What If Cannabis Cured Cancer (2010) - full transcript

It's been used by human
beings since the dawn of time.

Early men's diet undoubtedly
included cannabis,

since it grew prolifically
in Africa and Asia

and was highly nourishing due to
its protein and omega-3 content.

Marijuana may well have been
the first cultivated plant.

There's speculation that
stone age man may have used

the wild herb to speed
up his language skills.

The use of new tools,
new materials,

cave art and musical instruments.

What created this
sudden improvement?

Some scientists
propose that marijuana



could have opened the door to greater
consciousness in Mesolithic men.

New research suggest
that the early humans,

who regularly consumed cannabis,

may have enhanced
their brain functions

and might have possibly
triggered a great leap forward.

But that's all conjecture.

What we do know is that cannabis
is still inspiring new discoveries

and a deeper understanding of
the nature of health and disease.

This group of chemicals has
significant antitumor properties.
What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?

So, cannabinoids killed
cancer cells in many cases.
What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?

If they have antitumoral effect...

There's nothing else that impacts
on so many of our illnesses.

We know that it kills cancer cells

without hurting the
non-transformed cells.



In recent years, the hemp plant has
been proven to be anti-inflammatory,

antispasmodic and antibacterial.

It can treat depression, traumatic
stress syndrome, chronic pain,

glaucoma, migraines, multiple
sclerosis, Tourette's, nausea

and a host of other ailments,

without the unwanted side
effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

Historical evidence shows
that the holy anointing oil,

used by Old Testament Hebrews,
contained cannabis extract.

The early Christians used cannabis
as part of their baptismal process.

In the 1800's,

medical journals published
more than a hundred articles

on the therapeutic use of the drug,

then known as cannabis indica,
or Indian hemp.

Cannabis was often
prescribed by doctors

and was part of every medical bag,

right through the early
part of the century.

It was a popular treatment
for labor pains,

asthma, rheumatism
and nervous disorders.

It was even given to cranky
babies to get them to stop crying.

Queen Victoria, who lent her name
to the repressive Victorian Era,

was also a bit of a pothead.

The queen found that
cannabis was the only remedy

that helped her painful
menstrual cramps.

Britannia could rule the waves a
lot easier when she was high.

But then, the dark days for pot

began in the early part
of the 20th century

with the advent of
chemically created drugs

and an emerging profit-driven,
assembly line, medical system.

The new order didn't want competition
and cannabis was still preferred

by many patients and doctors
to the new miracle drugs,

which were composed mainly of
unnatural, toxic substances.

After lobbying by the
pharmaceutical industry

and fear mongering misinformation

by their donation-dependent
allies in Congress,

a federal law was passed in 1937

that prohibited doctors from
prescribing pot in any circumstances,

under threat of prosecution,
even though it was strongly opposed

by the American Medical
Association of its day.

All cannabis products were
removed from the US pharmacopeia

and the national formulary by 1942.

After alcohol was re-legalized,
rather than go out of business,

the massive bureaucracy
of prohibition

turned its operation to
marijuana eradication.

It was Harry Anslinger,
who was a racist,
Donald Abrams, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine

who was the head of the
Federal Narcotics Bureau,

he had been a prohibitionist
and then, when prohibition ended,

they gave him a new job and he was
in every president's government,

from Roosevelt to Kennedy.

Harry Anslinger was concerned
that the use of marijuana

by black and Latino jazz musicians
was gonna lead to increased crime

and increased mental illness
in the United States.

The Treasury Department intends
to pursue a relentless warfare

against the despicable
dope-peddling vulture

who preys on the weakness
of his fellow man.

This war on cannabis lasted
until just a few years ago,

when states started passing their
own medical marijuana initiatives,

in order to once again provide
pot safely to patients.

California was the first US state to
pass a medical marijuana law in 1996.

The intent was to give relieve to
patients suffering from chronic pain,

AIDS, cancer and other illnesses.

Since 1996,

13 other American states have passed
similar compassionate use laws.

12 more have ballot measures
or legislation pending.

Although cannabis
smoke has been shown

to have pre-cancer
effects in animal tissue,

countless studies have
failed to find a link

between cannabis
smoking and cancer.

And, in fact, have shown
that heavy marijuana users

have considerably fewer cancers
than the general population.

Doctor Donald Tashkin is a
very good researcher at UCLA.
Dr. David Bearman, MD "Cannabis is Medicine"

He is a pulmonologist.

His research demonstrated that
the incidence of lung cancer

in people who smoked cannabis
was less than the incidence

of lung cancer in people
who smoked nothing at all.

We actually succeeded in studying
600, about 600 lung cancer cases,
Dr. Donald Tashkin, M.D. - Professor of Medicine

about 600 head and neck cancer
cases and we... the bottom line is

we failed to find any positive
association between marijuana,

even heavy marijuana use, which we
define as more than 10 joint years.

