Scientists Discover New Medical Marijuana Benefit​

Both THC and cannabinoids were discovered to boost the effectiveness of these drugs

The benefits of marijuana have been touted at length: It has reportedly been used to treat patients dealing with chronic pain and multiple sclerosis, among other conditions.

Let’s add another benefit to the list: killing tumors. According to research led by Dr. Wai Liu at the University of London, both THC and CBD boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs. Combining chemotherapy with cannabinoids proved more effective than chemotherapy alone, meaning a similar effect could be replicated with less chemotherapy. Less chemotherapy means less of the nasty side effects, and who doesn’t want that? And not only do you not have to smoke marijuana to gain the benefits, you actually shouldn’t choose smoking as the means of consumption.

“These extracts are highly concentrated and purified, said Dr. Wai Liu, “So smoking marijuana will not have a similar effect. But cannabinoids are a very exciting prospect in oncology, and studies such as ours serve to establish the best ways that they should be used to maximized as a therapeutic effect.”

Nevertheless, the case for marijuana is still a complicated one. Though it's decriminalized in more than half of the United States, and is recreationally legal in eight states, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a staunch critic of the drug, and has gone so far as to unfavorably compare it with heroin. And while the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reported this year on conclusive evidence of marijuana's positive effects on chronic pain and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, they also pointed out that there is little or no evidence supporting conclusions that it can help treat conditions like epilepsy, irritable bowel syndrome, or motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease. So, while Dr. Liu's research is indeed exciting, keep in mind that more research needs to be done on this drug.

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