You Have An Endocannabinoid System- Cannabis Revelations

[hyphaenation]

There has been some amazing information coming in the past number of years regarding our body's endocannabinoid system ECS.

The endogenous cannabinoid system is an ubiquitous lipid signalling system that appeared early in evolution and which has important regulatory functions throughout the body in all vertebrates. The main endocannabinoids (endogenous cannabis-like substances) are small molecules derived from arachidonic acid, anandamide (arachidonoylethanolamide) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol. They bind to a family of G-protein-coupled receptors, of which the cannabinoid CB1 receptor is densely distributed in areas of the brain related to motor control, cognition, emotional responses, motivated behaviour and homeostasis. Outside the brain, the endocannabinoid system is one of the crucial modulators of the autonomic nervous system, the immune system and microcirculation. Endocannabinoids are released upon demand from lipid precursors in a receptor-dependent manner and serve as retrograde signalling messengers in GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses, as well as modulators of postsynaptic transmission, interacting with other neurotransmitters, including dopamine. Endocannabinoids are transported into cells by a specific uptake system and degraded by two well-characterized enzymes, the fatty acid amide hydrolase and the monoacylglycerol lipase. Recent pharmacological advances have led to the synthesis of cannabinoid receptor agonists and antagonists, anandamide uptake blockers and potent, selective inhibitors of endocannabinoid degradation. These new tools have enabled the study of the physiological roles played by the endocannabinoids and have opened up new strategies in the treatment of pain, obesity, neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis, emotional disturbances such as anxiety and other psychiatric disorders including drug addiction. Recent advances have specifically linked the endogenous cannabinoid system to alcoholism, and cannabinoid receptor antagonism now emerges as a promising therapeutic alternative for alcohol dependence and relapse.

From: http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...nt/full/40/1/2

General Wiki explanations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system

This system is incredibly important to health. I wanted to share a series of sites, videos and lectures to bring this science to the table. Its peer reviewed and done by qualified researchers.

First I would recommend this talk by Dr. Bob Melamede PhD as an overview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n31Nuj_AvTg

Next this is an excellent Cannabinoid research site.
http://www.endocannabinoid.net
It has an excellent animation section of the ECS and its impacts.
http://www.endocannabinoid.net/VideoAnimation.aspx

Then back to Dr. Bob if it intrests you for more indepth lectures about Cannabinoids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-sqkSz6b5A part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OAjc8r5-_I part 2

Then there is a CNN special that is worth viewing RE: Alzhiemers & Cannabis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzDpf_aRVE

I hope that you find this emerging Cannabis, Cannabinoid science interesting. I'd like to see what people that review this information think. Here's a few other assorted links for those of you that make take an intrest in your endocannabinoid system and cannabinoids in general...

ERG research group
http://www.icb.cnr.it/erg/index.php?...d=14&Itemid=29

Raphael Mechoulam PhD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI2VT2kOfnM

Cannabinoids:

http://www.uccs.edu/%7Ermelamed/Evol...cannabinoid_2/

[shroom_seeker]

great links thank you for sharing

[hyphaenation]

A few more to check out ...

Cannabinoid wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoids

Cannabinoid Recptor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_receptor

Science News
Cannabinoids May Inhibit Cancer Cell Invasion

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2007) — Cannabinoids may suppress tumor invasion in highly invasive cancers, according to a study published online December 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Cannabinoids, the active components in marijuana, are used to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment, such as pain, weight loss, and vomiting, but there is increasing evidence that they may also inhibit tumor cell growth. However, the cellular mechanisms behind this are unknown.

Robert Ramer, Ph.D., and Burkhard Hinz, Ph.D., of the University of Rostock in Germany investigated whether and by what mechanism cannabinoids inhibit tumor cell invasion.

Cannabinoids did suppress tumor cell invasion and stimulated the expression of TIMP-1, an inhibitor of a group of enzymes that are involved in tumor cell invasion.

“To our knowledge, this is the first report of TIMP-1-dependent anti-invasive effects of cannabinoids. This signaling pathway may play an important role in the antimetastatic action of cannabinoids, whose potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of highly invasive cancers should be addressed in clinical trials,” the authors write.

The medicinal use of marijuana goes back into history as far as several thousand years, by some accounts. But it was in the 1800s that its potential as an analgesic began to be studied,2 leading eventually to the discovery of D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active component of marijuana. The discovery of this cannabinoid ignited a search to better understand how THC affects the nervous system, and in 1990 a cannabinoid receptor, CB1, was identified in the brain.2

The discovery of the CB1 receptor spurred the discovery of endogenous cannabinoids such as anandamide (named after the Sanskrit word for bliss);2 others quickly followed, including 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). These chemicals — the brain's equivalent of THC — are now collectively known as endocannabinoids.

Andrea Hohmann and colleagues1 recently showed the involvement of endocannabinoids in stress-induced analgesia. The authors created an experimental model using rats, to which they applied painful stimuli involving a non-opioid pathway. After the authors gave the animals rimonabant, a compound that blocks CB1 receptors, they observed that the rats no longer exhibited an antinociceptive effect; that is, the animals felt more pain. Moreover, when the rats were made tolerant to the antinociceptive effects of cannabinoids (by treating the animals chronically with a compound that competes with cannabinoids), the rats began to feel pain again.

To assess whether endocannabinoids were being released by the brain as a response to pain, the investigators measured levels of anandamide and 2-AG. In the midbrain, 2-AG concentrations increased 2 minutes after a painful stimulus. This increase was followed at 7– 15 minutes by the appearance of anandamide. Anandamide and 2-AG therefore have an apparent role in stress-induced relief of pain.

Finally, Hohmann's group1 created an enzyme-inhibitor that degrades 2-AG. When it was injected into the brains of the study rats, antinociception was enhanced.

Many would argue that legalizing medicinal marijuana would negate the necessity of this research. However, given the ongoing controversy around this issue, the work of Hohmann and colleagues is an important step in developing drugs that not only exploit endogenous cannabinoid pathways to treat severe pain but are free of the social stigma that accompanies illegal drugs.

How Do Cannabinoids Make Us Feel That Way?

Marijuana and its main psychoactive component, THC, exert a plethora of behavioral and autonomic effects on humans and animals. Some of these effects are the cause of the widespread illicit use of marijuana, while others might be involved in the potential therapeutic use of this drug for the treatment of several neuronal disorders. The great majority of these effects of THC are mediated by cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), which is abundantly expressed in the central nervous system. The exact anatomical and neuronal substrates of each action, however, were previously unknown. Using an advanced genetic approach, Krisztina Monory and colleagues at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz discovered that specific neuronal subpopulations mediate the distinct effects of THC. Their work is published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

In their study, the researchers generated mutant mice lacking CB1 expression in defined neuronal subpopulations but not in others. These mice were treated with THC, and typical effects of the drug on motor behavior, pain, and thermal sensation were scored. Their discovery of the neural substrates underlying specific effects of THC could lead to a refined interpretation of the pharmacological actions of cannabinoids. Moreover, these data might provide the rationale for the development of drugs capable of selectively activating CB1 in specific neuronal subpopulations, thereby better exploiting cannabinoids' potential therapeutic properties.

Citation: Monory K, Blaudzun H, Massa F, Kaiser N, Lemberger T, et al (2007) Genetic dissection of behavioural and autonomic effects of D9-tetrahydrocannabinol in mice. PLoS Biol 5(10): e269. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050269

Cannabinoids inhibit neurodegeneration in models of multiple sclerosis

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/...ll/126/10/2191

Antineoplastic activity of cannabinoids

http://www.ukcia.org/research/Antine...s/default.html

Role of Endogenous Cannabinoids in Synaptic Signaling

Research of cannabinoid actions was boosted in the 1990s by remarkable discoveries including identification of endogenous compounds with cannabimimetic activity (endocannabinoids) and the cloning of their molecular targets, the CB1 and CB2 receptors. Although the existence of an endogenous cannabinoid signaling system has been established for a decade, its physiological roles have just begun to unfold. In addition, the behavioral effects of exogenous cannabinoids such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the major active compound of hashish and marijuana, await explanation at the cellular and network levels. Recent physiological, pharmacological, and high-resolution anatomical studies provided evidence that the major physiological effect of cannabinoids is the regulation of neurotransmitter release via activation of presynaptic CB1 receptors located on distinct types of axon terminals throughout the brain. Subsequent discoveries shed light on the functional consequences of this localization by demonstrating the involvement of endocannabinoids in retrograde signaling at GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses. In this review, we aim to synthesize recent progress in our understanding of the physiological roles of endocannabinoids in the brain. First, the synthetic pathways of endocannabinoids are discussed, along with the putative mechanisms of their release, uptake, and degradation. The fine-grain anatomical distribution of the neuronal cannabinoid receptor CB1 is described in most brain areas, emphasizing its general presynaptic localization and role in controlling neurotransmitter release. Finally, the possible functions of endocannabinoids as retrograde synaptic signal molecules are discussed in relation to synaptic plasticity and network activity patterns.

Don't be paranoid , Be Cannabinoid !

[warriorsoul]

Thats alot of good info!
thanks!

[Walls Have Teeth]

thats pretty in depth and interesting

[hyphaenation]

For Cannabis users this knowledge can help them move to the next level of understanding and safer use. Cannabis is not harmless , but one can mitigate many of the harms it can cause with a small bit of self education and research.

Just Say Know

[warriorsoul]

I like your style hyph

[Beast]

For Cannabis users this knowledge can help them move to the next level of understanding and safer use. Cannabis is not harmless , but one can mitigate many of the harms it can cause with a small bit of self education and research.

Just Say Know

[hyphaenation]

I had a thought...

Just because Cannabis is prohibited doesn't mean we should use it irresponsibly

I have this theory that wherever Cannabis prohibition is harshly enforced you see more people using it. They use it as a form of rebellion against its banning. They smoke each joint like it could be their last.

One only has to look at Holland to see the opposite of this effect. Legal coffeeshop sales. Less teenage Cannabis use than America. Less overall use in society. At the same time the Dutch government brought in $630 million in Cannabis tax dollars. Over 10 years thats a lot of money to be dumped back into social programs.

End prohibition and less people consume ...

Just an opinion

[bugs]

Oh, come on! Da gummint sez marihuana got no medical value. Dey even buy reaserch dat say it bad. So wat dese researchers doin goin aganst ta gummint! Dum intelekshuls, dey shud be shot! We all gotta beleve da gummint an do wat is sez. It ar pattriotic duty or we are de emeny.

[hyphaenation]

I have to digest this information slowly, remebering to chew. Or else I get brain integestion.

Its a steep learning curve. The videos and animations help.

[bugs]

I sure see what you mean. But it's fascinating stuff. Really, man, thanks for the links and quotes.

It's encouraging that real, honest research is being done as opposed to some of the government- and prohibitionist-sponsored 'studies' that are designed to produce frightening conclusions using poor experimental design and questionable statistical analysis.

[hyphaenation]

Here's another gooder that I just came across.

THC in marijuana may block the spread of forms of cancer causing herpes viruses

The compound in marijuana that produces a high, delta-9 tetrahydrocannbinol or THC, may block the spread of several forms of cancer causing herpes viruses, University of South Florida College of Medicine scientists report.

The findings, published Sept. 15 in the online journal BMC Medicine, could lead to the creation of antiviral drugs based on nonpsychoactive derivatives of THC.

The gamma herpes viruses include Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpes virus, which is associated with an increased risk of cancer that is particularly prevalent in AIDS sufferers. Another is Epstein-Barr virus, which predisposes infected individuals to cancers such as Burkitt's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease.

Once a person is infected, these viruses can remain dormant for long periods within white blood cells before they burst out and begin replicating. This reactivation of the virus boosts the number of cells infected thereby increasing the chances that the cells will become cancerous.

The USF team, led by virologist Peter Medveczky, MD, found that this sudden reactivation was prevented if infected cells were grown in the presence of THC. While cells infected with a mouse gamma herpes virus normally died when the virus was reactivated, these same cells survived when cultured in the laboratory along with the cannabinoid compound - further evidence that THC prevents viral reactivation.

Furthermore, the researchers showed that THC acts specifically on gamma herpes viruses. The chemical had no effect on another related virus, herpes simplex-1, which causes cold sores and genital herpes.

Small concentrations of THC were more potent and selective against gamma herpes viruses than the commonly used antiviral drugs acyclovir, gancicyclovir and foscamet, said Dr. Medveczky, a professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology.

The USF researchers suggest that THC selectively inhibits the spread of gamma herpes viruses by targeting a gene these viruses all share called ORF50.

Dr. Medveczky emphasized that more studies are needed. "We have not evaluated the effect of THC in an animal model yet so we do not recommend people start using pot to prevent or treat cancers."

In fact, Dr. Meveczky said, THC has also been shown to suppress the immune system so smoking marijuana could "do more harm than good" to patients whose immune systems are often already weakened.

http://hsc.usf.edu/

[hyphaenation]

I just read this article about some medical studies on anti-inflamitory properties of Cannabis.

Curative leaf
By Amy Maxmen
June 23rd, 2008
Web edition



Compound in marijuana reduces inflammation without the psychological effects

Mary Jane’s got more goodness in her buds than Cheech or Chong ever imagined. A compound found to ease swelling, pain and inflammation has now been extracted from marijuana. The compound, structurally different from anti-inflammatory medications now on the market, provides new avenues for drug development to help those who suffer from diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease, a new study reports. And unlike THC, the other Cannabis compound with a similar anti-inflammatory outcome, this chemical has nothing to do with feeling high.

“We were stunned to find a totally different compound within the same plant with anti-inflammatory properties,” says Jürg Gertsch, a biologist at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Zürich, Switzerland, and lead researcher on the study, published June 23 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team extracted the compound, called beta-caryophyllene, from oily resin in Cannabis sativa L. buds and fed it to mice that were in the midst of an induced immune attack. After the mice ate the extract, their inflammation went down. The team then demonstrated that beta-caryophyllene works by turning on CB2 cannabinoid receptors, molecules that THC acts on and that are also known to reduce swelling, pain and inflammation.

THC works its anti-inflammatory magic by activating both CB2 and CB1 receptor molecules; CB1 receptors are concentrated in the brain and lead to the psychological effects of marijuana. Beta-caryophyllene, however, has little or no effect on CB1 and, therefore, might be used to ease inflammation without the psychological side effects, the authors suggest.

Though its anti-inflammatory effect hadn’t been proven before this study, beta-caryophyllene has previously been isolated from a number of plants and spices including black pepper, oregano and cinnamon. In fact, essential oils from the pepper plant contain more beta-caryophyllene than marijuana plants do. But the amount of pepper one would have to ingest to get the desired benefit might also lead to a nasty stomach ache, Gertsch says.

Doctors often steer away from prescribing herbs and spices to patients because the dose of active ingredients can’t be controlled. “Most physicians don’t want to administer drugs where the amount of the compound goes up and down between 1.5 to 200 milligrams,” says Raphael Mechoulam, a medicinal chemist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem whose team identified THC from Cannabis in 1964.

Also, beta-caryophyllene has a limited shelf life once it’s no longer in the living plant. When kept dry, it becomes oxidized and its activity diminishes. The fresher, the better, Gertsch says.

Pharmaceutical companies often make drugs out of purified plant extracts. THC is one active ingredient in Sativex, for example, a drug approved in Canada to treat multiple sclerosis pain.

This study is a testament to the fact that plants contain pharmaceutical cocktails that doctors have yet to dream of, says Ethan Russo, a neurologist and advisor for GW Pharmaceuticals in Vashon, Wash. “While it’s possible to manipulate the molecule, that may not be the best approach. The whole plant extract may be more efficacious,” Russo says.

Many current anti-inflammatory medications, such as Vioxx, come with terrible side effects. But here is a nontoxic compound, already a part of our diet, that appears to do the same job, Russo says. “It always amuses me when nature does it better.”

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/gene.../Curative_leaf

[hyphaenation]

Lecture by Cannabinoid expert Dr. Robert Melamede.

NORML National Marijuana Forum Dr. Robert Melamede - CU Boulder 2009

[ShroomGuerilla]

Proof of the true benefits of THC ingestion .

[hyphaenation]

I like the part where he describes how the bodies endoannabinoids are "all pervasive" and modulate and interface with a multitude of cellular systems and functions.

Here's some background info:

INTRODUCTION
The cannabis plant is an amazing source of medicinal chemicals, the reason being it is the only plant that truly taps into our endocannabinoid system. While marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years, it is only within the past fifteen years that we have begun to understand why marijuana has so many medicinal properties. As a result, research into this area has exploded. One cannot understand medical marijuana without first understanding the endocannabinoid system and the fundamental role that it plays in the lives of all animals, especially man.
The endocannabinoid system is composed of receptors (CB1-nervous system and CB2-immune system) on cells that bind exocannabinoids like THC, and endocannabinoids that our bodies produce, like anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonyl glycerol (2AG). Both of the latter chemicals are made from essential fatty acids such as are found in hemp oil.
When cannabinoid receptors are activated, various biochemical properties in cells are altered, and these cells then alter communication with other cells. However, all body systems must be regulated, therefore, enzymes exist that break down our endocannabinoids to keep this system in balance (homeostasis, see below). The most studied enzyme that breaks down some endocannabinoids is fatty acid amino hydrolase (FAAH). Specifically, FAAH breaks down anandamide, thereby decreasing endocannabinoid activity. In order to really appreciate the medicinal properties of this plant, we must understand the basic properties of life itself. How ironic, after so many cannabis users have been persecuted for believing that marijuana is the tree of life, in many respects it is.

CREATIVE ENERGY FLOW-LIFE
For the first time in the history of mankind, we can look at life from a truly scientific prospective and understand its basic properties. We will not go into the details of the physics of life, but rather we will describe some of the basic characteristics of life from the perspective of far from equilibrium thermodynamics. For our purposes, these ominous terms can be easily understood. Let’s start with equilibrium. Scientifically, equilibrium is a state of maximum disorder (entropy), and simultaneously, a state of minimum potential (the ability to do something). In other words, equilibrium is the opposite of life. Thermodynamics refers to the flow of energy. It is, in fact, this flow that keeps life away from equilibrium. The movement towards equilibrium is characterized by aging, illness and death. On an organismic level, living systems maintain the critical flow of organizing energy by eating, sensing the environment, and getting rid of waste products. However, the same principle of extracting potential from the environment is true at the cellular level.
A unique characteristic of matter driven further from equilibrium, is that it possesses a natural tendency to create new forms of organization. From the human prospective, moving further from equilibrium can mean regaining one’s health and increasing one’s organization and energy flow (as occurs with physical training). Similarly, learning and enhanced thinking skills (such as state of mind) can represent movement from equilibrium. Another irony, our cannabinoid system is totally intertwined with these processes.

HOMEOSTASIS
In the biosphere, the creative process is evolution. As evolution proceeds, we see increasing complexity, a property most obviously characteristic of man and his society.
However, this complexity is not only between man and his environment, but within man himself, existing at all levels of organization. Before going further into the endocannabinoid system and the impact of marijuana on it, a critical term that we must understand is homeostasis. It essentially means biochemical balance, but dynamic balance not static balance. A simplistic visual image of the dynamic character of biochemical homeostasis would be a bunch of jugglers balanced on a bunch of seesaws that are balanced on each other, while moving on a roller-coaster ride. The level of complexity in this seemingly impossible task is readily accomplished biochemically by living organisms all the time. In fact, the endocannabinoid system plays a critical role in coordinating the many balancing acts associated with life and does so across scales of organization. The impact of cannabinoids ranges in scale from controlling biochemistry within cells to controlling social interactions and regulating political thought [1].

EMERGENT PHENOMENA
Another fundamental characteristic of living systems is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Pieces of a system work together and create something new and different, something that would not have been predicted from observing the individual components in isolation. How does this phenomenon impact on the health of cells, individuals, communities and society, and is the role cannabinoid system? Is consciousness an emergent phenomenon, with the cannabinoid system being a critical player in the emergence process?
Before we look at the endocannabinoid system, let’s restate some of the physics of life.

All foods provide us with building blocks and the energy necessary for organizing the building process. The chemicals that we call food can be viewed as charged batteries.
They have potential to do things such as promoting growth, health and evolution. Energy flow in a living system is similar to what occurs when a battery is used to do something.
In both cases, energy comes from the flow of electrons. Living systems are essentially rechargeable, biochemical batteries, and our biochemical pathways constitute the wires.
Without going into details, the flow of biochemical electricity produces free radicals, biochemical friction.



FREE RADICALS

Free radicals are highly reactive chemicals that modify life’s chemicals. Free radicals have three critical biological functions. On the one hand, due to their reactivity, free radicals alter the chemical properties of DNA, RNA, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. By doing so, they disrupt biochemical organization. Therefore, the destructive nature of free radicals may be viewed as the friction of life. On the other hand, as a result of free radical-induced biochemical modifications, free radicals serve to signal the cell that all is not right, either with respect to energy flow from environmental, and/or the internal energy flows (such as mental stress). Thirdly, the destructive power of free radicals has been harnessed by the immune system to help destroy infectious invaders. Immune cells actually make hydrogen peroxide and the chemical equivalent of Clorox to help kill pathogens.



EVOLUTION

Over 500 million years ago, cells began to communicate with one another and to develop new levels of cooperation that, in turn, allowed for increased levels of complexity (spatially, temporally, and physically). These primitive, communicating, multi-cellular organisms began the evolutionary process that lead to the body systems that we’re familiar with today: circulatory, digestive, endocrine, immunological, musculoskeletal, nervous, reproductive, respiratory and tegumentary (skin). Interestingly, it was at this critical time in life’s history that the endocannabinoid system had its origins and found its place as a critical modulator of biological activities. As evolution proceeded, and systems and their interactions grew more complicated, the endocannabinoid system increasingly played an important role in the dynamic balancing acts that characterize not only life, but also economic, social, political, and religious institutions. As our understanding of the magnitude and diversity of cannabinoid biology increases, it naturally extends beyond the biological realm through its regulation of complex human behavior.
All cells exhibit basic biological properties. Typically they are replicating, performing some differentiation related task, resting or dying, all the while communicating with their neighbors, ideally, for the good of the organism as a whole. Cannabinoids regulate all of these basic activities as a function of cell type, dose, etc. What are the implications of this broad cannabinoid based activity that spans from sub-cellular activities to consciousness and beyond? We will examine some of the cannabinoid-based scientific discoveries that occurred in 2006 and see what picture is painted regarding the essential role of cannabinoids in human health.

SCIENCE NOT POLITICS
First, let’s clarify our starting point. Cannabis plant material is highly variable in composition. Therefore, even in the absence of governmental interference, the plant material is not ideally suited for most scientific experimental studies (which need not limit its medicinal usefulness). Accurate dosing and reproducibility are critical components of scientific inquiry. These constraints are met experimentally by using agonists, chemicals that stimulate specifically the CB1 or CB2 receptors, and antagonists, chemicals that inhibit specifically the CB1 or CB2 receptors. Today, we know that many of the activities produced by cannabinoids occur via cannabinoid receptor independent mechanisms, further demonstrating how complex cannabinoid activities are. In addition to the new synthetic cannabinoids, naturally occurring THC and CBD are often used experimentally. Thus, we mostly learn about the cannabinoid system without actually using products isolated from the cannabis plant. When the science and observations of medical marijuana users are put together, the benefits of medical marijuana should be obvious to all.

NERVOUS SYSTEM
A good place to begin examining cannabinoid discoveries of 2006 is the nervous system.
Current knowledge clearly shows that the brain has robust regenerative capacities. One of the newly discovered surprises is that nerve regeneration, that develops from neural progenitor cells, is regulated by endocannabinoids [2]. In other words, when there is brain injury, as occurs from head injury or stroke, the brain produces marijuana-like compounds [3] that are important limiters of damage and promoters of healing.
The ability to feel pain is a critical biological response to injury (it helps us avoid it). We now know that the level of cannabinoid receptors is turned up in response to chronic inflammation and its associated pain. The body, apparently in effort to reduce pain [4], enhances endocannabinoid activity. This response is not surprising since endocannabinoids are direct regulators of pain receptors [5].
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme that helps protect cells against free radical damage that typically results from biochemical imbalances. Mice that genetically lack the ability to produce this enzyme develop ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). We now know that cannabinoids protect against the development of this disease, however, they do not protect against the death associated with this illness [6], a dichotomy not yet understood.
A source of pain for many individuals involves trigeminal vascular neurons, which are thought to be involved with initiating migraine headaches. Ackerman et al [7] conclude "CB receptors may have therapeutic potential in migraine, cluster headache or other primary headaches, although the potential hazards of psychoactive side-effects that accompany cannabinoid treatments may be complex to overcome." This type of strange commentary is pervasive in the scientific literature. The default perspective found in the scientific literature is that one should endure pain and suffering rather than bare the terrible psychological effects of cannabis consumption. The mind-altering properties of narcotic pain-killers, antidepressants, tranquilizers and sleep medications are okay, just stay away from the killer weed. Despite ongoing governmental malfeasance, additional research examining the role of the cannabinoid system and migraine headaches suggests a relationship between the headaches and an endocannabinoid deficiency [8].
With cannabinoids intimately involved with so many biological processes, what other diseases might be associated with cannabinoid deficiencies? Both anecdotally and experimentally, cannabinoids seem to benefit those suffering from multiple sclerosis. In one study, the synthetic cannabinoid Nabilone was shown to significantly reduce spasticity-related pain [9]. In another study with multiple sclerosis patients, cannabinoids decreased the frequency of urination [10]. In a commentary on a newly published article [11] Raphael Mechoulam, the father of cannabinoids chemistry, writes that multiple sclerosis may disrupt the endocannabinoid protection mechanism [12].
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
A general theme of cannabinoid activity is inhibition of inflammation and related free radical damage. In the immune system, cannabinoids regulate the balance between free radical production and their inhibition [13]. Inflammation and free radical production are important defense mechanisms used by the immune system to fight infectious invaders.
The immune system regulates the level of inflammation in the circulatory system. A chronic pro-inflammatory response is a prime determinant in the development of arteriosclerosis, and can be reversed by cannabinoids in mice [14]. Unfortunately, the comparable experiment in humans has not yet been done. However, mice often serve as a good model for human immunology.

SKELETAL SYSTEM
The global homeostatic role of the endocannabinoid system is again demonstrated by their control of the skeletal system. Earlier publications lead to some confusion in that some data indicated that cannabinoids might promote osteoporosis, whereas others suggested the opposite. Experiments published in 2006 provided new insights into the regulation of bone mass by the endocannabinoid system. Mice that have had their CB2 receptor genetically "knocked out," develop age associated loss of bone mass, a condition that appears similar to osteoporosis in humans [15]. Thus, CB2 simulation appears to prevent bone loss. Similar results were found with CB1 knock out mice [16].

