Cannabis 'could stop dementia in its tracks'

[AllHereTruth]

Cannabis may help keep Alzheimer's disease at bay.

In experiments, a marijuana-based medicine triggered the formation of new brain cells and cut inflammation linked to dementia.

The researchers say that using the information to create a pill suitable for people could help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's.

The incurable disease affects 400,000 Britons, with around 500 new cases diagnosed every day as people live longer.

For some sufferers, drugs can delay the progress of devastating symptoms such as memory loss and the erosion of ability to do everyday things such as washing.

When elderly rats were given the drug for three weeks, it improved their memory, making it easier for them to find their way round a water maze, the Society for Neuroscience's annual conference heard yesterday (WEDS).

...Other experiments showed that the drug acts on parts of the brain involved in memory, appetite, pain and mood.

The Ohio State University experiments also showed that the drug cut inflammation in the brain and may trigger the production of new neurons or brain cells.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1087544/Cannabis-stop-dementia-tracks.html

K&R

[madaboutharry]

1. Maybe now that the loonies are out of power

we can see some real progress in the field of medicine that will be beneficial for all of mankind.

[Festivito]

36. The CIA et. al. are not out of power -- yet. /nt

[slor]

2. LOL...

I am "stopping dementia" as we "speak".

[bullimiami]

3. marijuana helps alzheimers. ok so keep it illegal and develop a pill. WTF?

[AllHereTruth]

8. Sad thing is

I could see the drug companies developing a THC pill while at the same time have people go to prison for THC 'abuse'

Sadly, it is all too possible.

[slay]

15. Has already happened - I have a friend who has AIDS and she get prescribed the THC pill

Right here in the good ol' USofA. No shit. Little white BB pellet looking thing. Big pharma at work. Ugh. And the truly sickening thing, she says it is nowhere even close to as good as smoking a joint. Sigh... :( :shrug:

[AllHereTruth]

16. is a 'THC' pill

only legal in states where Medicinal Marijuana is legal?

[bleever]

18. No.

"Marinol" is legal for prescription by a physician in every state.

[slay]

21. Right! I couldn't remember the name

thanks yeah it's marinol she gets. Says it sucks and bothers her stomach. She smokes weed still and just takes the pills occasionally when she can't find real marijuana. It's sad she sometimes can't get the real stuff which truly does help her. :(

[bleever]

23. I had a friend who went through the same thing.

He found Marinol nowhere near as effective. Likely it's because Marinol only has THC, and not the whole array of cannabinoids and other compounds that give smoked marijuana its full range of effects.

[crimsonblue]

25. The pill is worthless

It doesn't work, not to mention that there are hundreds of un-isolated compounds besides THC in pot. We need to have research into much like we did 80 years ago with opium. We could develop better, less addictive painkiller. The compounds in pot also have the benefit of being on a lower cascade scale, meaning they are more locally targeted and less likely to cause undesired side effects.

[notadmblnd]

35. it's not physically addictive

so there's really no potential for abuse.

[iamahaingttta]

4. "...using the information to create a pill suitable for people ..."

I baked a nice batch of chocolate-flavored pills just the other day!

[annabanana]

5. Let's rec this baby to the Greatest page.... This forum is too shy.. . n/t

[Champion Jack]

9. K&R!!!

[tekisui]

6. KNR! Legalize It!

This herb can do so much. legalize it, study it, prescribe it!

[liberal renegade]

7. hey

old man, don't bogart that joint, pass it over to me.

[Wednesdays]

10. In a related story,

The Society for Neuroscience also said their demand for Chee-tos skyrocketed tenfold.

:smoke:

[tama]

11. Figures

Pot turns serious people into giggly babies.

[Lerkfish]

12. wow, irony: "a marijuana-based medicine triggered the formation of new brain cells"

considering all the stoners I've known in my life, I find this hilarious.

[slay]

13. Oh for the love of... just legalize it already!!! K&R.

I mean seriously, SERIOUSLY - when will the government admit the "war on marijuana" is not just wrong, but criminal in the way it keep people away from a substance that helps everyone from glaucoma sufferers, to cancer sufferers, to AIDS sufferers, and now possibly to Alzheimer's sufferers?!?! The game is up DEA and other government assholes. Legalize it - or face a revolution. :smoke:

[nichomachus]

14. Where do I sign up for the clinical trials? n/t

[rudy23]

17. Will Obama stop Cannabis in its tracks?

With the selection of Holder for AG, it looks like the answer is yes.

[crimsonblue]

26. No

Obama has pledged to end all federal raids into states for pot enforcement. After Nevada fully legalized pot in 2010 or 2012, we are one SCOTUS decision from legalizing pot.

[kristopher]

38. Question about Obama and pot.

The main pragmatist rationale I see for decriminalizing pot is our exceptionally high incarceration rate and the overcrowding of our prisons.

Does anyone know if Obama has staked out a position on these issues? It might be the best predictor of where we are headed regarding federal marijuana legislation.

[Greyskye]

19. Low Dementia rates in Jamaica....

Jamaica, long known as a heavy cannabis using country. :smoke:

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030718/news/news13.html
Research conducted by Dr. Denise Eldemire-Shearer, Chairperson for the National Council for Senior Citizens in 1994, showed that Alzheimer's disease is not as prevalent in Jamaica as was once believed, and only 10 per cent of the aging population showed any sign of mental impairment. That figure has not changed.

[Maraya1969]

20. I have a friend who says that pot keeps him from being depressed

Makes sense after that article.

