Ron’s Rambles: On Cancer, Cannabis and Magic Plants
(Information provided by Cancer Research UK unless otherwise stated. I understand that this is a controversial subject but please actually read ALL of what I've written here before replying. I'll just ignore messages from folk who clearly haven't)
I was at the Solidarity conference recently, had a really good time and got to hear a talk on the benefits of medicinal cancer. Some of the advice given made me quite angry, but I decided to simply let it slide, articulate myself a bit and do a bit more reading. And here's some points that were made and how I feel about them;
(if you can't be arsed reading this all, jump to point 8. CONCLUSION which serves as a "Too Long: Didn't Read")
1. DOES CANNABIS CURE CANCER?
There is no substantial evidence that cannabis has a net positive effect on cancer in humans. Cannabinoids (Which are complex compounds that can be derived from the cannabis plant) have been shown to have certain curative properties, in SOME Petri dishes and in SOME mice. Two points here: 1) Humans are significantly more complex than mice and Petri dishes. 2) In many experiments, the cannabis made the cancer worse.
The scary fact is that cancer is a complex disease that comes in many forms, there is no "Magic potion" that can actually cure all forms of it. Now, the fact that the cannabinoids, in laboratory conditions have shown to sometimes have a positive effect is enough to encourage further tests but human testing in this is quite unethical because it requires asking someone to forgo conventional medicine in order to get tests. The only human trial (That I can find a reliable record of, courtesy of Cancer Research UK) was done in Spain and it was found that most of the people who took part died in line with their prognosis, despite being treated with cannabis-derived cures. It did, however, improve their quality of life, however short.
What we've learned is that in most cases (In humans, in mice and in dishes) the effects of cannabinoids on cancer cells is inconclusive.
2. WHAT ABOUT MY FRIEND'S SISTER'S WORKMATE'S EXBOYFRIEND'S PAL?
Ultimately, anecdotes are not evidence and are inadmissible. While I am always overjoyed to hear that someone has beaten cancer, unless they've documented their journey in full and had it independently verified, then it's simply not relevant. In almost every example I can find, people have been "cured" by cannabis, they've also been following a course of traditional, verifiable, medicine.
3. IS BIG PHARMA HIDING THE CURE FOR PROFIT
Obviously, I can't possibly know the answer to this but if I had to hazard a guess; I'd say no.
For starters, I don't think big drug companies have anything to gain from hiding a cure. Not when the current cures aren't the best, these companies could make billions by releasing a patented cure that would prolong their customer's lives with constant treatment.
But even if big companies WERE hiding a cure, this ignores countries like the Netherlands, Australia and Germany where cannabis is legal (with all kinds of provisos and asterisks)? Why haven't any of their concerning scientists published their findings online. Free from the grasp of big drugs corporations.
4. AH, BUT RICK SIMPSON...
Is a liar. Plain and simple. He's not a doctor or a scientist. He holds no medical or biology degree. He is unqualified to give any kind of medical advice. His cures have never been peer reviewed (And even or verified by anyone other than himself and his customers (who are either dead, unverifiable or have been using traditional medicine as well).
5. CANNABIS HAS BEEN USED TO CURE CANCER FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!
[Citation Needed]. Frankly. We have indeed known about cancer for millennia (it's actually called cancer because Plato reckoned that tumours resembled crabs. This is why the crab constellation is called "Cancer") and yet neither the Greeks or Egyptians ever described a connection between cannabis and cancer despite them both having rudimentary cures.
6. THE CHEMICALS USED IN CHEMOTHERAPY ARE DERIVED FROM MUSTARD GAS!
Yes. And? Lots of scientific developments come from sordid pasts. The fact that we've taken a horrible weapon and turned it into medicine is beautiful.
7. ...WELL I STILL THINK CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEAGLISED
Yeah. Me too. I frankly don't care what consenting adults choose to do in their own homes. Be it smoking weed or drinking alcohol. Neither should be illegal and cannabis should be completely decriminalized in the name of individual liberty. I just don't think it's magic.
Ultimately, I'm not an expert. This essay/open letter was written after a single evening of research. I am open to the fact that I may have made mistakes and there is probably convincing, reliable sources I haven't read just yet.
What I've gathered is this: There are many things cancer does have medical uses for but cancer, right now, is not one of them. We don't know enough about it so anyone seriously promoting cannabis as a cancer cure-all should be treated with the same scorn and ridicule that rational people treat ALL witch-doctors, snake-oil proprietors, homeopaths and soothsayers who pray on the weak, scared and desperate. And in my humble opinions it is pretty repugnant for someone to look at a desperate cancer patient both directly lie to, and mislead them, into endangering their lives because it might further your pet cause.
But let's end this on a positive note;
I understand the desire to find a miracle cure for cancer. To stumble upon a common substance that remove this horrible ailment from our lives and save our loved ones but we have to start being honest with ourselves and not fall for snake oil salesmen.
We're all adults and we all know the effects that smoking cannabis can have on an individual and it just so happens that those effects are the direct opposite of the bad side effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy gives you ongoing agony and a loss of appetite while cannabis quite famously increases hunger and is an effective painkiller so at the very least cannabis can be a great supplement to traditional cancer medicines because it can vastly improve the patients quality of life.
But it can't cure cancer. At least not yet.