CONSCIOUSNESS
Many people use and enjoy marijuana because of the effects that it has on one’s consciousness. The year 2006 has produced some interesting new science in this area, in general, supporting the anti-depressive effects of cannabis. A study by Parish and Nicols [17] showed that stimulation of the serotonin receptor (5-HT2a) produced the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonylglycerol. The obvious question is how much of the antidepressive effects produced by serotonin uptake inhibitors is due to the production of endocannabinoids? Similarly, another study demonstrated that cannabinoids reduce anxiety by stimulating another class of serotonin receptors (5-HT1a) [18].

BEATING AROUND THE BUSH
The possibility of increasing the levels of endocannabinoids by decreasing their rate of breakdown is an exciting new area of drug development. In agreement with earlier findings [19], elevating anandamide levels by inhibiting FAAH with an inhibitor "elicits significant, anxiolytic-like, antidepressant-like and analgesic effects" [20]. These findings, of course, provide unmentioned support for the use of cannabis for these same conditions.
We know that elevating endocannabinoid levels has affects that are similar to consuming THC [21].

CANCER
Cancer is one of the most exciting areas under investigation for the therapeutic application of cannabinoids. For many years the anti-nausea properties of cannabinoids was thought to be the primary use of cannabis for cancer therapy. Over the past few years, the greater potential for cannabinoids in the treatment of cancer has been revealed.
Cannabinoids have been demonstrated to kill the variety of tumor cells, as well as to inhibit activities associated with metastasis (spreading) [22]. During this past year THC was shown to inhibit the replication of breast cancer cells [23]. Activation of cannabinoid receptors decreased tumor growth, angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels necessary for tumors to grow) and metastasis, while increasing apoptosis (cell death) of melanomas in mice [24]. Additionally, cannabinoids were found to kill pancreatic cancer cells [25]. In 2006, the world had its first pilot human clinical trial of THC for cancer treatment [26]. This study was too small for proper statistical analysis, however, it seems that the drug was safe and inhibited tumor growth albeit temporally.
Since cannabis is frequently used by cancer patients to relieve nausea, lack of appetite, depression, and difficulty sleeping [27], a concern has been its possible effect on chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity. A recent study demonstrated that a variety of plant derived cannabinoids inhibited a protein that pumps therapeutic drugs out of cancer cells and is typically associated with drug resistance [28], thus providing another possible significant benefit to cancer patients who consume cannabis.
Since smoking is the most widely used route of cannabis administration, a long-term concern has been its possible carcinogenic effects. A recent epidemiological study demonstrated that cannabis smoking does not seem to cause cancers of the respiratory tract [29], confirming my earlier prediction [30].

DANGERS OF CANNABIS USE
All humans suffer from a common biochemical imbalance. We are all aging, and aging is believed to be a consequence of accumulated free radical damage. With respect to the biochemistry of aging, cannabinoids appear to be beneficial. They not only appear to inhibit age related illnesses such as multiple sclerosis [31] and diabetes [32], but their absence increases the probability of premature death [33]. However, with respect to the body’s method of defense against certain infectious diseases, an excess of cannabinoids could be harmful or even lethal, in particular, when fighting intracellular parasites such as those responsible for Legionella disease [34] and tuberculosis [35].
Another possible danger that may result from cannabis consumption involves the liver. On the one hand, recent data shows that hepatitis C patients who consume cannabis are more likely to successfully complete there treatment regime [36]. On the other hand, turning off the CB1 receptors may be beneficial for treatment of liver fibrosis [37] since CB1 activation seems to be involved in this pathology [38].

CONCLUSION
In the marijuana plant, nature has provided us with a well-stocked medicinal chemistry set. Everyday new peer reviewed scientific publications support and extend the benefits that this plant can provide mankind. When you couple the scientific data with the observations of medical marijuana users, the support for medical marijuana use is overwhelming. How then is it possible that there remains resistance to the medicinal use of marijuana? A possible answer may be found in the simple truth that in any population of people there will be those who are cannabinoid endowed and others who are cannabinoid deficient. When the deficiency involves the areas of the brain that allow us to change our minds and replace out dated information with new information, change becomes difficult. These individuals unfortunately lack some of the necessary cannabinoid-based biochemistry. This scenario raises the question: are cannabinoid deficient people selected for by our political process? [1]

Bibliography
1. Melamede, R. J. Endocannabinoids: Multi-scaled, Global Homeostatic Regulators of Cells and Society. 601, (2006).
2. Aguado, T. et al. The endocannabinoid system promotes astroglial differentiation by acting on neural progenitor cells. J Neurosci 26, 1551-1561 (2006).
3. Ashton, J. C. et al. Cerebral hypoxia-ischemia and middle cerebral artery occlusion induce expression of the cannabinoid CB2 receptor in the brain. Neurosci Lett (2006).
4. Amaya, F. et al. TheInduction of CB(1) cannabinoid receptor by inflammation in primary afferent neurons facilitates antihyperalgesic effect of peripheral CB(1) agonist. Pain (2006).
5. Lever, I. J. & Rice, A. S. Cannabinoids and pain. Handb Exp Pharmacol 265-306 (2007).
6. Bilsland, L. G. et al. Increasing cannabinoid levels by pharmacological and genetic manipulation delay disease progression in SOD1 mice. FASEB J 20, 1003-1005 (2006).
7. Akerman, S., Holland, P. & Goadsby, P. J. Cannabinoid (CB1) receptor activation inhibits trigeminovascular neurons. J Pharmacol Exp Ther (2006).
8. Sarchielli, P. et al. Endocannabinoids in Chronic Migraine: CSF Findings Suggest a System Failure. Neuropsychopharmacology (2006).
9. Wissel, J. et al. Low dose treatment with the synthetic cannabinoid Nabilone significantly reduces spasticity-related pain : A double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over trial. J Neurol (2006).
10. Freeman, R. M. et al. The effect of cannabis on urge incontinence in patients with multiple sclerosis: a multicentre, randomised placebo-controlled trial (CAMSLUTS). Int Urogynecol J Pelvic Floor Dysfunct (2006).
11. Witting, A. et al. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis disrupts endocannabinoid-mediated neuroprotection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103, 6362-6367 (2006).
12. Shohami, E. & Mechoulam, R. Multiple sclerosis may disrupt endocannabinoid brain protection mechanism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103, 6087-6088 (2006).
13. Melamede, R. Indications for Cannabinoids: Autoimmune Diseases (Haworth Press, 2002).
14. Steffens, S. et al. Low dose oral cannabinoid therapy reduces progression of atherosclerosis in mice. Nature 434, 782-786 (2005).
15. Ofek, O. et al. Peripheral cannabinoid receptor, CB2, regulates bone mass. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103, 696-701 (2006).
16. Tam, J. et al. Involvement of Neuronal Cannabinoid Receptor, CB1, in Regulation of Bone Mass and Bone Remodeling. Mol Pharmacol (2006).
17. Parrish, J. C. & Nichols, D. E. Serotonin 5-HT receptor activation induces 2-arachidonoylglycerol release through a phospholipase c-dependent mechanism. J Neurochem (2006).
18. Braida, D., Limonta, V., Malabarba, L., Zani, A. & Sala, M. 5-HT(1A) receptors are involved in the anxiolytic effect of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol and AM 404, the anandamide transport inhibitor, in Sprague-Dawley rats. Eur J Pharmacol (2006).
19. Gobbi, G. et al. Antidepressant-like activity and modulation of brain monoaminergic transmission by blockade of anandamide hydrolysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102, 18620-18625 (2005).
20. Piomelli, D. et al. Pharmacological Profile of the Selective FAAH Inhibitor KDS-4103 (URB597). CNS Drug Rev 12, 21-38 (2006).
21. Solinas, M. et al. The endogenous cannabinoid anandamide produces THC-like discriminative and neurochemical effects that are enhanced by inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) but not by inhibition of anandamide transport. J Pharmacol Exp Ther S (2007).
22. Grimaldi, C. et al. Anandamide inhibits adhesion and migration of breast cancer cells. Exp Cell Res 312, 363-373 (2006).
23. Caffarel, M. M., Sarrio, D., Palacios, J., Guzman, M. & Sanchez, C. Delta}9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Inhibits Cell Cycle Progression in Human Breast Cancer Cells through Cdc2 Regulation. Cancer Res 66, 6615-6621 (2006).
24. Blazquez, C. et al. Cannabinoid receptors as novel targets for the treatment of melanoma. FASEB J (2006).
25. Fogli, S. et al. Cannabinoid derivatives induce cell death in pancreatic MIA PaCa-2 cells via a receptor-independent mechanism. FEBS Lett 580, 1733-1739 (2006).
26. Guzman, M. et al. A pilot clinical study of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. Br J Cancer (2006).
27. Martin, B. R. & Wiley, J. L. Mechanism of action of cannabinoids: how it may lead to treatment of cachexia, emesis, and pain. J Support Oncol 2, 305-14; discussion 314-6 (2004).
28. Holland, M. L. et al. The effects of cannabinoids on P-glycoprotein transport and expression in multidrug resistant cells. Biochem Pharmacol 71, 1146-1154 (2006).
29. Hashibe, M. et al. Marijuana use and the risk of lung and upper aerodigestive tract cancers: results of a population-based case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15, 1829-1834 (2006).
30. Melamede, R. Cannabis and tobacco smoke are not equally carcinogenic. Harm Reduct J 2, 21 (2005).
31. Pryce, G. et al. Cannabinoids inhibit neurodegeneration in models of multiple sclerosis. Brain 126, 2191-2202 (2003).
32. Li, X., Kaminski, N. E. & Fischer, L. J. Examination of the immunosuppressive effect of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol in streptozotocin-induced autoimmune diabetes. Int Immunopharmacol 1, 699-712 (2001).
33. Zimmer, A., Zimmer, A. M., Hohmann, A. G., Herkenham, M. & Bonner, T. I. Increased mortality, hypoactivity, and hypoalgesia in cannabinoid CB1 receptor knockout mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96, 5780-5785 (1999).
34. Lu, T., Newton, C., Perkins, I., Friedman, H. & Klein, T. W. Cannabinoid treatment suppresses the T helper cell polarizing function of mouse dendritic cells stimulated with Legionella pneumophila infection. J Pharmacol Exp Ther (2006).
35. Munckhof, W. J., Konstantinos, A., Wamsley, M., Mortlock, M. & Gilpin, C. A cluster of tuberculosis associated with use of a marijuana water pipe. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 7, 860-865 (2003).
36. Sylvestre, D. L., Clements, B. J. & Malibu, Y. Cannabis use improves retention and virological outcomes in patients treated for hepatitis C. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol S 18, 1057-1063 (2006).
37. Teixeira-Clerc, F. et al. CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonism: a new strategy for the treatment of liver fibrosis. Nat Med (2006).
38. Hezode, C. et al. Daily cannabis smoking as a risk factor for progression of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology 42, 63-71 (2005).

Dr. Robert J. Melamede Ph.D.
websites:
Robert Melamede Ph.D.
cannabuzz.net

[hyphaenation]

Another way of explaining it:

Info on Cannabinoids

By Dr. Robert Melamede, Ph.D.

The Cannabinoid System has been around for over 600 million years. Before the Dinosaurs. The Cannabinoid System is continuously evolutioning and has been retained by all new species. Food and feeding is at the heart of the Cannabinoid System.
1. Cannabinoids are in every living animal on the planet above Hydra and Mollusks, with the exception of insects. Bodies are homeostatically maintained by the Cannabinoid System.

2. Mothers give their babies a booster shot of cannabinoids in mothers milk to give them the munchies because they have to learn to eat. (they've been fed thru the umbilical cord and did not have to know how to eat.)

3. Mice lacking the CB1 receptors don't like any changes. If they are moved to another part of the cage they act upset and when they are put back to the original spot in the cage they relax, but if then put into another part of the cage they get upset again. Comment: I wonder if people, especially drug warriors, had their CB1 receptors blocked then they would resist change and the ones of us that have unblocked CB1 receptors enjoy the benefits of cannabinoids are a lot more relaxed and not paranoid about or over change. Interesting thought. It turns out that that thought is absolutely correct. Many people' brains are not capable of a good connection to the CB1 CB2 receptors.

4. All new species utilize cannabinoids.

5. By being alive and breathing air our bodies produce "free radicals". Cannabinoids help to reverse this action.

6. Cannabinoids do kill brain cells, but the brain cells they kill are called "Glioma" or Cancer of the brain(Tumor). All other brain cells are protected and healed by cannabinoids. (Glioma cells cannot tolerate the action of cannabinoids)

7. Cannabinoids protect against sunburn and skin cancer because of the CB1 receptors in our skin.

8. Cannabinoids slow down the aging process. Mice that their brains respond to cannabinoids live longer and mice that have brains that block the CB1 receptors die younger.

9. Activity in the evolutionary advanced areas of the brain is increased in cannabinoids receptors and promotes higher consciousness levels.

10. Cannabinoids are even found in the white blood cells (CB2 receptors). The CB2 receptors are found predominantly on immunological cells and regulate the shift in the immune system to the anti-inflammatory mode.

11. Cannabinoids protect the heart against Arythmia.

12. The way it works on pain is there is specific nerves that deal with pain. They are called vanilloid-Receptors.

Anandamide(sanscript word for "Blissful Amide"), the bodies internally produced marijuana binds with the nerve endings, reducing pain. Anandamides are produced internally by our bodies in response to a whole variety of conditions. As an example, Aspirin prevents the breakdown of Anandamide, the internally produced marijuana to activate & start working at easing pain. How many old lady's say they "WOULD NEVER" use marijuana & are actually using the equivalent of marijuana that their bodies produce as a natural activity, & don't even realize it. And how many politicians and citizens of the US do this also & aren't even aware they are condemning something that their bodies make naturally. Anecdotal evidence is valid because when a person smokes marijuana & it relieves their pain, then they smoke it again & it relieves their pain again it becomes a fact known only to that person, but nonetheless true.