Even you look at more than
60 joint years, joint years,

joint a day times the
number of joints smoked,

we could not see an association.

So, I think it's really,
essentially, a negative study.

We failed to find any causative
association with cancer.

Is it possible that the tar in smoked
pot could be causing malignancies

while the chemical constituents in
pot are curing them at the same time?

Although there's some concern that
marijuana can exacerbate schizophrenia

and psychosis in a few patients
already suffering from these diseases,

recent, extensive studies in
the UK have failed to support

a causal relationship between
marijuana and mental disorders.

Many of the people who are
sort of phobic about marijuana

say that it leads to schizophrenia.

And I think what we really
know is that's not the case,

that adolescents who seem to
have a bit of a thought disorder,

perhaps pre-schizophrenia,
find that smoking marijuana

helps their thought disorder,
and, therefore,

you have more people
who are schizophrenic,

who found that they can
self-medicate with marijuana,

and they smoke marijuana.
It's not that marijuana is causing

the schizophrenia, it's that
these people have discovered

this as a potential
therapy for their disorder.

It was only in the 1960's
that fat-soluble THC

was isolated from pot plants

and declared the substance
that got us high.

The substances is in the cannabis
plant which are active are

kind of fatty-like, liquid-like
and they're hard to work with.

So, it has been very hard for
chemists to get a hand on

these kinds of substances.
Therefore, it took until 1964

for Raphael Mechoulam
and his colleague Edri

to discover the active compound
in the cannabis plant,

which they called then
delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol

or, as we know it, THC.

That compound that we isolated in 1964,
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
Raphael Mechoulam Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

has been looked
into in great depth.

And, indeed, for the next
20 years, people got to know

a lot about the chemistry,
a lot about the clinical effects,

a lot about the
bio-chemistry of THC.

One thing was still
unknown 20 years later.

I mean, I'm speaking now
of 1964 'til the mid-80's,

nothing was known
about the mechanism,

how does THC act in the body.

Cannabis can affect memory and
movement, but only temporarily.

Though there have been reports of
pot's negative effects on the heart

and cardiovascular system,
they are rare

and not scientifically
substantiated.

Research has also shown that past
claims of brain damages from cannabis

failed to hold up under
scientific scrutiny.

All in all,
cannabis is very low risk.

The long history of the human use of
cannabis also attests to its safety.

Nearly 5,000 years without
a single documented death.

- A few different types
of edibles right now...
- We got the ice-cream.

Ice-creams and gelatos and...

Medical marijuana dispensaries
across America are now offering

an impressive array of
cannabis enhanced foods,

which makes it easier to
overmedicate with marijuana edibles.

But even so,
they're never toxic or lethal

and the symptoms will
disappear within a few hours.

*...are made with ??? and indica
hybrid and those filled by dosage,

the green label are single
strength, the red are triple...

* See, what I've eaten, ???
before, it just kind of makes me tired.

*- I wonder if...
- These (?) you wouldn't need that much of it...

*- You wouldn't need a whole one?
- No, I wouldn't...

Have tried those?

Yeah, I have, I've had one little
nibble and that was plenty...

Well, you can eat four cookies,
you can eat six cookies, I mean...

* ???, you're gonna end up falling asleep.
Sam Malace
Medical Cannabis Grower

You can't OD from it.
It's impossible.

You're not gonna die from it.
That's not gonna happen. I've tried!

For marijuana to prove fatal,

you'd have to smoke 1500
pounds within 15 minutes

and any resulting death would
likely be from asphyxiation.

The New Frontier

Dozens of major studies have been
published in the last few years
Cannabis and Cancer
Studies Showing an Anti-Cancer Effect

that indicate that the chemicals in
cannabis, in the lab and in animals,

have a significant effect on
fighting almost all major cancers,

including brain, breast,
prostate, lung, thyroid, colon,

skin, pituitary, melanoma
and leukemia cancers.

They do this by promoting
the death of cancer cells

that had forgotten how to die,
as well as a reduction

in their crucial blood supply, while
leaving healthy cells untouched.

But why, you may wonder, would
cannabis have any effect on cancer?

The answer can be explained
in one word: endocannabinoids.

Amazing as it sounds,

we're all born with a form of
cannabis already in our bodies.

It's called the endocannabinoid system.
Endocannabinoid System
an overview

The endocannabinoid system,
or ECS,

influences multiple
physiological processes.

This intricate system
modulates energy intake

as well as nutrient transport,
metabolism and storage.

A completely natural
collection of compounds,

endocannabinoids are our
body's own form of marijuana

and are involved in most
of our cells and structures.

