This is the kind of great news for cancer victims that you hope will break down the walls of a prejudice. Cannabis has been found to have potential for halting the metastases of breast cancer, and has been shown to have that effect in brain cancer.

All of us probably know people who have suffered the effects of cancer, some surviving and some not. I lost a friend to lung cancer, a friend who went through great debility and nausea from chemotherapy and wished she had not gone through that process at all. I am also watching my ex go through what he has been told by doctors are his last days - after a colon cancer that spread to lungs and brain. His chemo was so bad he had declared to his son that he’d rather just be let alone to die than go through more of it.

Any cure that can include gentle side-effects would greatly improve the lives of victims and friends/family of victims of cancer.

Lead researcher Dr. Sean McAllister said: “Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer. “Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients.

“This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects.”

Dr Joanna Owens of Cancer Research UK said: “This research is at a very early stage. “The findings will need to be followed up with clinical trials in humans to see if the CBD is safe, and whether the beneficial effects can be replicated.

“Several cancer drugs based on plant chemicals are already used widely, such as vincristine - which is derived from a type of flower called Madagascar Periwinkle and is used to treat breast and lung cancer. It will be interesting to see whether CBD will join them.”

Maria Leadbeater of Breast Cancer Care said: “Many people experience side-effects while having chemotherapy, such as nausea and an increased risk of infection, which can take both a physical and emotional toll.

“Any drug that has fewer side-effects will, of course, be of great interest.”

It is wonderful that so much concern and charitable effort has been devoted to research into cures for cancer. I am very hopeful that the amount of enlightenment that has occurred to date may be the impetus to letting use of what has been controversial break through prejudices against the ’weed’.

Use of painkillers that have fewer and gentler side effects could be next. Many people could have better lives if they could use something that is only kept from them because of prejudice, not scientific knowledge.

Growing hemp being criminalized is just stupidity. Use of cannabis should be allowed for medicinal purposes out of simple humanity.

(this post also at http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com )