13. In the case of most autoimmune diseases, the bodies immune cells produces free radicals & is destroying it's own body as a foreign object. Cannabis pushes the immune system into anti inflammatory mode & helps slow the progression of that disease, thereby slowing down the aging process.

14. Seizures are controlled by marijuana not only THC, but non-psychoactive cannabidiol.(CBD) The exact mechanism is not known, however HEMP is high in CBD's & can cancel out the psychoactive high of THC & at the same time benefits the user or smoker. Cannabinoids control everything in our bodies including our minds.

15. There are many other things that Cannabinoids do in the body, besides attaching to the CB1 and CB2 receptors, the main cannabinoid receptors in the higher part of our brain. Cannabinoids affect our skin and other parts of our bodies.

16. Pharmaceutical companies are working at sythesizing different cannabinoid components and different types of strains of marijuana. If they can succeed, then there will be more choices for you and I to choose from and we will be able to use what works best for our particular bodies.

17. The natural course for mankind, because of the location of our CB1 CB2 the brains main receptors, is to be more stoned.

18. Drug warriors are not doing what they are doing to us because they are intentionally evil, but because they are more primitive(obtuse comes to mind). They look at the world with fear and hostility not cooperativity and understanding.
19. According to a brain function study of 150 depressed people Cannabis protects the brain against healthy cell death and it also protects Neurons.

20. Cannabinoids dilate our brochial tubes and help asthsma sufferers to breath both in and out. Because of the balance that is maintained in our bodies for good health there are instances where it works backwards, where death is possible, if too much is smoked. This goes back to the effects of cannabinoids on individuals and if it doesn't work for you, you should not use it. There was some old studies that were done back in 1977 where "AEROSOLIZED THC" was used on patients. This is not what the government tells us when they say it's not medicine, but we are all familiar with the 7 government patients that are supplied marijuana to be used as medicine and we know the government is lying.

21. Natural pain eradication by cannabinol used by our receptors.

22. Cannabinoids control how we view the future. If you're loaded with bad experiences you're going to be fearful of the future. Lots of smoking of cannabinoids makes you want to be in the future. Lack of change vs embracing the future and changes. Conservative people might die prematurely, stressed, uptight and fearful (genocide). Open minded people and mice are able to change, whereas; people with defective receptors and knock-out mice (mice that have had their receptors removed) will keep going to the platform after it has been removed. They will be fearful of change.

23. Cannabinoids prevent and treat certain types of Cancer. Glioma (Brain Cancer) along with pheochromocytoma, skin cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, Lymphoma and Leukemia. Cannabinoids may prevent or cure cancer. Cannabinoids have a way of killing the bad cells and protecting the good ones.

24. Cannabis gives relief to Liver Disease & constant uncontrollable itching. Also, lack of sleep and depression and has been doing so for 600 million years.

25. THC in low doses relieves anxiety, while huge doses promote anxiety. (It's too strong like Marinol) Smoking marijuana relieves anxiety. Marijuana promotes sleeping better and normal persons when they are deprived of marijuana would have difficulty sleeping. (One other thing I'd like to add: When ingested, delta 9 THC, on the first pass thru the liver, changes into delta 11 THC. Five times as psychoactive and much longer lasting. I don't know how many people understand that. Ralph)

26. Cannabis protects nerve cells from dying thus protects against Altzheimers Disease.

27. Our bodies make up marijuana like compounds to make us hungry. (gives us the munchies) Then turn off those compounds & we don't have the munchies anymore when it has had enough food. The cannabinoid system first appeared 600 million years ago. Food & feeding is at the heart of evolution & the development of new species.

28. Head injuries cause the body to produce Endo-cannabinoids to protect itself as well as protecting the body against Nerve Gas. Marijuana turns on the bodies Protective Mode, because when you're hungry the body makes Cannabinoids to turn on your hunger. Cannabinoids turn on the expression of a Particular Gene (at the same time it prevents the expression of other Genes). How the Marijuana Receptors change the Integral Bio-Chemistry. Some of the Molecules that are involved or been studied in a Model Organism. There is a worm that people study alot. They have very simple Nervous Systems so you can define what exactly is going on. It turns out this one Particular Molecule regulates what is known as a Transcription Factor (It turns on the Expression of Genes.) It turns out that when you turn on the Expression of this Particular Gene of the Worm Model it actually promotes Mimicking a condition that actually Promotes Longevity of these worms. This Parallels what we've seen in mice. Because Marijuana exhibits Free Radicals so people who've been using Cannabis, Long Term, tend to Live Longer & Look Younger. Marijuana Promotes your Health by affecting your Nerve Cells, by Balancing your Immune System, by Reducing Fat Deposition in your Cardio-Vascular System. It looks as if it helps Burn the Synthesis of things like Cholesterol.

29. New research shows that the argument over outlawing cannabis because it "Causes Cancer" is no longer valid. There are Nicotine Receptors in your throat. There are no Cannabinoid Receptors in your throat. Cells have a Bio-chemical Program known as "APOPTOSIS". This Bio-chemical Program is activated when cells too damaged to repair themselves commit suicide. There is a Bio-chemical Pathway that controls that. Nicotine activates a path that protects the cells from dying. Smoking anything puts Carcinogens into your Air Passage-ways and Cardio-Vascular system. Cells that get damaged by smoke die and that's what you want to happen. Cells to die before they become Cancer Cells.

30. Cannabinoids modulate pain peripherally. In our bodies there are special kinds of pain receptors, known as Vanaloid receptors & they are sensitive to things like heat & excessive pressure & they are responsible for pain. It turns out that a natural regulator of that that down-regulates pain. The endocannabinoid known as Anandamide, the blissful amide, when you combine Sanskrit for ananda & amide for the chemical type. It's clearly known that cannabis can regulate pain, that's been done in numerous studies, but recently , as we learn more about the molecular mechanisms of pain & cannabinoid action what we have now learned is that there is a lot of crosstalk between the cannabinoid system & the morphine, the opioid system. The name of an article that just came out is called Chronic morphine modulates the contents of the endocannabinoid tuorachidonalglycerol in the rat brain. So, tuorachidonalglycerol is another endocannabinoid.

We feel pain thru the sensory nerves that are telling us that we're in a painful situation & on the other hand we feel it within our minds because certain areas of our brain subsequently get tickled. What we are seeing now is that the cannabinoid system works both peripherally & centrally & what we are gonna talk about here is this new work that links the cannabinoids more with the opioids in that opioids & cannabinoids are among the most widely consumed drugs of abuse in humans & phenomena of cross-tolerations or mutual potentiation demonstrated between these two drugs. Some of the recent work on pain has come out of England as a result of work done by G.W. Pharmaceuticals which is a company that specializes in producing cannabis plants.

They've developed different strains that have different ratios of the cannabinoids & those different plants have different properties. In the past I've mentioned Bi-Polar disorder. Some people who are Bi-Polar & are depressive find Sativa's are good to help elevate them & if they're in an elevated mood & in a manic state they have to be brought down alittle & the Indica's seem to be better for that & likewise they're different ratio's of these cannabinoids that are thought to benefit for example pain, more than others, that are thought to benefit auto-immune diseases. This is being worked out, but what I'd like to go into now is that some of the new links that seem to be occurring in this particular study that I just mentioned, what they are finding is that chronic administration of Opioids is in fact down-regulating the tuorachidonalglycerol which as mentioned, is one of the endo-cannabinoids. Interestingly the Anandamide level seem to be remaining the same, but this other one, tuorachidonalglycerol seems to be down-regulated.

In knock-out mice, these are mice where a particular gene is missing, it turns out that you can eliminate alot of the withdrawal systems associated with opium if you have knocked out the receptors. When people go thru withdrawal, they get terribly nauseous & feel horribly sick, well, what we do know cannabinoids control nausea. That's why it's being used by people who are receiving Chemo-therapy or disorders where they are chronically nauseous. Cannabinoids can be very effective for that. So what we are seeing is that morphine turns down the Endogenous cannabinoid Arachidonic acid & that seems to be involved in some of the addictive behavior & this is kind of interesting because we know that cannabinoids themselves other than very twisted circumstances do not show addictive behavior. On the one hand we have the cannabinoid potentiating the morphine, in that people who need morphine for pain can often use 50% of what they normally use by including cannabinoids & on the other hand, we're seeing that the cannabinoid receptor system is involved in addiction & I mentioned a long time ago, that cannabinoids can be beneficial for some people in their attempt to withdraw & now we're seeing support for that in that chronic morphine administration is turning off one of the cannabinoids that's in turn, turning on some of the withdrawal systems.

31. Cannabinoids represent a general class of chemicals, not just cannabis & THC in plants, but rather also cannabinoids that are produced in our bodies. These happen to be Lipid compounds that result from burning & making fats. The thing that is so unique about this system represents how it works so broadly for various health reasons. That is that every single system in our bodies & by system I mean our nervous system or digestive system or reproductive system or immunological system or endocrine system, you name it & the cannabinoids are involved in maintaining what's known as homostasis balance. We need to have the right amount of these components of this system which includes the compounds like THC which is better known as Lygan. They bind to specific receptors & then they are broken down by another enzyme that breaks down these things.

So, we have a whole network of bio-chemistry that's influencing everything in our bodies. The question that arises is that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. The system, the cannabinoid system influencing everything in our bodies & the question is what are the nature of the wholes? What are the greater pictures that emerge out of this cannabinoid systems activity.

So we see, for example, regulating reproductive system, digestive system, immune system & when they are all working together in a way that is concertedly modulated by the cannabinoid system what can we expect to see, & I would suggest that what's represented by the influences of cannabinoids & cannabis on our mind, in that it opens up our minds to new ways of thinking, it free's us from being stuck in a single track of thinking & that's exactly the kind of thought processes that are required as we move into the future which is generally composed of the unknown. What the cannabinoid system is doing is giving us a way to peacefully & lovingly adapt to change & be open to change. We see in these mice that we can knock-out the cannabinoid system that they are afraid of change. The implications of this are really profound if in fact we have people that are shifted one way or the other in terms of their ability to modulate & accept change that is of profound importance because we see people that are afraid to look forward, happily embracing the future.

There are health ramifications for all of this. The cannabinoid system can help us with cardio-vascular disease where it reduces infarctsize with auto-immune diseases where it helps ameliorate & prevent the development of a whole variety of auto-immune diseases including things like arthritis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, crones disease & it's also involved with, as a natural regulator of our pain. So we have this holistic medicine that's influencing so many things & I forgot to mention that it regulates our memories & mental pains & in fact, regulates alot of life/death decisions in our cells, nerve cells in particular, which is why it's so beneficial for neurological disorders often associated with the aging, such as Alzheimer's disease. What we're seeing is a holistic medicine & again it has to be used appropriately, too little is no good, & we may be making enough. Individuals may be making enough, but there could be many many people who are not making enough or their system is not active enough who will be able to benefit from the use of cannabis & other cannabinoids. To regulate all of the things we've mentioned that it regulates. So, we've got a holistic health program. To find the balance that's required for our optimum health is something that's totally built into the cannabinoid system. Therefore, it should be readily available to use wisely.

[the_chosen_one]

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

[StroFun]

Originally Posted by the_chosen_one

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

X2

This is some really important information that needs to be spread.
Thanks

[hyphaenation]

Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects

http://www.jci.org/articles/view/25509/version/1

Related:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurogenesis

Cannabinoids Promote Neurogenesis In The Brain, Study Says

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6701

October 13, 2005 - Baltimore, MD, USA

Baltimore, MD: The administration of synthetic cannabinoids promotes the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the rat brain which likely accounts for the drug's anti-anxiety and mood elevating effects, according to preclinical trial data published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Investigators found that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids increased neurogenesis in the rat hippocampus and significantly reduced measures of anxiety and depression-like behavior. Neurogenesis (the birth of neuronal cells) is thought to enable organisms to adapt to their environment and influence their learning and memory throughout life.

"Cannabinoids appear to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased hippocampal newborn neurons is positively correlated with its anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects," authors concluded.

Alcohol consumption has also been associated with a decrease in neurogenesis in adults.

"These findings add to the growing body of scientific evidence indicating that cannabis is non-toxic and may hold significant neurological benefits, including the treatment of certain neurologic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease," NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano said.

Previous research has shown cannabinoids to be neuroprotective in animals against brain damage caused by alcohol and/or stroke.

Cannabis.and. the. Brain: A User's Guide

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6812

by Paul Armentano

Senior Policy Analyst
NORML | NORML Foundation

• Cannabinoids & Neurogenesis
• Cannabis & Neuroprotection
• Cannabinoids & Glioma
• Cannabinoids & Neurodegeneration
• Cannabis & Cognition

Preclinical data recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation demonstrating that cannabinoids may spur brain cell growth has reignited the international debate regarding the impact of marijuana on the brain. However, unlike previous pseudo-scientific campaigns that attempted to link pot smoking with a litany of cognitive abnormalities, modern research suggests what many cannabis enthusiasts have speculated all along: ganja is good for you.