They control a variety of
functions in the nervous system,

heart, reproductive
and immune systems.

Endocannabinoid messengers
help the cells communicate.

Typically,
they protect our good cells

while killing the bad ones,
like cancer cells.

In all animals, the nervous system
is made of the same components:

large numbers of nerve cells
carrying electrical signals.

And wherever the cells meet,

these signals are passed to
a receptor in the next cell

by a chemical messenger called a
neurotransmitter. Inside the brain,

there are different types
of neurotransmitters,

including dopamine and serotonin.

All animals, from rodents to fish,
to elephants to humans,

have inherited this
basic structure.

But hundred of
millions of years ago,

the seasquirt and other
primitive invertebrates

evolved an innovation
to this system.

What happened was the nervous
system acquired a new chemical,

a chemical, if you like, like have a
new flavor, a new type of chemical.

And is this chemical that
is related in structure

of a similar shape to the chemical
that's found in cannabis.

Because of this similarity,

these new signals came to
be known as cannabinoids.

It was inevitable that, eventually,

cannabis would meet
its perfect partner:

us.

Whether you like it or not,
each and every one of us

is fundamentally wired
to respond to cannabis.

Now, receptors are
not built in our brain

or anywhere in our body,
of course, or animal bodies,

because there is a plant
out there that will produce

a compound that acts on them.
That just doesn't work that way.

Receptors are found in our body
because we produce a compound

that will activate those receptors.
So, obviously, we thought

that there should be
endogenous compounds

which act on those receptors.

The fact that there is a plant compound,
the Tetrahydrocannabinol, THC,

which acts on those receptors,
is just a quirk of nature.

After scientists discovered THC,
they found that it could bind

to specific receptors in the
brain and the area around it.

And that this interaction created
a cascade of biological processes

leading to the well known 'high'.

What does it feel like?
That looks very enjoyable.

My God, it's fun!

It was amazing...

amazing.

If you block the endocannabinoids
artificially in mice,

they tend to grow tumors.
And they also get depressed.

A few years ago, some brilliant
entrepreneurs came up with the idea

of blocking the endocannabinoids in
our body to create a new diet drug.

The theory being: if cannabis
gives people the munchies,

then blocking the endocannabinoids
would make them lose their appetites.

The drug they developed, Rimonabant,
did indeed reduced appetite

by blocking the
endocannabinoid receptors.

But data from clinical trials
showed the Rimonabant users

suffered depression, anxiety,
insomnia and aggressive impulses

at twice the rate of
subjects given a placebo.

Well, Sanofi-Aventis,
the company that had developed,

that was marketing this agent,
did not study people with a history

of psychiatric illness or depression
before they applied for approval.

That was probably a mistake.

The AMA did approve it and the drug's
been on the market in Europe for

a year, a year and a half by now.

(?) And I sort of said if there
was any real problem with this

that was more than just
theoretical, we would know.

Well, turns out, we do know.
And they suggested now that

the risk with this agent it
outweighs the benefit.

In one study, there were 5
suicides among Rimonabant users.

Because, as they discovered,

endocannabinoids are
also mood regulators

with the capacity to
make us feel euphoric,

or, when blocked, depressed.

Rimonabant was finally withdrawn
from the market in 2008.

Researchers at the MD Anderson
Cancer Center, in Texas,

reported that mice on Rimonabant
developed potentially cancerous polyps

at a far higher rate than controls,
confirming that endocannabinoids

are not only mood regulators,
but tumor regulators as well.

My good Italian friend, Di Marzo,
summarized the activity,

which is really a summary, says, well,
what do the endocannabinoids do?

They relax, help us eat, sleep, forget
and protect. Not remember, forget.

And don't think that forgetting
is less important than recalling.

We should have a system to
forget, otherwise, we'll...

if you wish, we can burst.

If you go down a mall
and see a thousand faces,

do you want to remember all
of them? Of course, not.

What's especially
fascinating is that,

while significant numbers
of endocannabinoids

are not normally found in
breast and prostate cells,

the homes for the two
leading forms of cancer,

it appears that large
quantity show up

only after normal
cells begin to progress

toward a state of
uncontrolled growth,

in a desperate attempt to
restrain the tumorous invaders.

The endocannabinoids already in
our bodies did an efficient job for

hundreds of thousands of years,
working as tumor regulators,

free radical scavengers
and anti-inflammatory agents.

But then, once we entered
the industrial age,

with all its pollution and
chemical doctoring of food,

the endocannabinoids
became overwhelmed

and couldn't keep up with the
task of keeping us healthy

and protected from toxins.

Better public health helped us
live longer, but unfortunately,

human beings became inundated
with the free radicals

our bodies produce naturally
by simply being alive,

along with an unprecedented avalanche
of carcinogens and contaminants,

including pharmaceutical drugs.