[tridim]

28. Raises hand.

It got my through the last 8 years.

[windoe]

22. Ironic

on so many levels.

[Vinnie From Indy]

24. A friend of mine had cancer and swears ganja has saved his life

After chemo, he began smoking everyday and ten years later it has not returned. He went on 20/20 years ago to discuss his life and within 24hrs of the show airing local cops came and kicked in his door, trashed his house, scared his kid and found a few seeds and paraphenalia. 20/20 had shown his home grow operation on their program and the cops thought they had an easy mark. He had cleaned everything out a week prior. They were so pissed off they tore into his walls and floor and generally did as much property damage as possible. They were never made to pay for a thing.

The war on drugs has been and always will be a war on Americans. It is beyond comprehension that so many people are in prison because of weed. My friend is a Phd and has seven patents to his name and he was put in jail for weed and paraphenalia.

[slay]

37. You're right - it is a war against Americans

And a sad, mean, pathetic war at that. Going after sick people for using a non-FDA approved med that works better than any of their lame FDA crap? The horror!!1! Screw what the government says. Weed should be legal period. Barring that, those heartless government bastards need to at least remove the fear of jail for people who are sick and need it. Sorry to hear the crap your friend has had to go through. Unfortunately he's more like the rule than the exception - I know of people here where I live having similar crap happen to them. To borrow a line from the pro-gun people which I consider to be much more.. kind.. "They can have my weed when they pry it from my cold dead hands! Fuckers." (I added the fuckers part... heheh.) :smoke:

[tridim]

27. As if we needed more proof. Cannabis is legally mis-scheduled.

Schedule I drugs

(A) The drug or other substance has high potential for abuse.
(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

No prescriptions may be written for Schedule I substances, and such substances are subject to production quotas by the DEA.

Under the DEA's interpretation of the CSA, a drug does not necessarily have to have the same abuse potential as heroin or cocaine to merit placement in Schedule I (in fact, cocaine is currently a Schedule II drug due to limited medical use):<8>

When it comes to a drug that is currently listed in schedule I, if it is undisputed that such drug has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and it is further undisputed that the drug has at least some potential for abuse sufficient to warrant control under the CSA, the drug must remain in schedule I. In such circumstances, placement of the drug in schedules II through V would conflict with the CSA since such drug would not meet the criterion of "a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." 21 USC 812(b).
Sentences for first-time, non-violent offenders convicted of trafficking in Schedule I drugs can easily turn into de facto life sentences when multiple sales are prosecuted in one proceeding.<9> Sentences for violent offenders are much higher.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act#Schedule_I_drugs

[Prophet 451]

29. Should still be legal

Here, we use an alphabet system to classify drugs so heroin, for example, is Class A as is cocaine, LSD and Ecstacy (yeah, I know it doesn't make sense). Speed, certain psychoactive drugs and narcotic painkillers are Class B and Class C is cannabis, ketamine and all drugs which are only legal on prescription.

Class D doesn't actually exist in law but it's used as a slang term for drugs which are age or activity restricted but otherwise legal like booze, smokes and over-the-counter medicines. That's where cannabis should be: Age restricted but otherwise legal. I don't smoke pot, haven't in years and I'd prefer if people didn't smoke it in my house (I dislike the smell). My drugs of choice are nicotine and real ale. From an objective standpoint, is there any real difference between my pint and my neighbour's joint? No. From an objective viewpoint, they're much the same. They have a mild mind-altering effect for a brief time and then you go about your business. In my world, you should be able to go into your local off-license and pick up a small amount of pot with your beer. Or you could grow your own in the same way as some people (including me) brew their own beer.

Nearly every study done in recent years (many of them from more reliable sources than the Mail) shows that cannabis has numerous beneficial uses. It's cheap and easy to grow, has no real side-effects (munchies aside), isn't addictive (physically anyway; psychologically, you can become addicted to anything) and it's entirely natural. The more study we do, the more cannabis looks like the proverbial wonder drug. And that's without even getting into the industrial and enviromental effects. Hemp can be used for textiles, rope, paint, cooking oil. It's an entirely green crop because it requires no insecticides or fertilisers and it'll grow virtually anywhere (in fact, it's quite hard to stop it growing). Legalise cannabis and you give numerous hard-up farmers around the world a viable cash crop. You give numerous suffering people some relief (in terms of very effective pain relief, if nothing else) and you take a giant step toward repairing our knackered enviroment.

I, for one, would support making cannabis the new cornerstone of an economy. At the very least, let's experiment. We can do all kinds of things with cannabis and it's only our own stupidity that prevents us.

[OHDEM]

30. I knew a guy with MS that swore it helped him.

Frankly, it should be legal PERIOD. Medical use or no - it's effects are less than alchohol in my opinion and it's less physically damaging. (Smoking is somewhat harmful, but could make the case that drinking is harder on you.)

[Kitty Herder]

31. It is sick and wrong that our government works hand in hand with the pharma companies

to keep this extremely useful drug that we can grow in our backyards illegal so that they can create a pill form of it to sell us at exorbitant rates.

:mad:

[bertman]

32. Based on my personal, double-blind, double-toke research I'd say it CONTRIBUTES to

Alzheimers. At least in the short term.

[RufusTFirefly]

33. Didn't Pelosi state that prosecutions for marijuana possession were "off the table"?

Oops. Sorry. I confused it with another actual crime.

[Stop Cornyn]

34. The fact that this story is in the Daily Mail and not, say, the New England Journal of Medicine

causes me to pause before drawing too many conclusions.