Cannabinoids & Neurogenesis

"Study turns pot wisdom on its head," pronounced the Globe and Mail in October. News wires throughout North America and the world touted similar headlines -- all of which were met with a monumental silence from federal officials and law enforcement. Why all the fuss? Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon found that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids in rats stimulated the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the hippocampus region of the brain and significantly reduced measures of anxiety and depression-like behavior. The results shocked researchers -- who noted that almost all other so-called "drugs of abuse," including alcohol and tobacco, decrease neurogenesis in adults -- and left the "pot kills brain cells" crowd with a platter of long-overdue egg on their faces.

While it would be premature to extrapolate the study's findings to humans, at a minimum, the data reinforce the notion that cannabinoids are unusually non-toxic to the brain and that even long-term use of marijuana likely represents little risk to brain function. The findings also offer further evidence that cannabinoids can play a role in the alleviation of depression and anxiety, and that cannabis-based medicines may one day offer a safer alternative to conventional anti-depressant pharmaceuticals such as Paxil and Prozac.

(Reference: Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic and depressant-like effects. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2005)

Cannabis & Neuroprotection

Not only has modern science refuted the notion that marijuana is neurotoxic, recent scientific discoveries have indicated that cannabinoids are, in fact, neuroprotective, particularly against alcohol-induced brain damage. In a recent preclinical study -- the irony of which is obvious to anyone who reads it -- researchers at the US National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) reported that the administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) reduced ethanol-induced cell death in the brain by up to 60 percent. "This study provides the first demonstration of CBD as an in vivo neuroprotectant ... in preventing binge ethanol-induced brain injury," the study's authors wrote in the May 2005 issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Alcohol poisoning is linked to hundreds of preventable deaths each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control, while cannabis cannot cause death by overdose.

Of course, many US neurologists have known about cannabis' neuroprotective prowess for years. NIMH scientists in 1998 first touted the ability of natural cannabinoids to stave off the brain-damaging effects of stroke and acute head trauma. Similar findings were then replicated by investigators in the Netherlands and Italy and, most recently, by a Japanese research in 2005. However, attempts to measure the potential neuroprotective effects of synthetic cannabinoid-derived medications in humans have so far been inconclusive.

(References: Comparison of cannabidiol, antioxidants and diuretics in reversing binge ethanol-induced neurotoxicity. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2005 | Cannabidiol prevents cerebral infarction. Stroke. 2005 | Post-ischemic treatment with cannabidiol prevents electroencephalographic flattening, hyperlocomotion and neuronal injury in gerbils. Neuroscience Letters. 2003 | Neuroprotection by Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active compound in marijuana, against ouabain-induced in vivo excitotoxicity. Journal of Neuroscience. 2001 | Cannabidiol and Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol are neuroprotective antioxidants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 1998)

Cannabinoids & Glioma

Of all cancers, few are as aggressive and deadly as glioma. Glioma tumors quickly invade healthy brain tissue and are typically unresponsive to surgery and standard medical treatments. One agent they do respond to is cannabis.

Writing in the August 2005 issue of the Journal of Neurooncology, investigators at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute reported that the administration of THC on human glioblastoma multiforme cell lines decreased the proliferation of malignant cells and induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) more rapidly than did the administration of the synthetic cannabis receptor agonist, WIN-55,212-2. Researchers also noted that THC selectively targeted malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones in a more profound manner than the synthetic alternative. Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme typically die within three months without therapy.

Previous research conducted in Italy has also demonstrated the capacity of CBD to inhibit the growth of glioma cells both in vitro (e.g., a petri dish) and in animals in a dose dependent manner. As a result, a Spanish research team is currently investigating whether the intracranial administration of cannabinoids can prolong the lives of patients diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.

Most recently, a scientific analysis in the October issue of the journal Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry noted that, in addition to THC and CBD's brain cancer-fighting ability, studies have also shown cannabinoids to halt the progression of lung carcinoma, leukemia, skin carcinoma, colectoral cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer.

(References: Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and induce cell death of cultured human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Journal of Neurooncology. 2005 | Cannabinoids and cancer. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry. 2005 | Anti-tumor effects of cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic cannabinoid, on human glioma cell lines. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2003)

Cannabinoids & Neurodegeneration

Emerging evidence also indicates that cannabinoids may play a role in slowing the progression of certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease). Recent animal studies have shown cannabinoids to delay disease progression and inhibit neurodegeneration in mouse models of ALS, Parkinson's, and MS. As a result, the Journal of Neurological Sciences recently pronounced, "There is accumulating evidence ... to support the hypothesis that the cannabinoid system can limit the neurodegenerative processes that drive progressive disease," and patient trials investigating whether the use of oral THC and cannabis extracts may slow the progression of MS are now underway in the United Kingdom.

(References: Cannabinoids and neuroprotection in CNS inflammatory disease. Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 2005. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: delayed disease progression in mice by treatment with a cannabinoid. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Other Motor Neuron Disorders. 2004 | Cannabinoids inhibit neurodegeneration in models of multiple sclerosis. Brain. 2003)

Cannabis & Cognition

But what about claims of cannabis' damaging effect of cognition? A review of the scientific literature indicates that rumors regarding the "stoner stupid" stereotype are unfounded. According to clinical trial data published this past spring in the American Journal of Addictions, cannabis use -- including heavy, long-term use of the drug -- has, at most, only a negligible impact on cognition and memory. Researchers at Harvard Medical School performed magnetic resonance imaging on the brains of 22 long-term cannabis users (reporting a mean of 20,100 lifetime episodes of smoking) and 26 controls (subjects with no history of cannabis use). Imaging displayed "no significant differences" between heavy cannabis smokers compared to controls, the study found.

Previous trials tell a similar tale. An October 2004 study published in the journal Psychological Medicine examining the potential long-term residual effects of cannabis on cognition in monozygotic male twins reported "an absence of marked long-term residual effects of marijuana use on cognitive abilities." A 2003 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society also "failed to reveal a substantial, systematic effect of long-term, regular cannabis consumption on the neurocognitive functioning of users who were not acutely intoxicated," and a 2002 clinical trial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal determined, "Marijuana does not have a long-term negative impact on global intelligence."

Finally, a 2001 study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry found that long-term cannabis smokers who abstained from the drug for one week "showed virtually no significant differences from control subjects (those who had smoked marijuana less than 50 times in their lives) on a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests." Investigators further added, "Former heavy users, who had consumed little or no cannabis in the three months before testing, [also] showed no significant differences from control subjects on any of these tests on any of the testing days."

(References: Lack of hippocampal volume change in long-term heavy cannabis users. American Journal of Addictions. 2005 | Neuropsychological consequences of regular marijuana use: a twin study. Psychological Medicine. 2004 | Non-acute (residual) neurocognitive effects of cannabis use: A meta-analytic study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 2003 | Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2002 | Neuropsychological Performance in Long-term Cannabis Users. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2001)

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Local related threads:

"Cannabis.Gives Cancer The Munchies"
http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...chies-too.html (THC Gives Cancer Cells the Munchies Too)

Scientists have isolated and identified nine new cannabinoids that have antifungal, anibacterial, and a variety of other biological activities.
http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...-cannabis.html (New biologically active compounds from cannabis)

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Endocannabinoid System ECS
*from below but now embedded*

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Another short good video overview of your ECS.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545148


By the way there will be a test coming up on all this ...

Its hard to believe all this stuff is just the overview , tip of the iceberg.

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Last video link takes you to a sign in page. Sorry about that.

You can view it by clicking the first link in the below google search without signing up.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&cl...G=Search&meta=

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Dr. Robert Melamede did a great job explaining endocannabinoids on Money TV of all places. Excellent conversation.

Exciting times.

Dr. Bob explains Cannabinoids on Money TV part 1


Cannabinoids on Money TV part 2

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Brain's Cannabinoid System 'mellows' Seizures

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/49893.php

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: Epilepsy
Article Date: 19 Aug 2006 - 12:00 PDT

The same brain machinery that responds to the active substance in marijuana provides a central "on-demand" protection against seizures, researchers have found. They said their discoveries suggest that the "endocannabinoid" system might constitute a prime target for drugs against seizures of epilepsy and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The findings were published by Beat Lutz and Giovanni Marsicano, of Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, and colleagues in the August 2006, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.

The endocannabinoid system--which includes the receptors, the natural cannabinoid compounds that trigger them, as well as the machinery for regulating the process--was already known to modulate the excitation of neuronal transmission, noted the researchers. However, it had not been established that such modulation might affect neurons in the hippocampus responsible for the "excitotoxicity" that underlies the uncontrolled activity of seizures.

Thus, Lutz, Marsicano, and his colleagues used genetic techniques to pinpoint the role of the endocannabinoid system on these neurons and on seizure activity. They used mice as their animal model and induced seizures in these mice with the chemical kainic acid (KA).

In particular, they wanted to explore the role played by the endocannabinoid system in hippocampal neurons that are responsive to the neurotransmitter glutamine. These neurons are known to play a central role in seizure activity. The endocannabinoid regulatory system is also active in another type of neuron triggered by the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Thus, the researchers conducted experiments in which they genetically knocked out the endocannabinoid receptor CB1 and analyzed the effects on seizure sensitivity. They found that, indeed, when they knocked out CB1 in glutamatergic, but not GABAergic neurons, the chemically induced seizures increased in the mice. In fact, their experiments all but ruled out the role of GABAergic neurons in the seizure-protection function, they concluded.

"Altogether, these results confirm that physiological endocannabinoid-dependent control of GABAergic transmission depends on intact CB1 signaling in GABAergic interneurons and suggest that the endocannabinoid system does not influence GABAergic transmission during the development of KA-induced seizures," they concluded. "Therefore, direct modulation of glutamatergic transmission by CB1 receptors expressed on cortical glutamatergic neurons appears to be the major mechanism of endocannabinoid-mediated protection against KA-induced seizures."

Furthermore, the researchers' experiments established that endocannabinoid receptors were also present in the same glutamatergic neurons in areas of the hippocampus known to be central to seizure generation. The researchers wrote that this finding "represents a novel step in understanding the progression of acute excitotoxic seizures and the development of epileptic states."

And significantly, when the researchers used a targeted virus to knock out the CB1 gene for the endocannabinoid receptor specifically in the glutamatergic neurons of the hippocampus, the mice also showed strong worsening of chemically induced seizures in comparison to mice still expressing CB1.

"Altogether, these observations support a hypothetical scenario in which acute KA-induced excitotoxic seizures would activate the endocannabinoid system in respect to its ability to inhibit only 'harmful' glutamatergic transmission, but not 'protective' GABAergic release," concluded Lutz, Marsicano, and colleagues.

"In conclusion, our study reveals a mechanism through which the endocannabinoid system is able to provide on-demand protection against acute behavioral seizures. CB1 expression on hippocampal glutamatergic circuits accounts for this protection and might represent a suitable target for the treatment of neurological disorders associated with excessive neuronal excitation," they wrote.

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

[5-hydroxytryptamine]

quote "Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects"

I can testify to that for sure. half my family is on SSRIs but i refuse. why put faith in experimental chemicals when nature provides??

thanks so much for posting this info. it will take some time to wade through this thread.

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Here's an interview with Dr. Bob Melemade on Cannabinoids. The host is slightly obnoxious but there is some good information contained in there.

Audio interview of Dr. Bob Melemade part 1




Audio interview of Dr. Bob Melemade part 2




Audio interview of Dr. Bob Melemade part 3

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Medical -Cannabis- News

There seems to be a new study or discovery about Cannabis almost every day. The media is full of good news stories about Cannabis and I thought it would be good to share some of this info here.

Rather than make a new thread for every story that pops up about Cannabis medicine , I thought they could be collected in one thread for easy reading.

There's already quite a few of these links here in the grassroots section so if your going to post a Cannabis-related good news story check and see if its already posted by searching.

Feel free to add any links/info you've found about medical Cannabis discoveries. Also please feel free to make comments and discuss.

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_Cannabis_ extracts may ease symptoms of multiple sclerosis

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/boos...sclerosis.html

If you've been following the medical marijuana debate, you may be interested in a new review of studies on the effects of cannabis extracts on the spasticity (involuntary muscle contractions) experienced by people with multiple sclerosis. The studies that were reviewed specifically tested extracts containing two compounds derived from Cannabis sativa, used in combination. One was THC -- the main active ingredient that gives the characteristic "high." The other was cannabidiol, or CBD, which doesn't give the same high and may act to lower levels of THC in the brain. (The reasoning, therefore, is that combining the two would give the anti-spastic effect in muscles while not fogging the brain.)

In an article published in the journal BMC Neurology, Shaheen E. Lakhan and Marie Rowland of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation in Los Angeles examined six randomized, placebo-controlled studies. Though results from individual studies weren't exactly the same, they did show that the extracts were generally well-tolerated, compared with placebo, though doses had sometimes to be adjusted.

The authors also noted a "trend" in spasticity reduction and improvement in mobility -- in objective assessments of spasticity, they did not see statistically significant differences, but in subjective measures -- i.e. what the patient reported -- they did. "More study needed," the authors conclude -- and also urge more study on the anti-inflammatory properties of the compounds.

BMC Neurology is one of those journals that nicely allow free access once the article's been published. So you can read the whole study here.
And because medical marijuana has been much in the news, here are some other articles you might want to look at:

-- A 2008 look at medical marijuana science in the L.A. Times Health section by freelancer Jill U. Adams;

-- Last month, the American Medical Assn. urged the government to reclassify marijuana from that of a dangerous drug with no medical use, by Times writer John Hoeffel;

-- And, of course, the ongoing battle about what constitutes a legal way to sell pot: An article from earlier this week by Hoeffel reports that "a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, concluding that state law does not allow medical marijuana to be sold, proposed an injunction Tuesday that would order an Eagle Rock dispensary to cease selling it."

