A smoker in her 80s has seen a 75% reduction in the size of her lung cancer tumour after using cannabis oil, despite continuing to smoke cigarettes, according to a recent case study published in the British Medical Journal.
After rejecting the standard medical treatment and opting to use the oil two-to-three times a day, the patient’s lung tumour shrunk to just a quarter of its original size.
The BMJ report says that while it’s not feasible to say that the cannabis oil was completely responsible for this patient’s recovery, it could be plausible and warrants additional investigation into the effects of cannabis oil on malignant tumors.
The malignant growth shrunk gradually from 41 millimeters (1.6 inches) in June 2018 to 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) in February 2021 – a significant 76% decrease.
This reduction was despite the patient refusing medical treatments and continuing to smoke cigarettes during the two and a half year period of observation.
The patient is still getting regular follow-up scans and her tumour is stable.
Not the only case
In the study, the authors reference a previous similar case, which also showed evidence of tumour reduction after taking cannabis oil, in a patient of a similar demographic with lung cancer. However, in this case, the only active component was CBD.
“In both cases, the patients did not change their lifestyle, medications or diet; and the self-administration of the ‘CBD oil’ seems to be the only explanation for the radiological improvement of their known lung cancer,” the study states.
UK situation
While strides have been made since medical cannabis was legalised in 2018, the current situation in the UK is far beyond ridiculous and is resulting in an untold number of peoples’ lives being ended prematurely.
There is supposed to be access to medical cannabis but the government continues to treat the public like children and makes it nearly impossible for most people to access cannabis.
Cannabis can only be prescribed for four conditions in the UK: spasticity, nausea and vomiting, severe treatment-resistant epilepsy, and chronic pain. While private prescriptions are more forthcoming, NHS prescriptions are difficult to get – there were just 18 NHS prescriptions for cannabis in 2019. It is farcical.
Cannabis has been used and, therefore, tested on the human race for thousands of years, every day, and hasn’t killed one person. Not one. It is less toxic than 10 potatoes, according to a DEA judge, yet we are not allowed to use it because our rulers say so.
“In strict medical terms, marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume.
“By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.
“By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care.”
This was stated in 1988 by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s chief administrative law judge, Francis L Young.
And yet, in 2021, we still don’t have widespread access to medical cannabis in the UK for those that really need it. This does not make sense.
Just whom are these laws protecting exactly? How much suffering could have been alleviated had low-risk cannabis-based medicines been available to everyone?
Lives lost
We are literally having our friends’ and relatives’ lives stolen away from us as a result of unscientific and stale law and regulation. That is a fact.
Professor David Nutt presents similar thoughts in his article, So near yet so far: why won’t the UK prescribe medical cannabis? The former government advisor writes:
“The failure of the medical and pharmacy professions to embrace CBPMs despite their being made ‘legal’ over 18 months ago is a great worry to patients and will already likely have led to preventable deaths from conditions such as epilepsy”
This is quite possibly a huge understatement, especially if we are to consider the different health outcomes that could be happening to people with critical diseases such as cancer and MS in the UK.
Years and years have been wasted and suffering has increased because of our government’s blinkered and cruel attitude to plant medicines. We need to grow up fast and smell the coffee. And the hemp.
While some trials are underway, such as the first-ever major human trial involving medical cannabis as a cancer therapy, the stigma created by the UK government around cannabis has literally cost us thousands of early deaths and it continues to this very day.
How much longer will cannabis be restricted from people who could benefit from it most?
