The body's cannabinoid transmitters rely on CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors to help regulate many important body functions using its own naturally occurring cannabinoids such as arachidonoylethanolamide, also known as anandamide - which is also found in chocolate with its highest concentrations in dark chocolate.

These cannbinoids literally govern many vital bodily functions including but not limited to appetite, bone density, mood regulation, reproduction, blood pressure, learning capacity, and motor coordination.

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Marijuana (cannabis) is distinguished from most other currently illicit drugs by the locations of the brain-receptor sites (CB1 and CB2 receptors) for two reasons:

1) The lack of receptors in the medulla significantly reduces the possibility of accidental or deliberate death from THC.

2) Lack of receptors in the mesocorticolimbic pathway significantly reduces the risks of addiction and serious physical dependence. One of the major functions of this system is the protection of nerve cells from damage by over activation of neurotransmitters.

Spanish researchers, led by Dr. Manuel Guzman of Complutense University, irrigated healthy rats' brains with large doses of THC for seven days, to test for harmful biochemical or neurological effects and they found none. There has also never been a cannabis-cancer link, just propaganda and misinformation meant to push the public away from cannabis use and more towards tobacco, pharmaceuticals, alcohol, cotton, paper, etc.

Cannabis research indicates that smoking marijuana may be more of a cure than as a cause of cancer. While there are carcinogens in cannabis, they are deactivated by THC. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the main ingredient in marijuana has proven anti-cancer characteristics. It kills cancerous/mutated/dying/aged cells. THC kills those while leaving healthy cells and tissue intact. This is probably why smoke/vapor seems not to cause cancer.

Three electron-microscope images
of the surface of the cannabis plant,
showing the trichomes.

A Medical College of Virginia team has discovered that THC curbs the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice and may also suppress the immunity reaction that causes rejection of organ transplants. The researchers found that THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.

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Researchers in Madrid (in 2000) announced they destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. Additionally, Lewis lung adenocarcinoma growth was retarded by the oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol THC and cannabinol CBN - two types of cannabinoids. Mice treated for 20 consecutive days with THC and CBN had reduced primary tumor size.

Also, they injected the brains of 45 rats with cancer cells, producing tumors whose presence they confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On the 12th day they injected 15 of the rats with THC and 15 with Win-55,212-2 a synthetic compound similar to THC.

"All the rats left untreated uniformly died 12-18 days after glioma (brain cancer) cell inoculation. Cannabinoid (THC)-treated rats survived significantly longer than control rats. THC administration was ineffective in three rats, which died by days 16-18. Nine of the THC-treated rats surpassed the time of death of untreated rats, and survived up to 19-35 days. Moreover, the tumor was completely eradicated in three of the treated rats." The rats treated with Win-55,212-2 showed similar results.

"Careful MRI analysis of all those tumor-free rats showed no sign of damage related to necrosis, edema, infection or trauma. We also examined other potential side effects of cannabinoid administration. In both tumor-free and tumor-bearing rats, cannabinoid administration induced no substantial change in behavioral parameters such as motor coordination or physical activity."

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Food and water intake as well as body weight gain were unaffected during and after cannabinoid delivery. Likewise, the general hematological profiles of cannabinoid-treated rats were normal. Thus, neither biochemical parameters nor markers of tissue damage changed substantially during the 7-day delivery period or for at least 2 months after cannabinoid treatment ended.

News coverage of the Madrid discovery has been virtually nonexistent in thhe United States. The news broke quietly on Feb. 29, 2000 with a story that ran just once on the UPI wire. This writer stumbled on it through a link that appeared briefly on the Drudge Report web page. NY Times, Washington Post and LA Times all ignored the story.

  — Raymond Cushing, contributing writer

TWO CHEMOTYPES CHARTS: