Cancer Cure News 2017: Can Marijuana Kill Cancerous Cells?

By Maolen Estomagulang

Marijuana has many surprising health benefits, such as improving lung function, controlling epileptic seizures and shrinking cancer cells from the body. While cannabis may have benefits in the treatment of cancer-related diseases, there are no clinical studies demonstrating that it can be used as a treatment.

CURE Pharmaceutical Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical and bioscience company based in California, will be conducting a groundbreaking clinical study to test whether marijuana can kill or reduce cancerous cells. The company will be partnering with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology for the said study.

"There is strong anecdotal evidence, but we want to put some science into it," CURE Pharmaceutical Corporation's CEO Rob Davidson said in a statement, as reported by New York Daily News.

"First, we'll do an in vitro study and see the effects on cancer cells. We can get into human trials pretty quickly in Israel," Davidson added.

In Mexico, a decree issued by President Enrique Peña Nieto on Monday, June 19, confirmed that the country has legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. It came after the Lower House of Congress overwhelmingly passed the bill with a 374–7 vote.

"The ruling eliminates the prohibition and criminalization of acts related to the medicinal use of marijuana and its scientific research, and those relating to the production and distribution of the plant for these purposes," the Lower House of Parliament, known as La Cámara de Diputados, said.

The bill authorizes the Health Ministry to create regulations around medical marijuana use, including the production of related pharmaceuticals that contain cannabis. Currently, products with one percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or lower are allowed, while cannabis cultivation for scientific and medical is not punishable.

However, Mexico's General Health Council must be made aware of the therapeutic or medicinal value of the product being produced before any potential therapy or drug is made. More details about it will be revealed soon.