Filmed at Cannabis Life Conference Toronto, this video features Dr. Dave Hepburn, medutainer and award-winning columnist, speaking on the alliteratively named topic of “Cannabis and Cancer: The Promise, Potential, and Practical Possibilities”.
Dr. Hepburn begins his talk by stressing the importance of common sense and the need to oppose ideas that are “loosely formed, firmly held, fiercely defended”, which are often the loudest voices.
In science, some see cannabis as a slippery slope- is it a snake oil or cancer cure?
Over the past few years, organizations such as the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Drug Abuse in the United States have released statements such “cannabis has been shown to kill cancer cells” and “cannabis can slow the growth of cancer cells of even the most serious brain tumours”!
Perhaps what’s most encouraging is that even conservative organizations such as these are realizing the potential of cannabis as a medicine.
A few of the most interesting facts you’ll learn in this video are:
- Humans have a natural endocannabinoid system that acts as a homeostatic mechanism, bringing us balance. It helps us eat, sleep, relax, among many other things.
- The plant’s cannabinoids aren’t exactly the same as our endogenous cannabinoid system (endogenous means originating from within an organism), but they live in the same neighbourhood, so to speak.
- Cannabis is a pharmacological nightmare with over 140 cannabinoids and 400 compounds if you count the flavonoids, terpenes, and other things. That makes it extremely hard to find out what does what.
It’s also very eye-opening when Dr. Hepburn describes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, our most commonly used cancer treatments, as “slash, burn and poison”.
But I think the single most exciting thing I learned from this video was about potentiation. Potentiation is defined as the “enhancement of one agent by another so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of the effects of each one alone”.
Studies have found that when THC and CBD’s are used with radiation treatment, they enhance the radiation’s effect to the point where, in some cases, the tumour was shrunk 10 times smaller than it would have through radiation treatment alone!
To learn all that and so much more, check out the “Cannabis and Cancer: The Promise, Potential, and Practical Possibilities” video!