-- Rosie Mestel


------------------------------
_Cannabis_ Extracts May Ease MS Spasticity

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurolog...eurology/17328

Multiple sclerosis patients with spasticity may feel better after taking whole plant extracts of cannabis, researchers said, but a review of six studies showed that the drug had no significant effect on objective measurements of patients' condition.

The extracts did appear to be well tolerated, despite some adverse events, according to an online report in BMC Neurology by Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, and Marie Rowland, both of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles.

Earlier research had indicated that cannabis might be an effective treatment for the spasticity associated with MS, Lakhan and Rowland wrote in the journal.

But most such studies focused on one component of the plant: Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which also has psychotropic properties.
Recently, researchers have combined THC and another extract, cannabidiol (CBD), hoping to obtain an antispastic effect without intoxication, the researchers wrote. The CBD appears to block the entry of THC to the brain, reducing psychotropic effects.

So Lakhan and Rowland conducted a systematic review of studies published between 1999 and April 2009, looking for randomized, placebo-controlled trials in which a combination THC and CBD extract was tested.
All told, they found six, published between 2002 and 2007, involving a total of 481 patients with MS. Three used a crossover design and three a parallel design in which a total of 339 patients were administered a placebo only.

All six trials reported changes on the Ashworth scale, which measures spasticity. Other measures in some or all studies included a visual analog scale, walk time, the Rivermead Mobility Index which measures disability related to mobility, and self-reported ratings of spasm frequency or severity.

Overall, five studies concluded that the extracts may decrease spasticity and improve mobility in patients with MS and one reported no reduction in spasticity, the researchers reported in the journal.

But only one study, of 50 patients assessed with the Ashworth scale, showed significant improvement, while the other five reported little to no improvement in their versions of the Ashworth scale.

Lakhan and Rowland noted in the journal that "the Ashworth scale is subject to individual assessor evaluation, and there may have been variation between studies in the modification of scale measures."
Three studies reported visual analog scales, two of which found a significant improvement, they reported.

Two studies reported improved walk time results, but the changes were not significant in one, and significance was not reported in the other.

Three studies, including a total of 275 patients, reported improvements in the Rivermead Mobility Index, but only one reached significance.

Finally, Lakhan and Rowland reported, five studies reported significant improvements in spasticity as subjectively rated by patients with MS, while one reported deterioration.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has said it is "clear that cannabinoids have potential both for the management of MS symptoms such as pain and spasticity, as well as for neuroprotection."

But the society doesn't recommend medical marijuana because there's no clearly demonstrated benefit, compared with existing treatments. As well, the society said on its Web site, "issues of side effects, systemic effects, and long-term effects are not yet clear."

The authors noted several limitations including the fact that this review did not include unpublished data and "the possibility that other clinical reports using whole plant cannabis extracts may have been appropriate for review, but were not included without report of specific methodology."

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Answer to booze problems may lie in cannabis

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/l...ow/5288024.cms

ANI1 December 2009, 03:24pm IST

Putting cannabis in place of more harmful drugs may help in winning the fight against substance abuse, say researchers.

Amanda Reiman, University of California, Berkeley, USA, carried out the study at Berkeley Patient’s Group, and found that 40 per cent of the 350 cannabis users quizzed resorted to the drug to control their alcohol cravings.

The poll further discovered that 66 users consumed cannabis as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26 per cent for other, more potent, illegal drugs.

Amanda said: "Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol. This approach could be used to address heavy alcohol use in the British Isles - people might substitute cannabis, a potentially safer drug than alcohol with less negative side-effects, if it were socially acceptable and available".

She added: "This brings up two important points. First, self-determination, the right of an individual to decide which treatment or substance is most effective and least harmful for them.

“Secondly, the recognition that substitution might be a viable alternative to abstinence for those who can’t or won’t completely stop using psychoactive substances".

The study was published in BioMed Central ’ open access Harm Reduction Journal.

-------------------------------

Study: Marijuana May Protect Against Brain Damage From Binge Drinking

http://blog.mpp.org/research/study-m...king/08212009/

A study just published online by the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratologysuggests that marijuana may protect the brain from some of the damage caused by binge drinking.
The study, by researchers at the University of California San Diego, used a type of high-tech scan called diffusion tensor imaging to compare microscopic changes in brain white matter. The subjects were students aged 16-to-19, divided into three groups: binge drinkers (defined as having five or more drinks at one sitting for boys or four or more for girls), binge drinkers who also smoked marijuana, and a control group who had very little or no experience with either alcohol or drugs.


As expected, the binge-drinking-only group showed evidence of white matter damage in eight regions examined, as demonstrated by lower fractional anisotropy (FA) scores. But in a finding the researchers described as “unexpected,” the binge-drinking/marijuana group had lower FA scores than the controls in only three of the eight regions, and in seven regions the binge-drinking/marijuana group had higher scores – indicating less damage – than the binge drinkers who didn’t use marijuana (unfortunately, not all of these stats are in the summary linked above; access to the full article requires payment).
Brain white matter tracts were “more coherent in adolescents who binge drink and use marijuana than in adolescents who report only binge drinking,” the researchers wrote. “It is possible that marijuana may have some neuroprotective properties in mitigating alcohol-related oxidative stress or excitotoxic cell death.” The scientists noted that such protection has already been shown in lab and animal studies.


Indeed, the U.S. government has a patent on cannabinoids as neuroprotectants. Yes, the same government that wants you to believe that marijuana will rot your brain knows that its active components protect brain and nerve cells from many kinds of damage.


In a statement issued by MPP today, director of state campaigns Steve Fox said, “This study suggests that not only is marijuana safer than alcohol, it may actually protect against some of the damage that booze causes. It’s far better for teens not to drink or smoke marijuana, but our nation’s leaders send a dangerous message by defending laws that encourage the use of alcohol over marijuana.”

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Body's Own 'Cannabis (Marijuana)' Is Good For The Skin, Scientists Find

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0702160944.htm

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2008) — Scientists from Hungary, Germany and the U.K. have discovered that our own body not only makes chemical compounds similar to the active ingredient in marijuana (THC), but these play an important part in maintaining healthy skin.

This finding on "endocannabinoids" just published online in, and scheduled for the October 2008 print issue of, The FASEB Journal could lead to new drugs that treat skin conditions ranging from acne to dry skin, and even skin-related tumors.


"Our preclinical data encourage one to explore whether endocannabinoid system-acting agents can be exploited in the management of common skin disorders," said Tamás Biró, MD, PhD, a senior scientist involved in the research. "It is also suggested that these agents can be efficiently applied locally to the skin in the form of a cream."


Biró and colleagues came to this conclusion by treating cell cultures from human sebaceous glands (the glands that make the oil on our skin) with various concentrations of endocannabinoids (substances produced by the body that are similar to the active ingredient in marijuana).


Then they measured the production of lipids (fat cells, such as those in skin oil), cell survival and death, and changes in gene expression and compared these outcomes to those in an untreated control group.


"This research shows that we may have something in common with the marijuana plant," said Gerald Weissmann, MD. "Just as THC is believed to protect the marijuana plants from pathogens, our own cannabinoids may be necessary for us to maintain healthy skin and to protect us from pathogens ."

Related:

For more info on your bodies own Cannabis system please see:

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...ndocannabinoid (You Have An Endocannabinoid System- Cannabis Revelations)

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A similar thread I forgot I made.

more news
http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...abis-news.html (Cannabis In The News)

Some recent Cannabis- news ...

Cannabis- chemicals may help fight prostate cancer

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/...592/story.html


Doubt cast on cannabis- , schizophrenia link

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/...zophrenia.html


Cannabis-: Potential treatment for skin disorders?

http://www.examiner.com/x-17593-NORM...skin-disorders


Marijuana Compounds May Offset Alcohol-Induced Toxicity, Study Says

http://www.enewspf.com/index.php?opt...temid=88890249


New study finds that marijuana smokers have a lower risk of head and neck cancers.

http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter...events_cancer/


Researchers Tackle MRSA Using Cannabis- Extracts

http://current.com/items/89310908_re...s-extracts.htm

Brain's Cannabinoid System 'mellows' Seizures

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/49893.php

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New biologically active compounds from cannabis

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...-cannabis.html (New biologically active compounds from cannabis)

Forbes Article About How THC Kills Brain Cancer Cells


http://forums.mycotopia.net/general-...cer-cells.html (Forbes Article About How THC Kills Brain Cancer Cells)

Study turns pot wisdom on head

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...sdom-head.html (Study turns pot wisdom on head)

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Also of interest is this thread on your bodies Endocannabinoid system ...

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...velations.html (You Have An Endocannabinoid System- Cannabis Revelations)

Make sure to check out the video lecture halfway down.

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...tml#post705769 (You Have An Endocannabinoid System- Cannabis Revelations)

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.Cannabis. Use, Effect And Potential Therapy For Alzheimer's, MS and Parkinson's

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1014163644.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2007) — Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely produced plant-based illicit drug worldwide and the illegal drug most frequently used in Europe. Its use increased in almost all EU countries during the 1990s, in particular among young people, including school students. Cannabis use is highest among 15- to 24-year-olds, with lifetime prevalence ranging for most countries from 20--40% (EMCDDA 2006).

Recently there has been a new surge in the level of concern about potential social and health outcomes of cannabis use, although the available evidence still does not provide a clear-cut understanding of the issues. Intensive cannabis use is correlated with non-drug-specific mental problems, but the question of co-morbidity is intertwined with the questions of cause and effect (EMCDDA 2006). Prevention is of importance in adolescents, which is underlined by evidence that early-onset cannabis-users (pre- to mid-adolescence) have a significantly higher risk of developing drug problems, including dependence (Von Sydow et al., 2002; Chen et al., 2005).
The illegal status and wide-spread use of cannabis made basic and clinical cannabis research difficult in the past decades; on the other hand, it has stimulated efforts to identify the psychoactive constituents of cannabis. As a consequence, the endocannabinoid system was discovered, which was shown to be involved in most physiological systems -- the nervous, the cardiovascular, the reproductive, the immune system, to mention a few.
One of the main roles of endocannabinoids is neuroprotection, but over the last decade they have been found to affect a long list of processes, from anxiety, depression, cancer development, vasodilatation to bone formation and even pregnancy (Panikashvili et al., 2001; Pachter et al., 2006).
Cannabinoids and endocannabinoids are supposed to represent a medicinal treasure trove which waits to be discovered.
Raphael Mechoulam will tell the discovery story of the endocannabinoid system. His research has not only helped us to advance our understanding of cannabis use and its effects, but has also made key contributions with regard to understanding "neuroprotection," and has opened the door for the development of new drugs.


Endocannabinoid system

In the 1960s the constituent of the cannabis plant was discovered -- named tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC -- which causes the 'high' produced by it (Gaoni & Mechoulam, 1964). Thousands of publications have since appeared on THC. Today it is even used as a therapeutic drug against nausea and for enhancing appetite, and, surprisingly, has not become an illicit drug -- apparently cannabis users prefer the plant-based marijuana and hashish.
Two decades later it was found that THC binds to specific receptors in the brain and the periphery and this interaction initiates a cascade of biological processes leading to the well known marijuana effects. It was assumed that a cannabinoid receptor is not formed for the sake of a plant constituent (that by a strange quirk of nature binds to it), but for endogenous brain constituents and that these putative 'signaling' constituents together with the cannabinoid receptors are part of a new biochemical system in the human body, which may affect various physiological actions.

In trying to identify these unknown putative signaling molecules, our research group in the 1990s was successful in isolating 2 such endogenous 'cannabinoid' components -- one from the brain, named anandamide (from the word ´ananda, meaning ´supreme joy´ in Sanscrit), and another one from the intestines named 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) (Devane et al., 1992; Mechoulam et al., 1995).



Neuroprotection

The major endocannabinoid (2-AG) has been identified both in the central nervous system and in the periphery. Stressful stimuli -- traumatic brain injury (TBI) for example -- enhance brain 2-AG levels in mice. 2-AG, both of endogenous and exogenous origin, has been shown to be neuroprotective in closed head injury, ischemia and excitotoxicity in mice. These effects may derive from the ability of cannabinoids to act through a variety of biochemical mechanisms. 2-AG also helps repair the blood brain barrier after TBI.

The endocannabinoids act via specific cannabinoid receptors, of which the CB1 receptors are most abundant in the central nervous system. Mice whose CB1 receptors are knocked out display slower functional recovery after TBI and do not respond to treatment with 2-AG. Over the last few years several groups have noted that CB2 receptors are also formed in the brain, particularly as a reaction to numerous neurological diseases, and are apparently activated by the endocannabinoids as a protective mechanism.
Through evolution the mammalian body has developed various systems to guard against damage that may be caused by external attacks. Thus, it has an immune system, whose main role is to protect against protein attacks (microbes, parasites for example) and to reduce the damage caused by them. Analogous biological protective systems have also been developed against non-protein attacks, although they are much less well known than the immune system. Over the last few years the research group of Esther Shohami in collaboration with our group showed that the endocannabinoid system, through various biological routes, lowers the damage caused by brain trauma. Thus, it helps to attenuate the brain edema and the neurological injuries caused by it (Panikashvili et al., 2001; Panikashvili et al., 2006).


Clinical importance

Furthermore it is assumed that the endocannabinoid system may be involved in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy, a neuropsychiatric syndrome induced by fulminant hepatic failure. Indeed in an animal model the brain levels of 2-AG were found to be elevated. Administration of 2-AG improved a neurological score, activity and cognitive function (Avraham et al., 2006). Activation of the CB2 receptor by a selective agonist also improved the neurological score. The authors concluded that the endocannabinoid system may play an important role in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy.