The endocannabinoids needed help.

Enter cannabis.

When marijuana is
consumed and broken down

into a collection of cannabinoid
molecules, the THC and its sisters

seek out and bind with the
endocannabinoid receptors

already inside us. Together,
they give the body more ammunition

against all of the diseases
of modern times.

And... let me show you
what we have.

So, this is an image from
our subject from today.

The receptors are
highlighted in what color?

In bright red. Well, any color that
you see, they're receptors...

And red is the really dense area, so you
can see there's a lot of red and yellow.

Green and blue,
they're really not dense areas,

where there are not not many
receptors... in our brain.

- So, they really are everywhere.
- Yes, yes.

In fact,
they're the densest receptors,

one of the densest
receptors in the brain,

most populated throughout
the entire brain.

Right into the brain,
look how hot that is.

Right into the brain, but there's also
cannabinoid receptors in the liver.

Also, look at the bone marrow,
the vertebral column, the ribs.

So, how do you think what we're
seeing here in this image,

how does that relate to the
experience of using cannabis?

Well, look at the amount of cannabinoid
receptors in the brain, a lot of them.

A lot of the effects of cannabis
use are in the brain: euphoria,

as an anxiolytic, it dissolves your
anxiety or can even cause your anxiety.

So, cannabis abusers or cannabis users
talking about having this high,

the euphoria, that's probably from some
of the deep structures in the brain.

Scientists are now experimenting to
see which parts of the pot plant,

including its cannabinoids and
other biological compounds,

might be the most effective
against a variety of diseases,

including diabetes and cancer.

The Pioneers

Despite all the difficulties,
there's a group of doctors,

in the US and abroad, who have
been advancing the research

on the medical use of cannabis
with highly impressive,

and, sometimes,
revolutionary discoveries.

In a scholarly cancer review
article, published in 2009,

there were over 421 chemical compounds
identified in the cannabis plant.

And within this group
of natural substances,

there are many chemicals that have
significant antitumor properties

at low enough doses, to where they
would be effective cancer treatments.

That's an important part of this.

It's one thing to be able
to kill a cancer cell,

but could you really survive,
survive such a treatment?

A botanist from the University of
Colorado, Colorado Springs branch,

Robert Melamede,
who has written a article

sort of comparing the
carcinogenic effect of cannabis

with tobacco and explaining
why he thinks that cannabis

has the anti-cancer
effect for lung cancer.

There's nothing else that impacts
on so many of our illnesses.
Dr. Robert Melamede PhD - University of Colorado

You see, when I talk about
these age-related illnesses,

we're all aging, but we don't all
come down with cardiovascular disease,

we don't all come down
with autoimmune disease,

we don't all come down
with cognitive dysfunction,

we don't all come down with cancer.

But the chances are we're gonna
come down with one of them...

all right? And here we have this
one drug that's able to help us

holistically, with our biochemistry,
to restore balance, you know?

Cannabinoids killed cancer
cells in many cases.

People were not aware of that.
They think cancer,

cannabis, anti-nausea...
It's way beyond that.

There are also studies taking
look at other organ systems

that have found that marijuana
seeks out the cancerous cells

and preferentially kills
them over the healthy cells.

There's a wealth of
laboratory evidence

that these antitumor properties

kill cancer cells in
a variety of ways.

There are multiple mechanisms
of action identified

by which cannabis
kills cancer cells.

And they're divided
into various categories.

And among these are
antiproliferative effects...

Normally, that's one of the
hallmarks of a cancer cell,

is that it just keeps reproducing.

So, if you stop the reproduction,
that's an antiproliferative effect.

There are antiangiogenesis
effects and this means that

the cannabinoids will stop the tumor
from being able to elaborate or grow

new blood vessels to support
the growth of the tumor.

There are antimetastatic effects and
that is simply enough to mean that

the cannabinoids block the ability
of the cancer cells to spread

into other tissues.

And there's another effect that
has a wild name: apoptotic effect.

Apoptosis refers to the
ability of cannabinoids

to speed the death of
the abnormal cells.

That's something that is
specially important in cancer

because you're able to hasten
the death of the cell

without disturbing the
normal cells around it.

Seth Research
Laboratories in California

have recently demonstrated that,
in some tumors,

cancer cells are
killed by marijuana,

while the other healthy
cells are left untouched.

Cells that stop moving and become still
white dots are dead cancers cells.
DEAD CANCER CELLS after cannabis administration

The ability of cannabinoids
to kill bad cells,

while protecting healthy ones,
is particularly important

when we're talking
about brain cancer,

because of the so-called
blood brain barrier.

The brain has to be sheltered
from outside influences

that might hitch a ride on the
blood stream and cause havoc.

