By Dr. M-J Milloy

As a scientist working to improve the health of people living with HIV/AIDS who use illicit drugs, I'm reminded every day of the impacts of our government's policies on drugs. What's more, I have seen how misinformation about drugs can lead to ineffective and even harmful drug policies.

The institute recently updated its ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page about marijuana to include various studies revealing how cannabis “may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow” while also protecting normal, healthy cells.

“A laboratory study of cannabidiol (CBD) in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells,” the NCI stated. “Studies in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer showed that cannabinoids may lessen the growth, number, and spread of tumors.”

Here’s the NCI’s full list:

Though it may seem counter intuitive to use weed as a treatment for memory loss, Alzheimer’s researchers believe that marijuana may outshine drugs currently on the market for this devastating disease.

How? It just so happens that the active ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can inhibit the buildup of debilitating plaques that eventually cause brain cells and neural pathways to die.

Brain Plaques

Brain Plaques

A cancer advice website in the US, The National Cancer Institute, has featured a page offering information surrounding how cannabis and cannabinoids could potentially treat cancer.

The page has been compiled by an information body called Physician Data Query (PDQ), which is the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) comprehensive cancer information database.

Conspiracy theorists have been saying it all along – but cannabis does apparently kill cancer cells.

That’s according to the US government, which has added a page on the use of cannabis and cannabinoids to their official cancer advice website.

The National Cancer Institute, part of the US Department of Health, now advises that ‘cannabinoids may be useful in treating the side effects of cancer and cancer treatment’ by smoking, eating it in baked products, drinking herbal teas or even spraying it under the tongue.

Oakland's attempt to block the federal government's shutdown of the nation's largest medical marijuana dispensary has gone up in smoke.

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the city's intervention in the U.S. Justice Department's effort to close down Oakland's Harborside Health Center, concluding that the legal move interferes with the federal government's powers under forfeiture laws to move against what it considers illegal activity. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous three-judge ruling, found Oakland had a right to sue, but that its legal arguments would undercut federal drug enforcement powers.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia released a position statement on the investigation of the potential therapeutic value of and therefore possible medicinal uses for cannabis.

The PSA cautions that the document does not aim to address implications or barriers to the calls to legalise the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes in Australia, while acknowledging the dynamic nature of the discussions and initiatives around the subject.

In its paper, Therapeutic use of cannabis, PSA notes reports that in some medical conditions cannabis has provided positive outcomes to individuals who may not have experienced comparable therapeutic benefits from other clinically proven medicines or treatment protocols.

Medical marijuana has been legalized in 23 states and Washington D.C., and for countless cancer patients, epileptics, chronic pain sufferers, and people with numerous other conditions, cannabis provides an effective treatment preferable to other drugs. Unfortunately, if you use medical cannabis in America, your health insurance will not provide an ounce of assistance in paying for this medicine.

People are continuously overwhelmed with information in the modern world, and sifting through it can be exceedingly difficult. Finding the key points that matter in a sea of data is no easy task. Things are just as hard for those producing information, as they need to break through the overload and be heard.Infographics are a win-win solution for both consumers and producers.

HARTFORD — The chief of Connecticut's medical marijuana program said Wednesday he will draft regulations to allow the drug to be used by those who suffer from complex regional pain syndrome, immediately following a unanimous recommendation by a physician review board.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris, who oversees the state's medical marijuana program, added the medical condition — marked by severe pain, swelling and hypersensitivity to touch following an injury or surgery — to the list of medical conditions approved for medical marijuana.