Parkinsons & marijuana

[Ichingcarpenter]

In a study published in Nature, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals found in the brain that are similar to the active compounds in marijuana and hashish, helped trigger a dramatic improvement in mice with a condition similar to Parkinson's.

"This study points to a potentially new kind of therapy for Parkinson's disease," said senior author Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, the Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. "Of course, it is a long, long way to go before this will be tested in humans, but nonetheless, we have identified a new way of potentially manipulating the circuits that are malfunctioning in this disease."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/62616.php

By Eric Bailey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 15, 2008
SACRAMENTO -- -- A large and respected association of physicians is calling on the federal government to ease its strict ban on marijuana as medicine and hasten research into the drug's therapeutic uses.

The American College of Physicians, the nation's largest organization of doctors of internal medicine, with 124,000 members, contends that the long and rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis.

In a 13-page position paper approved by the college's governing board of regents and posted Thursday on the group's website, the group calls on the government to drop marijuana from Schedule I, a classification it shares with illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-medpot15feb15,0,257484.story

Medical marijuana could help our war-stressed soldiers
Source: The Ottawa Citizen (18 June 2008)
Re: 'Our soldiers are our best citizens': MacKay, June 16.
Israel has been testing treating their soldiers who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with medical marijuana, and having positive results. My wife and I have medical marijuana licences from Health Canada for PTSD.

Canadian soldiers would be eligible for such treatment under Health Canada's medical marijuana program, but it likely wouldn't be compatible with the Canadian Forces' zero tolerance policy on drug use...

Marijuana may stave off Alzheimer's - U.S. study
Source: Andy Sullivan, Reuters (5 October 2006)

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) — Good news for aging hippies: smoking pot may stave off Alzheimer's disease.

New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of the disease by preserving levels of an important neurotransmitter that allows the brain to function.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana's active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs.

THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimer's patients, the researchers reported in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

The researchers said their discovery could lead to more effective drug treatment for Alzheimer's, the leading cause of dementia among the elderly...

http://intraspec.ca/medical-marijuana.php

[spanone]

1. the reefer madness concerning medical marijuana is outrageous.

[indepat]

9. Outrageous, contemptuous, cruel and inhuman. bizarre, idiotic,

unfathomable, you get the drift, but most of all flat-out criminal. :D

[cbc5g]

2. marijuana is one of the most medicinal plants on this planet

Yet the U.S. Government claims it has no medical benefit. They are filthy liars.

[Pastiche423]

3. A little bit of hope

is a good thing.

[navarth]

4. it's good at preventing wars too

if you can get the pigs to smoke it

I suspect it would cut down on the disaster capitalism too

I'm just sayin'

[Duke Newcombe]

5. Naw. They'll just start wars to control the food supply.

Those munchies won't feed themselves, ya know.

Duke

[Truth4Justice]

7. Nah, the pigs prefer roids, not pot. Urine tests dont test for synthetic steroids.

[Prophet 451]

6. Cannabis: The Wonderdrug

Yeah, 0K, I'm exagerating to make a point but still, the more research is done into the properties of cannabis, the more it really does look like the fabled panacea universalis.

[Zhade]

8. Yet more evidence that proves the herb is beneficial, NOT harmful.

NT!

[druidity33]

10. as an IBS sufferer

i can tell you all it has helped me through some terrible times. There is no other medication that can do what it does for me. RELIEVE THE PAIN.


:shrug:

[Indenturedebtor]

11. In Indonesia I think they call it "god plant" n/t

[mdmc]

12. kick