What is exciting and unique about
cannabinoids is that they can pass

through the blood brain barrier because
of their slippery fat-loving nature.

Cannabinoids get right
into the brain's cancer cells

by moving easily through
the cells membranes,

which are also composed of lipids.

The evidence is piling up,
in mice infested labs,

that the endocannabinoid system,
when stimulated by cannabinoids,

has an antitumor effect

and can instruct cancer
cells to commit suicide.

This was done by Manuel Guzm?n's
group within the past...

in less than 10 years and what
they showed there was that,

originally, that THC,
when injected into a brain tumor,

in mice and rats, a significant
number of those animals would...

the tumor would regress and
disappear, so that you actually had

survival of rats that
would otherwise die.

And they examined all the
surrounding nerve tissue

and that was all fine,
cuz remember, once again,

cannabinoids protect nerves.

Dr. Manuel Guzm?n is a
professor of biochemistry

and molecular biology
in Madrid, Spain

and is known for his groundbreaking
studies on medical cannabis.

We have observed that cannabinoids have the
effect of inducing death in cancer cells.

They inhibit the growth and
multiplication of cancer cells.

They actually reduce
the growth of tumors.

If cannabis might be
the miracle cancer cure

that everybody has
been searching for,

then why don't doctors
everywhere know about it?

People have a hard time
believing that cannabis can have

all of these fantastic
effects that are described.

But what we're doing is
we're just stimulating

a natural system
that's already there.

This has been developing for
hundreds of millions of years,

the early, the invertebrates,
the sea squirts, the hydra,

there are primitive endocannabinoid
systems in those organisms...

back, dating back six,
seven hundred million years ago.

The cannabis plant came along
maybe 50 or 60 million years ago.

Why aren't billions in funds being
directed toward cannabinoid research

by the organizations that raise
money for cancer therapies?

We're talking about
medical research that...

you know, it's really a double-edge
sword. I'm, on the one hand,

I'm thrilled that there's really
more research taking place now...

that any time in history,

when it comes to the
therapeutic use of cannabis

and specifically the cannabinoids,
the components in cannabis.

You know, unfortunately, a lot of
that research is still relegated

to taking place overseas.
We see a little bit now, finally,

taking place in this country, but,
really, the United States remains

fairly well behind the
curve when it comes to

cutting edge,
medical cannabis research.

It's very difficult to do research
with cannabis, the plant product.

Because, you know, it's restricted
Donald Abrams, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine

in what research we can do with it.

Research on this area is in its
infancy and that is because...

to me, the US government
has discouraged

that kind of research both in
the United States and elsewhere.

It's only and aromatic herb, yet,
almost every government in the world

restricts or bans its use.

In many countries, cannabis
suppliers and even users,

can still be put in jail
for life or even executed.

It's illegal in every... I mean,

I think there are treaties
that prevent anybody

from accepting marijuana as a
medicine. Now, recently, Canada,

Spain and the Netherlands have
sort of broken from these treaties,

but I think these things are bigger
than just any single country's politics.

Despite these initiatives,

we want to make clear that
federal law still applies.

And federal officials will
continue to apply the law.
JANET RENO CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
u.s. attorney general

And DEA officials will
review cases, as they have,

to determine whether to
revoke the registration

of any physician who
recommends or prescribes

so-called Schedule 1
controlled substances.

What does the corporate media
continue to connect marijuana

only with gangs, violent drug
dealers and society's losers

and not the growing numbers
of doctors and scientists

who are discovering its benefits?

It is true that for those
who use it regularly,

pot can change your way of thinking.
And it can make people question

why they should continue to do things
that aren't making them happy.

I like smoking marijuana,
it calms me down.

I just feel totally at ease,
everybody knows me.

You smoke a little marijuana,
Tom, you'll be great.

Everything's gonna be fine, yeah?

Corporate world made me stressed...
extremely stressed.

Totally stressed.

I'm so happy I'm out of the
corporate world, it's amazing.

In essence, grass can make you
feel that the past and the future

are not as important
as the present.

It has the potential to alter
the very nature of consciousness

by opening up the mind to
unpredictable possibilities.

That doesn't sit well with those
who insist on remaining in control.

It's a very simple reality...

marijuana leads to doing worst
things. That's just a fact,

I don't care what anybody says,
what the debate is.

We've heard for years,
that it's a gateway drug.

What do you say to that,
Congressman Paul?

Well, I think that's silly. Probably, the
most addictive drug in the country,

in the world is alcohol.
So, if you're a consistent person

and you think the government should
be regulating personal behavior,

you have to be for
prohibition of alcohol.

And when you look back
and throughout history

and what happened to that,
that was a total disaster.

It created the Al Capones.

