As the funded study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on cannabis and cancer had revealed no link between smoking marijuana and cancer aggravation, more substantial questions came to light. Based on the findings of NIDA, marijuana smoke has the possibility of protecting the user against its own inherent carcinogenic properties although most people know that marijuana smoke consists of carcinogenic compounds.
In a more recent report published online in Forbes.com, smoking cannabis and cancer are again being associated; however, the report suggested that marijuana might be a cure for cancer. The researchers of Harvard University have discovered through laboratory and mouse studies that delta -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) separates the growth of tumor into half in cancer, specifically in the lungs.
At the same time, THC obstructs the ability of cancer to spread. According to a pulmonary specialist, Dr. Len Horovitz of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, THC appears to have an effect that suppresses certain lines of cancer cells. The researchers have also asserted that THC represses lung cancer through suppressing the epidermal growth factor, which is a molecule enhancing the growth and spread of aggressive small cell lung cancers. This is truly a development in the association between smoking cannabis and cancer.
Andrea Barthwell, who once claimed that marijuana caused lung cancer, had an experience at an ONDCP press conference of being asked persistently to cite an evidence for her claim. She was not able to cite a reference and so most people found her claim funny. However, an inverse association between smoking cannabis and cancer seemed to be funnier for most people. This is because people have the notion that if marijuana users do not get cancer, then so are tobacco users.
Consequently, many people believe that marijuana smokers fail to acquire lung cancer because of their reduced consumption as compared to that of cigarette smokers. However, people are overwhelmed with reported studies that THC suppresses cancerous cells and that an inverse association between smoking cannabis and cancer is indeed possible.
Among other things, such development leads people to assume that when THC is applied to the lungs through methods other than smoking, it might be even better. Each year, it has been evident that the debate over use of medical marijuana and cancer development becomes less.
