free Country where we are allowed to consume life saving medicine?