*I mean (?), look at the total
disaster that's happening...

or happened with medical marijuana.

Anybody in the United States can go
to California and go find a doctor

and buy... you know, marijuana.

And, simply,
marijuana is not a medicine.

Cannabis is a natural substance and,
therefore, can't be patented.

Anyone with a green thumb
can grow it. And so,

its production could be in
the hands of the people,

not the corporations that run a 200
billion dollar a year cancer business.

It may not be a coincidence
that pharmaceutical companies

are silently preparing for
what could easily become

a total revolution in the curing
habits of the world's population.

GW Pharmaceuticals, a company
that specializes in the study

and commercialization
of cannabinoids,

has already established
a full-cycle facility

in an undisclosed location
in the south of England,

where they oversee the
cultivation of the plant

right to the finished
medical product.

Growing areas...

This facility grows 30 to 60
thousand plants every year.

Once the marijuana is
ready for processing,

it undergoes the same exact treatment
for extraction and refinement

that is forbidden to regular
citizens around the world.

Amazingly...

GW Pharmaceuticals, who is this
company that has 6 greenhouses

in a secret location in
the south of England.

And each greenhouse has a different
strain of marijuana in it.

Each greenhouse has 10
thousand plants in it.

Each of the plant is
a clone of the other.

So, they've standardized
this stuff.

Now, their product was
approved for sale in Canada

for treatment of
multiple sclerosis,

the muscle spasm and
the pain related to that.

- And this is a spray?
- This is a under the tongue spray.

And the reason they went with
the spray was they felt that...

they would have a hard time
getting by the regulators

if they had people smoke it.

In the United States,
things are moving fast as well.

Breast cancer kills more than
41,000 American women every year.

Researchers in the San Francisco lab
are working to shrink that number

and they're doing it
with an unusual weapon:

marijuana, or at least,
a compound from it.

What we found is that...
this compound called cannabidiol

was particularly effective in
inhibiting aggressive breast cancers.

I have a lot of faith in
pharmaceutical companies

and their ability to make money.

And I think that if you take
a look at what's going on now,
Dr. David Bearman, MD "Cannabis is Medicine"

first off, you've got an
awful lot of basic science

that's going on in regards
to cannabis and cannabinoids.

And some of this research is being
paid for by pharmaceutical companies.

We know that this compound
extracted from cannabis is non-toxic

in patient because it has already been
used for different kind of disease.

The benefits may not stop there.
Scientists say the cannabis compound

may fight other aggressive cancers,
including prostate cancer.

The next step: animal studies,
then clinical trials.

So, may be several years
before patients may benefit

from a cannabis cancer fighter.

Cannabis contains 421 chemicals.
The Chemistry

More than 60 of which
are cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids are a
unique class of compounds

not found anywhere else in nature.

A colorful plant with
antioxidant activity,

cannabis is subject
to few predators

and has even been utilized
as an insect repellent.

It's quite an amazing spectrum of
compounds that are in that plant.

And what's so unique and
incredible about them

is they are touching on
this incredible system

that pervades all of us and
regulates everything from...

*I like (?) to tell people cradle to grave,
because it's in mothers milk.

Another stress to which
pot plants are subject

results from their daily
exposure to the radiation

produced by ultraviolet sunlight.

This has created certain unique
defenses in cannabis.

Why would this plant have evolved
THC, the psychoactive compound?

What was the reason
for the cannabis plant?

I consider that the accumulation of THC
gives a lot of privilege to cannabis.

For example, this plant is
very resistant to ultraviolet.

- Extremely.
- So, it's like a defense against

- ultraviolet light at this altitude.
- Yes.

The same chemical that
protects the plant may well

have a preventative anti-cancer
effect inside the human body,

since THC and other
cannabinoids are scavengers

of disease-causing free radicals.

What our cannabinoid system
has evolved to do over

many hundreds of millions of
years has been to protect us

from those kinds of imbalances

to restore the kind of
health that we need.

And because of our
environment and, particularly,

because we are living longer,

we need to be able to adapt
very rapidly today

and we can't do that on
an evolutionary scale.

The way for us to do that as
people, as intelligent people,

is to make sure eating good diets,
stay away from toxins,

eat these essential
fatty acids and,

when necessary,
consume cannabinoids.

Modern Medicine, under the
pharmaceutical-based paradigm,

has been looking for
targeted therapies. So,

instead of looking for a medicine
that can treat nausea, vomiting,

loss of appetite, depression, pain,
anxiety, we look for something

that can block, you know, this
enzyme inside the cell's membrane.

And so, that's, you know,
what we're taught is 'medicine'.

Any other things are
considered snake oil,

anything that can do that
many things that effectively

makes people a little bit leery.