Modulation of this system either by exogenous agonists specific for the CB2 receptors or possibly also by antagonists to the CB1 receptors may have therapeutic potential. The endocannabinoid system generally is involved in the protective reaction of the mammalian body to a long list of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Thus, there is hope for novel therapeutic opportunities.
Numerous additional endocannabinoids -- especially various fatty acid ethanolamides and glycerol esters -- are known today and regarded as members of a large ´endocannabinoid family´. Endogenous cannabinoids, the cannabinoid receptors and various enzymes that are involved in their syntheses and degradations comprise the endocannabinoid system.
The endocannabinoid system acts as a guardian against various attacks on the mammalian body.
Conclusion
The above described research concerning the endocannabinoid-system is of importance in both basic science and in therapeutics:

• The discovery of the cannabis plant active constituent has helped advance our understanding of cannabis use and its effects.
• The discovery of the endocannabinoids has been of central importance in establishing the existence of a new biochemical system and its physiological roles -- in particular in neuroprotection.
• These discoveries have opened the door for the development of novel types of drugs, such as THC for the treatment of nausea and for enhancing appetite in cachectic patients.
• The endocannabinoid system is involved in the protective reaction of the mammalian body to a long list of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease which raises hope for novel therapeutic opportunities for these diseases.

References
Avraham Y, Israeli E, Gabbay E, et al. Endocannabinoids affect neurological and cognitive function in thioacetamide-induced hepatic encephalopathy in mice. Neurobiology of Disease 2006;21:237-245
Chen CY, O´Brien MS, Anthony JC. Who becomes cannabis dependent soon after onset of use" Epidemiological evidence from the United States: 2000-2001. Drug and alcohol dependence 2005;79:11-22
Devane WA, Hanus L, Breuer A, et al. Isolation and structure of a brain constituent that binds to the cannabinoid receptor. Science 1992;258:1946-1949
[EMCDDA 2006] European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. The state of the drugs problem in Europe. Annual Report 2006 (http://www.emcdda.europa.eu)
Gaoni Y, Mechoulam R. Isolation, structure and partial synthesis of an active constituent of hashish. J Amer Chem Soc 1964;86:1646-1647
Journal Interview 85: Conversation with Raphael Mechoulam. Addiction 2007;102:887-893
Mechoulam R, Ben-Shabat S, Hanus L, et al. Identification of an endogenous 2-monoglyceride, present in canine gut, that binds to cannabinoid receptors. Biochem Pharmacol 1995;50:83-90
Mechoulam R, Panikashvili D, Shohami E. Cannabinoids and brain injury. Trends Mol Med 2002;8:58-61
Pachter P, Batkai S, Kunos G. The endocannabinoid system as an emerging target of pharmacotherapy. Pharmacol Rev 2006;58:389-462
Panikashvili D, Simeonidou C, Ben-Shabat S, et al. An endogenous cannabinoid (2-AG) is neuroprotective after brain injury. Nature 2001;413:527-531
Panikashvili D, Shein NA, Mechoulam R, et al. The endocannabinoid 2-AG protects the blood brain barrier after closed head injury and inhibits mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Neurobiol Disease 2006;22:257-264
Von Sydow K, Lieb R, Pfister H, et al. What predicts incident use of cannabis and progression to abuse and dependence" A 4-year prospective examination of risk factors in a community sample of adolescents and young adults. Drug and alcohol dependence 2002;68:49-64

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Brain 'cannabis' Parkinson's hope

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6338173.stm

Boosting levels of the brain's natural cannabis-like chemicals could improve the treatment of Parkinson's disease, a US study suggests.

Mice with a similar condition could move normally within 15 minutes of having a cocktail including a compound which increases endocannabinoid levels.
But the scientists, writing in Nature, warned smoking cannabis would not have the same effect.

UK experts said the study increased understanding of Parkinson's.

Around one in 500 people in the UK have the disease.
It is a progressive, degenerative, neurological condition for which there is currently no cure.
Sufferers find increasing difficulty in moving their arms and legs. They develop tremors and facial tics, and gradually become more and more immobile.
Treatment combination
The researchers, from Stanford University Medical Center in California, focused on an area of the brain called the striatum which has already been linked to Parkinson's.
The activity of nerve cells in the striatum relies on the chemical dopamine.
If there is too little dopamine in that area, Parkinson's disease can develop.
They used mice genetically modified to have a condition like Parkinson's and marked certain cells with a fluorescent protein that glowed vivid green under a microscope.
Their study indicated that two types of cells formed a "push-pull system" in the brain - one is thought to be involved in activating motion, while the other is likely to stop unwanted movement.
If there is too little dopamine, it is thought that the cells which restrict motion become dominant, making it harder for a person to move.
An existing drug which boosts dopamine levels led to a small improvement in the animals' condition.
But it was only when they added an experimental drug designed to slow the breakdown of endocannabinoids, being developed by Californian firm Kadmus Pharmaceuticals, that the mice showed a dramatic improvement.
The mice went from being unable to move, to moving freely in 15 minutes.
'Greater insight'
Dr Robert Malenka, who led the study, said: "They were basically normal.
"This points to a potentially new kind of therapy for Parkinson's disease."
But he added: "It is a long, long way to go before this will be tested in humans, but nonetheless, we have identified a new way of potentially manipulating the circuits that are malfunctioning in this disease."
And he stressed that the study found the use of specific chemicals made the difference.
"That is a really important difference, and it is why we think our manipulation of the chemicals is really different from smoking marijuana."
Kieran Breen, director of research and development at the UK's Parkinson's Disease Society, said: "The study provides us with a greater insight into how the nerve cells in the area of the brain affected in Parkinson's are connected and how they communicate with one another.
"A greater understanding of this will provide information about the changes that occur when nerve cells die and may ultimately lead to the identification of new targets in the cell at which drugs can act to treat the symptoms of the condition."

[hyphaenation]

Dr. Bob



Cannabis and tobacco smoke are not equally carcinogenic
Robert Melamede

http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/2/1/21

[hyphaenation]

What is high ?

[hyphaenation]

From the endocannabinoid thread. Good info.

[hyphaenation]

Enhanced Sweet Taste: This is Your Tongue on Cannabis


http://www.monell.org/news/news_rele...docannabinoids

Endocannabinoid modulation of tongue sweet taste receptors may help control feeding behavior

PHILADELPHIA (December 21, 2009) — New findings from the Monell Center and Kyushu University in Japan report that endocannabinoids act directly on taste receptors on the tongue to enhance sweet taste.

“Our taste cells may be more involved in regulating our appetites than we had previously known,” said study author Robert Margolskee, M.D., Ph.D., a Monell molecular biologist. “Better understanding of the driving forces for eating and overeating could lead to interventions to stem the burgeoning rise in obesity and related diseases.”

Endocannabinoids are substances similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Produced in the brain and body, they bind with cannabinoid receptors to help regulate appetite and many other processes involved in health and disease.

“Endocannabinoids both act in the brain to increase appetite and also modulate taste receptors on the tongue to increase the response to sweets,” said study senior author Yuzo Ninomiya, Ph.D., Professor of Oral Neuroscience in the Graduate School of Dental Sciences at Kyushu University in Japan.

In the study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers conducted a series of experiments in mice to determine the behavioral, neural and cellular responses to sweet taste stimuli before and after the administration of endocannabinoids.

Sweet taste responses were enhanced by endocannabinoids in every case. The effect was specific for sweet taste, as endocannibinoids had no effect on responses to sour, salty, bitter or umami taste stimuli.

The effects were abolished when the experiments were repeated using knockout mice lacking the CB1 cannabinoid receptor. Additional studies revealed that the CB1 receptor and the T1R3 sweet taste receptor are present in the same taste cells.

Together, the experiments demonstrate that endocannabinoids selectively enhance sweet taste by acting on tongue taste cells and that the effect is mediated by the endocannabinoid receptor.

“Modulation of sweet taste responses may be an important component of the endocannabinoid system’s role in regulating feeding behavior,” said Margolskee. He parenthetically noted that the well-known “marijuana munchies” may depend at least in part on endocannabinoid stimulation of tongue taste cells.

Sweet taste receptors also are found in the intestine and pancreas, where they help regulate nutrient absorption, insulin secretion and energy metabolism. If endocannibinoids also modulate the responses of pancreatic and intestinal sweet receptors, the findings may open doors to the development of novel therapeutic compounds to combat metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

Also contributing to the study were Ryusuke Yoshida, Tadahiro Ohkuri, Masafumi Jyotaki, Toshiaki Yasuo, Nao Horio, Keiko Yasumatsu, Keisuke Sanematsu, Noriatsu Shigemura, Yuzo Ninomiya from Kyushu University and Tsuneyuki Yamamoto from Nagasaki International University.

The research was funded by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health.

PDF version
http://www.monell.org/images/uploads...aste_final.pdf

[lysergic]

Originally Posted by hyphaenation

Enhanced Sweet Taste: This is Your Tongue on Cannabis


http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/endocannabinoids

Endocannabinoid modulation of tongue sweet taste receptors may help control feeding behavior

PHILADELPHIA (December 21, 2009) — New findings from the Monell Center and Kyushu University in Japan report that endocannabinoids act directly on taste receptors on the tongue to enhance sweet taste.

“Our taste cells may be more involved in regulating our appetites than we had previously known,” said study author Robert Margolskee, M.D., Ph.D., a Monell molecular biologist. “Better understanding of the driving forces for eating and overeating could lead to interventions to stem the burgeoning rise in obesity and related diseases.”

Endocannabinoids are substances similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Produced in the brain and body, they bind with cannabinoid receptors to help regulate appetite and many other processes involved in health and disease.

“Endocannabinoids both act in the brain to increase appetite and also modulate taste receptors on the tongue to increase the response to sweets,” said study senior author Yuzo Ninomiya, Ph.D., Professor of Oral Neuroscience in the Graduate School of Dental Sciences at Kyushu University in Japan.

In the study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers conducted a series of experiments in mice to determine the behavioral, neural and cellular responses to sweet taste stimuli before and after the administration of endocannabinoids.

Sweet taste responses were enhanced by endocannabinoids in every case. The effect was specific for sweet taste, as endocannibinoids had no effect on responses to sour, salty, bitter or umami taste stimuli.

The effects were abolished when the experiments were repeated using knockout mice lacking the CB1 cannabinoid receptor. Additional studies revealed that the CB1 receptor and the T1R3 sweet taste receptor are present in the same taste cells.

Together, the experiments demonstrate that endocannabinoids selectively enhance sweet taste by acting on tongue taste cells and that the effect is mediated by the endocannabinoid receptor.

“Modulation of sweet taste responses may be an important component of the endocannabinoid system’s role in regulating feeding behavior,” said Margolskee. He parenthetically noted that the well-known “marijuana munchies” may depend at least in part on endocannabinoid stimulation of tongue taste cells.

Sweet taste receptors also are found in the intestine and pancreas, where they help regulate nutrient absorption, insulin secretion and energy metabolism. If endocannibinoids also modulate the responses of pancreatic and intestinal sweet receptors, the findings may open doors to the development of novel therapeutic compounds to combat metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

Also contributing to the study were Ryusuke Yoshida, Tadahiro Ohkuri, Masafumi Jyotaki, Toshiaki Yasuo, Nao Horio, Keiko Yasumatsu, Keisuke Sanematsu, Noriatsu Shigemura, Yuzo Ninomiya from Kyushu University and Tsuneyuki Yamamoto from Nagasaki International University.

The research was funded by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health.

PDF version
http://www.monell.org/images/uploads/Enhanced_Sweet_Taste_final.pdf

That is super interesting!
Thanks for the article

[hyphaenation]

Pot Slows Cancer in Test Tube

Marijuana Ingredients Slow Invasion by Cervical and Lung Cancer Cells

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/200...r-in-test-tube

By Daniel J. DeNoon

WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 26, 2007 -- THC and another marijuana-derived compound slow the spread of cervical and lung cancers, test-tube studies suggest.
The new findings add to the fast-growing number of animal and cell-culture studies showing different anticancer effects for cannabinoids, chemical compounds derived from marijuana.

Cannabinoids, and sometimes marijuana itself, are currently used to lessen the nausea and pain experienced by many cancer patients. The new findings -- yet to be proven in human studies -- suggest that cannabinoids may have a direct anticancer effect.

"Cannabinoids' ... potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of highly invasive cancers should be addressed in clinical trials," conclude Robert Ramer, PhD, and Burkhard Hinz, PhD, of the University of Rostock, Germany.

Might cannabinoids keep dangerous tumors from spreading throughout the body? Ramer and Hinz set up an experiment in which invasive cervical and lung cancer cells had make their way through a tissue-like gel. Even at very low concentrations, the marijuana compounds THC and methanandamide (MA) significantly slowed the invading cancer cells.
Doses of THC that reduce pain in cancer patients yield blood concentrations much higher then the concentrations needed to inhibit cancer invasion.