There are four
cannabinoid compounds

that are of the most interest to
scientists doing medical research:

delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol,
or THC,

is the principal
psychoactive ingredient

that creates euphoria
in the smoker.

THC exerts a wide spectrum of
biological effects by mimicking

the body's own natural
endocannabinoids.

If you look in the microscope,
there you see

sort of some glistening
golf-ball-like structures.

And these are the
glandular trichomes

in the inflorescence of
the plant which contain

all the chemicals that we're
interested in for making a medicine.

Probably one of the
most fascinating cases

is a gentleman with the
glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor.
Addiction Medicine Specialist

Very deadly tumor. This tumor,
from diagnosis, untreated,

the average survival
is just three months.

Fully treated, with radiation,
surgery and chemotherapy,

is about twelve months.

So, this gentleman is
a middle-age man who

began using cannabis at
the time of this diagnosis.

He's been very consistent in
using cannabis on a daily...

multiple-time daily basis,
now for seven years,

without any signs of recurrence.

Faced with this rapidly
changing scenario,

the Drug Enforcement Administration
is trying to modify

its official position to allow
pharmaceutical companies

to market THC without
appearing to contradict

all the negative
information on marijuana

they've been
propagating for decades.

All available research has concluded that
marijuana is dangerous to our health.
DONNA SHALALA, secretary, CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
u.s. dept. of health and human services

The DEA now recognizes the
medical qualities of THC,

while trying to shift the blame
for the prohibition of marijuana

to the possible damage
caused by the smoke.

How about the pill form
that's legalized already?

The pill form is legal
for two or three things:

nausea and vomiting
of chemotherapy,

AIDS wasting and also for certain
kinds of neuropathic pain.

The Holy Grail for the
pharmaceutical industry,

and really for the
federal government too,

is to find the next billion
dollar pharmaceutical,

the next billion dollar drug.

And the pharmaceutical
industry now knows that

these drugs are going
to be cannabinoids.

They know that the medicinal
qualities are there

to cure all kinds
of medical problems.

But I can tell you that the
whole plant is uniquely effective.

I've yet to find a person,
in my practice,

who prefers the prescriptioned
pure THC over the natural plant.

That just is unheard
of in the patients.

Cannabidiol, also known as CBD,

is a non-psychoactive
component of cannabis

that gives the sedative
effect to the 'high' experience.

Amongst its numerous functions,
CBD has been shown

to have anti-inflammatory
and analgesic effects.

It helps fight diabetes, bacterial
infections and malignant tumors.

This compound is also a nerve
protectant and has well-documented

antipsychotic and
anxiety-reducing effects.

There's not a lot of CBD in that
particular one as well, cannabidiol,

which is another cannabinoid,
a non-psychoactive cannabinoid,

which we think is actually a very
important component of the medicine.

We're fascinated by this stuff, which,
you know, has tremendous potential

as an anti-inflammatory, but also,
rather surprisingly, as antipsychotic.

So, hold on.

You're telling me that CBD could
be a treatment for psychosis?

Isn't that ironic?
And with all the sort of

tremendous publicity around
the link with cannabis smoking

and the potential of increasing
the risk of psychosis?

Here, we have a component of the
plant which itself is antipsychotic.

The cannabis plant has
been bred for decades

to maximize the amount of THC.

That gives the plant the
strongest psychoactive effect

for the least amount of product.
Now, in doing this,

we've bred the other
cannabinoids out of the plant,

down to miniscule amounts. And

each of those cannabinoids, that has
been bred down to miniscule amounts,

has its own medicinal quality,
medicinal properties. So, we've lost

a lot of those other properties.
Myself and a group of doctors

have been asking growers to
bring back CBD into the plant,

because cannabidiol, along with some
of these other minor cannabinoids,

such as cannabigerol
and cannabichromene,

have shown to have a lot
of anti-cancer properties.

Tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV,

has been found in
significant amounts

mostly in South-African and
some Thai strains of grass.

High concentrations of THCV will
make the high come on quicker,

but last for less time.

This chemical compound
may eventually prove

to be a useful treatment
for type 2 diabetes.

THCV has been shown
to have a protective,

preventative effect
against malignant tumors.

Cannabichromene, or CBC,
is a low-level cannabinoid.

The little research has been done,

scientists believe CBC may
have an antidepressant effect,

as well as the ability
to reduce inflammation.

CBC strongly inhibits tumor growth
in leukemia and breast cancer.

The Future

Faced with all these
new discoveries,

one is brought to question:
what stops marijuana from being

legalized for medical use
all across the country?

And it's not only doctors
calling for legalization.

*I was opposed to the medical marijuana
initiative because it created a ???.

You got marijuana that's legal and
you got marijuana that's illegal.
Norman Vroman - Mendocino County District Attorney

And, therefore, you've
got a built-in problem.

As how do you determine
who's legal and who isn't?

And, of course,
with it being illegal,

*it's a built-in government
price (?) support. So,

as long it's illegal, there's
gonna be money in it.

If it was decriminalized, you know,

everybody can grow in their backyard,
nobody go by ripping them off

at gunpoint or any other thing because
it wouldn't be a worth anything.

We wouldn't have to
worry about people

that were illegally
transporting marijuana.

We would know, you would have
a license from the State,
Toni Craver - Mendocino County Sheriff

*we made contact with you coming
down Highway 101, for example,

with a trunk load of marijuana.

We would have stopped you for
a minor traffic violation and

detected the odor of marijuana,
you can simply produce credentials

indicating that you
have a right to do this,

that you're sanctioned by the
State to make this happen

*or licensed by the State, ???, very,
very beneficial for law enforcement.

After becoming a permanent fixture
of the urban panorama in California,

Oregon is beginning to open
the first public venues

for medical marijuana smokers.

We're at the Cannabis Caf? today.

This is a place where
card holders can come

and medicate out of public view.

I have patients that are
in stage 5 of cancer.

We have people that were
using AIDS medicines,

the cocktails that are so...

They just destroy your
organs and everything else

and people were
expecting them to die.

Their families were just
ready for them to go away,

but then they started
using medical marijuana

and their appetites came back,

they left some of those
pharmaceuticals that were so harsh.

Many times I've gotten calls
from people who were at OHSU

or at the Veteran's Administration
Hospital here in Portland

and they couldn't medicate
out of public view.

They had gone through
procedures for 4 to 6 hours.

And because of that, they needed
a place to use their medicine.

They had to go to an alley,

they had to to go to the
backseat of their car.

That was unsafe, and so, we created
this place for them, for us,

a niche where we can use our
medicine out of public view

and enjoy each other.

We're social creatures,
there's nothing wrong with that.

But at the federal level,

they're still clinging
to a more archaic view.

Is there a better way and some
people suggested looking into

a system of legalization
that might be effective

in stemming the tide of drugs
from Mexico and in the border wars

and the immigration
problems from Mexico?

Have you considered
this as a possibility?

I think anybody who looks at this
problem considers it and, ultimately,

- when you look at it, rejects it.
- Let me ask you about the way...

I'm sorry, but there are
too many individuals,

both parents and others who
have lost their lives to drugs...

to give a ready answer that
it should be legalized.

Name me a couple of parents
who've lost their lives to marijuana.

Can't.

*Exactly, you can't, because that hadn't
happened and there hadn't been a wave (?),

'cause that's been a constant thing
in America since Harry Anslinger,

because African-Americans used it and
saw it as something that was crippling

and gave it to the Latin-Americans
and put an ethnic tone to it.

When have we... don't we...

Is there some time we're gonna
see that we ought to prioritize

meth, crack,
cocaine and heroine and

deal with the drugs that
the American culture

is really being affected by
and lives are being lost?

That's not to say that we can't
use cannabis as medicine...

but, as a plant, its quality, its purity,
its strength, its consistency...

it's difficult to regulate.

And because of that,

it's not ever likely to be
reinstated into the pharmacopoeia.

I think the greatest hurdle
is that we need to...

get Congress to remove cannabis
form the Controlled Substances Act.

It's just absurd that
cannabis is still there.

It has enormous medicinal value.

It's not addictive, it doesn't have
a significant withdrawal syndrome...

and it certainly is not really
a menace to society.

The anti-cancer
qualities of marijuana

appear to have been known to the
US government for over 30 years.
Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74

In a 1974/75 Medical
College of Virginia study,

led by Dr. Albert Munson,
they discovered that THC

slowed the growth of
three kinds of cancer:

lung, breast and
virus-induced leukemia.

The Virginia study was shut down

and all further cannabis
tumor research was abandoned.

Just as I said, the number of times
that all of the available literature

on marijuana safety and
effectiveness has been reviewed,

by August,
government appointed bodies

have come back with the same
conclusion that it's safe and,

you know, useful, and then
that information gets ignored.

The problem remains, though,
that nobody in Congress

wants to be labeled soft on drugs.
But,

as the states begin to legalize,

or continue to legalize the
medicinal use of cannabis,

I believe there will be a tipping
point where the nation will be ready

to change the law and allow people
their right to use cannabis freely.

No More War on Sick People

Safe Access Now

DECRIMINALIZE

What is a weed? A plant whose
virtues have not yet been discovered.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

subtitles by:
Tio Beto from Brazil

This film makes no medical claims and
its purpose is purely informative.

The authors do not intend to
promote any particular cure,

nor do they suggest that patients
should eventually abandon

their ongoing therapies
in favor of any others.