"Thus the effects of THC on cell invasion occurred at therapeutically relevant concentrations," Ramer and Hinz note.
The researchers are quick to point out that much more study is needed to find out whether these test-tube results apply to tumor growth in animals and in humans.
Ramer and Hinz report the findings in the Jan. 2, 2008 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[hyphaenation]

Cannabis spray reduces cancer pain

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jrXpkghi1wOKy60N9r67bqbS4JDw
(UKPA) – Dec 14, 2009
Cancer patients who used a cannabis mouthspray had their pain levels reduced by 30%, researchers have said.
The cannabis-based spray, like a mouth freshener, was used on 177 patients by researchers from Edinburgh University.
They found that it reduced pain levels by 30% in a group of cancer patients, all in the Edinburgh area, who had not been helped by morphine or other medicines.
The spray was developed so that it did not affect the mental state of patients in the way that using cannabis would.
The researchers said their findings, reported in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, did not justify smoking cannabis as this could increase the risk of cancer.
They said the spray works by activating molecules in the body called cannabinoid receptors which can stop nerve signals being sent to the brain from the site of pain.
Edinburgh University's Professor Marie Fallon said: "These early results are very promising and demonstrate that cannabis-based medicines may deliver effective treatment for people with severe pain.
"Prescription of these drugs can be very useful in combating debilitating pain, but it is important to understand the difference between their medical and recreational use."


---------

Scottish Study Concludes: Cannabis Spray Can Reduce Cancer Pain by 30%



http://www.blatantnews.com/news/scottish_study_concludes_that_cannabis_spray_can_r educe_cancer_pain.html

A research study by Edinburgh University has found that patients felt a 30% reduction in pain, when on no other pain-relieving medications, from a specially made cannabis spray. Over the past couple of decades, it has become increasingly noticeable that many people have begun to use cannabis for pain relief, particularly those suffering from cancer and multiple sclerosis, but this breakthrough in this particular method of administering the plants pain-relieving properties, will possibly give some non-smokers an extra avenue to consider when attempting to relieve their own suffering. And this new method will atleast appease those who condemn smoking cannabis, saying the cancer risk of smoking far outweighs the pain relief gained.


THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY CANNABIS STUDY


In total, 177 cancer patients were tested in the Edinburgh area as part of this study, by the University of Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre (ECRC), and researchers found that there was an overall 30% reduction in pain for these cancer patients. They were given the cannabis in the form of a mouth spray, which is designed much like a mouth-freshening spray, and all of those tested were given no other pain relief drugs. According to the University of Edinburgh... "Researchers say the spray works by activating molecules in the body called cannabinoid receptors. When triggered by cannabis, these receptors can stop nerve signals being transmitted from the site of pain to the brain".


NO, IT WON'T MAKE YOU PSYCHOTIC

The University of Edinburgh also add that... "The medical spray has been developed so that it does not affect the mental state of the patient, in the way normally associated with cannabis consumption", which is presumably down to which actual parts of the cannabis plant are used in the spray, so that could be another big worry out of the way. And this is important to those who want to include it as part of their treatments for certain long-term or terminal conditions. I know a handful of people, from all backgrounds, who have used cannabis to relieve pain associated with multiple sclerosis, and who have all given glowing references as to it's pain relieving properties. They say that it relaxes their muscles, which leads to less spasms, and therefore, less pain. Alternatively I know others who have tried it have found that it gave no relief whatsoever, so maybe this treatment only suits some people, some people's bodies, or some conditions. But all of them would portray worries relating to what smoking cannabis might be doing to their minds and emotions. So, if this spray does what the University of Edinburgh claims, then it is a major breakthrough. The research data from the Edinburgh trials is being published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.


----------------


Make your own Cannamist sprayer !

http://forums.mycotopia.net/grassroo...tructions.html (Cannamist Spray Tincture Instructions)

[hyphaenation]

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/...ease-19524630/

Chemicals Found In Cannabis May Aid The Treatment Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

December 31, 2009 by Personal Liberty News Desk

Compounds found in cannabis may be useful as part of an effective treatment for certain inflammatory bowel diseases, a new study has found.

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two of the more prevalent bowel diseases, are caused by genetic and environmental factors such as diet, stress and bacterial imbalance.

Researchers found that two cannabis compounds—THC and cannabidol—can play an important role in normal bowel function as well as the immune system’s inflammatory response.

"The body produces its own cannabinoid molecules, called endocannabinoids, which we have shown increase the permeability of the epithelium during inflammation, implying that overproduction may be detrimental," said Karen Wright, author of the study.

"However, we were able to reverse this process using plant-derived cannabinoids, which appeared to allow the epithelial cells to form tighter bonds with each other and restore the membrane barrier," she added.
While THC is responsible for the "high" associated with using cannabis, cannabidol, which is also effective in restoring membrane integrity, does not have any psychoactive properties.

Meanwhile, independent research has indicated that cannabis may also be helpful in controlling symptoms associated with glaucoma and certain forms of cancer.

-----------------------


Chemicals in cannabis 'could be used to treat crippling stomach conditions'

http://www.independent.ie/health/lat...s-1979550.html



By Kate Devlin

Thursday December 17 2009

Chemicals found in cannabis could be used to treat crippling stomach conditions, scientists believe.

They hope that some day drugs could be developed from the plant to treat diseases like Crohn’s and Colitis, which affect around 250,000 people in Britain.

Sufferers of the conditions have problems with the linings of the intestines.

Laboratory tests show that two compounds found in cannabis appear to help protect the lining by fighting off cells which attack it.

One of the chemicals involved is responsible for the “high” that people get when they smoke cannabis, scientists said.

The research was carried out by Dr Karen Wright, from Lancaster University, who will present her findings at the winter meeting of the British Pharmacological Society.

[hyphaenation]

Natural Pot-Like Compound Could Fight Obesity

http://www.scientificamerican.com/po...sc=DD_20091229

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that endocannabinoids, compounds naturally found in the body related to pot's active ingredient, could inform the effort to control appetite. Cynthia Graber reports


Could there be a substance that both gives us the munchies and can help combat obesity? There may indeed be, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


The Monell Center in Pennsylvania partnered with Kyushu University in Japan to study compounds called endocannabinoids. These occur naturally in our body and are similar to THC, the compound primarily responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects.


Researchers studied endocannabinoids in mice, and they say that the chemicals have a one-two punch—in your brain, they increase your appetite. And on your tongue, they enhance the response to sweet flavors. The compounds had no effect on salty, sour, bitter or umami tasting.
It turns out that sweetness receptors are present in the same cells as cannabinoid receptors on our tongues. But how could such an effect contribute to combating obesity? According to the scientists, there are similar sweet receptors in hormone-producing cells in the intestine and pancreas. There, they affect metabolism and the absorption of nutrients. Scientists say that if endocannabinoids also act on those receptors it could lead to new compounds to moderate metabolism. Which might stop the development of the pot belly.

[captainpicard420]

http://news.ucsf.edu/releases/smoked...ed-neuropathy/

Smoked cannabis reduces pain caused by HIV-associated neuropathy

In a randomized placebo-controlled trial, patients smoking cannabis experienced a 34 percent reduction in intense foot pain associated with HIV-twice the rate experienced by patients who smoked placebo.
“This placebo-controlled clinical trial showed that people with HIV who smoked cannabis had substantially greater pain reduction than those who did not smoke the cannabis,” said study lead author Donald I. Abrams, MD, UCSF professor of clinical medicine. “These results provide evidence that there is a measurable medical benefit to smoking cannabis for these patients.”

The study, published in the February 13 issue of the journal “Neurology,” looked at 50 HIV patients with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy, a painful and often debilitating condition that is the most common peripheral nerve disorder that occurs as a complication of HIV infection. Occurring usually in the feet and characterized at times by tingling, numbness, the sensation of pins and needles, burning, and sharp intense pain, severe peripheral neuropathy can make walking or standing difficult.
Patients participating in the study were randomized into two equal groups-one assigned to smoke cannabis and the other assigned to smoke identical placebo cigarettes with the cannabinoids extracted. The patients smoked the study cigarettes three times a day for five days under supervision as inpatients in the General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center.
“Even though antiretroviral treatments have reduced the prevalence and severity of many HIV-related neurological complications, neuropathy continues to affect up to one of every three patients,” said co-author Cheryl A. Jay, MD, UCSF professor of clinical neurology. “There are no FDA-approved treatments for HIV-related neuropathy. This study suggests new avenues to manage neuropathic pain in this setting.”
The study also incorporated a pain model developed at UCSF that provided a standardized reference point. This model allowed researchers to compare relief of chronic HIV-associated neuropathic pain simultaneously with patient response to pain and skin sensitivity induced by heating and capsaicin application.
“The beauty of this study is the use of the pain model as a neutral and physiological anchor for pain measurement. Patients’ eyes were averted during the measurements and were uninfluenced by expectations. Smoked cannabis was shown to work on the pain system by shrinking the area of painfully sensitive skin created by the model. The response was comparable to strong pain relievers we have studied, such as morphine,” said co-author, Karin L. Petersen, MD, UCSF assistant adjunct professor of neurology.
This study is the first completed of several clinical trials of medicinal cannabis being conducted under the auspices of the University of California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.
“It has been many years since clinical trials with cannabis have been conducted in the United States,” said Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and director of the CMCR. “As a result there has been insufficient light shed on the possible therapeutic value of cannabis. The results of this first study indicate that cannabis may indeed be useful in the amelioration of a very distressing, disabling, and difficult to treat complication of HIV. We look forward to the results of several additional CMCR studies nearing completion to continue clarifying cannabis’ possible role as a therapeutic agent.”
Co-authors include Starley B. Shade, MPH; Hector Vizoso, RN; and Mary Ellen Kelly, MPH, from the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, and Michael C. Rowbotham, MD; Haatem Reda, BA; and Scott Press, BS, from the UCSF Pain Clinical Research Center.

[Dipole]

Heading - The S Word
A science news blog from Heading - NewScientist
January 15, 2010 3:25 PM
Sacked scientist promises impartial drugs advice
Andy Coghlan, reporter

The scientist sacked by the British government for allegedly criticizing government drugs policy today made good on his promise to set up his own committee to investigate and publicize the science of recreational drugs.

"We will provide the truth about drugs unfettered by any political interference," said David Nutt of Imperial College London, and the former head of the government's Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) until he was asked to leave last October by Home Office minister, Alan Johnson.

Now, true to his promise, Nutt is chairman of his newly created Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, and today proudly announced that its first meeting took place yesterday.

So far it has 14 members, including four of the five who resigned from the ACMD last October in protest at the sacking of Nutt.
"This is the strongest grouping of scientists we've ever had in this country [who are experts on recreational drugs]," said Nutt. "The best science will come from us."

Already, the new committee has decided on its first three programmes.

The first will investigate the dangers of "legal highs"; recreational substances that are not outlawed but which may be causing serious harm to users who buy them freely on the internet.

They include substances such as mephadrone, described by committee member Les King, an adviser to the government on new psychoactive substances, as a cross between amphetamines, Ecstasy and cocaine. "People assume they're safe, but we don't know," says King.

Next up will be a re-assessment of the relative harms of different recreational drugs, both legal and illegal.

Nutt is particularly keen to highlight what he describes as "aberrations" in the current UK government classification of certain drugs, with relatively safe ones such as Ecstasy and cannabis ranked as unjustifiably dangerous and relatively dangerous ones such as alcohol not classified at all.

"At some point, we will put together an assessment of drug harms which will challenge some of the aberrations," says Nutt.

The third project will focus on ketamine, also known as "special K", a drug that is rising in recreational usage. Val Curran of University College London, who will head the study, says that ketamine is already "showing a clear profile of addiction".

In heavy users, it is also causing such serious bladder damage that some have had to have their bladders surgically removed. Two users died drowning in the bath, she says.

The birth of the new committee does raise some interesting questions. First: can it be trusted to be truly impartial? Does it represent a true consensus, and where does it get its funding from?

Equally, where does it leave the ACMD? Some founder members of the new committee are also on the ACMD.

Nutt did turn slightly prickly when asked by a reporter whether his committee would admit "dissident" scientists whose views clash with those prevailing among the founder members. Some scientists, for example, say there's evidence that Ecstasy and cannabis are more dangerous than portrayed by Nutt and other scientists.

In response, Nutt said that, "if the science is good enough, there should be no reason why people shouldn't join us".

And who is funding it all? Not the head of a Colombian drugs cartel, we hope. It turns out to be a wealthy benefactor, Toby Jackson, who is a hedge-fund manager.

"He wants policy driven by scientific evidence," says Nutt. Nutt says that funding is assured for at least three years, costing around £150,000 per year, but the hope is that other sources of funding and public donations will swell the kitty and consolidate the committee.

Another possible source of money could be projects commissioned by the government.

And where does it leave the ACMD? Nutt says that the new chairman, Les Iversen of the University of Oxford, has already sent Nutt his best wishes for the new committee, expressing the hope they can "work together".

But the arrival of the new committee is clearly and deliberately a middle-finger salute to a government seen by Nutt and others as unwilling to grant true independence to its scientific advisers.

Stung by the criticism that advisers could be hired and fired on the whims of ministers, the science minister Lord Drayson last month issued new principles setting out the ground rules for ensuring independence of advice.

But Nutt today described these as "so watered-down" that they made the situation worse than before he was sacked.

The big worry now, of course, is that the public can never again be sure when the ACMD - or any other of its independent scientific advisory committees - is being leant on to produce advice in keeping with government policy. "The ACMD is now working in conditions that fetter them even more," says Nutt.

More broadly, the creation of the committee could set up a whole new paradigm for providing scientific advice without the burden of political interference. Why stop at recreational drugs? Why don't top scientists set up committees to give the unshackled "truth" on climate change, abortion, evolution, nutrition, food and health, nuclear power and so on.

The difficulty, of course, is that such groups could turn out to be self-selecting, choosing among their number only those who are "on-message". But that may be the lesser of two evils compared with government interference.

"It's a very interesting model, with bottom-up scientists coming together to give politically-free independent advice," says Nutt.