Healthcare
Cannabis Users are Less Likely to Get Liver Cancer Says New Medical Study
Liver cancer is one of the fastest-growing cancers. Once you have it, liver cancer is a life-threatening condition and it can quickly turn fatal.
Primary liver cancer begins in the organ itself, while secondary cancer means that it has spread to the liver from another part of the body. Among the three kinds of primary liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form, followed by intrahepatic cancer then angiosarcoma. Liver cancer can be caused by several factors including fatty liver disease, diabetes, alcoholism, tobacco smoking, obesity, and toxic chemical exposure.
Though liver cancer mostly affects seniors aged 55 to 65, anyone can get liver cancer. The prognosis is 3 to 35, according to Cancer.org, depending on how far the cancer has progressed once it has been diagnosed.
However, new studies have shown that cannabis consumers are less likely to get liver cancer.
New data that has been published in Cureus, a medical journal, revealed that adults who have a recent history of marijuana consumption are twice less likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma compared to those who don’t have a history of cannabis use. To come up with these findings, researchers from Cleveland Clinic together with investigators at the Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC analyzed more than 1 million subjects as well as their cannabis consumption patterns and the prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma among them.
They reported that current marijuana consumers are “55 percent less likely to have HCC compared to non-cannabis users.”
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first and largest population-based cross-sectional study of hospitalized patients to explore the association between cannabis use and HCC…. Due to the cross-sectional structure of our study, we are unable to draw direct causation effects. Hence, we suggest prospective clinical studies to further understand the mechanism by which various active ingredients, particularly CBD in cannabis, may possibly regulate hepatocellular carcinoma development,” the authors concluded.
Other Studies
There have been other studies that echo these findings.
In 2018, a study analyzed around 320,000 participants all of whom had a history of alcohol abuse as well as marijuana. The researchers wanted to see if there was any correlation between alcohol and drugs on liver health. According to Dr. Terence Bukong, one of the study’s researchers: “The primary aim of our study was to assess the impact of cannabis use and the development of alcoholic liver disease,” he tells Healthline. “Given that no clinical studies had previously evaluated the impact of cannabis use and the development of progressive stages of alcoholic liver disease in humans, we thought that this was an important research area which needed urgent investigation,” he says.
Meanwhile, a study out of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered a way of treating liver cancer patients with chemotherapy straight into the affected cells while keeping the healthy cells intact. The method makes use of CBD together with a low dose of doxorubicin, a medicine commonly used in chemotherapy.
“Most anticancer treatments are not sufficiently specific, meaning they attack healthy cells together with the malignant ones they’re trying to get rid of,” says Prof. Alexander Binshtok, the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine and Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences head for Pain Plasticity Research. “This leads to many serious side effects associated with chemotherapy. Eliminating cancerous cells while leaving healthy ones alone is an important step toward reducing patients’ suffering,” he adds.
Doxorubicin works for the cancerous cells, though it also has negative side effects for liver and heart cells, which can even cause heart failure when used for liver cancer treatment, Binshtok told The Jerusalem Post.
Another study from 2020 shared similar findings – that cannabis users are generally less likely to contract cancer, compared to non-users.
A meta review conducted by Indiana University South Bend Departmental Chair & Professor of Biology, Dr. Thomas M. Clark, involved 34 varying research studies on marijuana and cancer. Using a statistical analysis, he was able to discover that cannabis users are generally healthier and had a smaller chance of getting cancer.
“The impact of cannabis use on cancer risk is of considerable interest,” Clark said. “Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. In the United States alone, >1.7 million diagnoses and 607,000 deaths are projected from cancer in 2019…. And cancer deaths were responsible for $94.4 billion in lost earnings in 2015,” he says.
The statistical analysis took all kinds of cancer into account, and they ended up concluding that cannabis use may actually decrease the risk for cancer by 10%. “Decreased cancer risk in cannabis users should not be surprising, as cannabis and cannabinoids decrease obesity, inhibit chronic inflammation, reduce fasting insulin levels and insulin sensitivity, and have direct antitumor actions,” Clark writes.
Conclusion
Cannabis is simply much more effective than pharmaceutical drugs because the compounds in the plant bind to our very own endocannabinoid system to provide holistic healing. Using cannabis as part of a healthy lifestyle not only aids in reducing stress and anxiety or helping us sleep better, but it also has long-term health benefits. Provided that one also lives a balanced lifestyle, exercises regularly, eats well, and avoids stress, the studies we have so far suggest that adding cannabis to your daily routine can help ward off deadly diseases such as cancer.
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed that cannabis odor does not constitute probable cause to search a vehicle.
If Minnesota police search a vehicle solely based upon the smell of pot, they can’t justify searching a vehicle, even if there is evidence found of other alleged crimes. Even after appealing a lower court decision to suppress the evidence—twice—the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed, and the dismissal of his charges stands.
In a ruling filed regarding a case the State of Minnesota Court of Appeals on Sept. 13, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed that cannabis odor does not constitute probable cause to search a vehicle.
The case has been ongoing for two years. On July 5, 2021, just before 10 p.m., a Litchfield police officer stopped a car for an obscure local law: the light bar mounted on the vehicle’s grill had more auxiliary driving lights than are permitted under Minnesota law. The officer asked the driver, Adam Lloyd Torgerson, for his license and registration. Torgerson, his wife, and his child were present in the vehicle. The officer stated that he smelled pot and asked Torgerson if there was any reason for the odor, which he initially denied. But cops found a lot more than just pot.
A backup officer was called in. The couple denied possessing any pot, but Torgerson admitted to smoking weed in the past. The second officer stated that the weed odor gave them probable cause to search the vehicle and ordered them to exit the vehicle. The first officer searched the vehicle and found a film canister, three pipes, and a small plastic bag in the center console. The plastic bag contained a white powder and the film canister contained meth, which was confirmed in a field test.
Torgenson was charged with possession of meth pipe in the presence of a minor and fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance after the unwarranted search of Torgerson’s vehicle.
Police Aren’t Allowed to Do That, Multiple Courts Rule
But the search had one major problem—cops weren’t searching for a meth pipe. They only searched his car because they could smell pot, and the meth and paraphernalia were a surprise for everyone. Still, they had no grounds to search the vehicle. The man’s charges were later dismissed after the district court determined the odor of cannabis alone was insufficient basis for probable cause to search the vehicle, regardless of whatever other drug paraphernalia they found.
The state appealed the case, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision. The case was appealed a second time, this time to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which agreed with the lower court’s ruling.
“This search was justified only by the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle,” the Minnesota Supreme Court decision reads. “Torgerson moved to suppress the evidence found during the search, arguing that the odor of marijuana, alone, is insufficient to create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. The district court granted Torgerson’s motion, suppressed the evidence, and dismissed the complaint. The State appealed. The court of appeals affirmed the district court’s suppression order. Because we conclude that the odor of marijuana emanating from a vehicle, alone, is insufficient to create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, we affirm.”
It amounts to basic human rights that apply—regardless of whether or not a person is addicted to drugs.
Other States do Precisely the Same Regarding Pot Odor as Probably Cause
An Illinois judge ruled in 2021 that the odor of cannabis is not sufficient grounds for police to search a vehicle without a warrant during a traffic stop.
Daniel J. Dalton, Associate Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit, issued a ruling in response to a motion to suppress evidence in the case of Vincent Molina, a medical cannabis patient arrested for cannabis possession last year.
In that case, Molina was arrested despite the decriminalization of small amounts of cannabis in Illinois in 2019 with the passage of the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
In some states, the issue of probable cause and cannabis was defined through bills.
Last April, the Maryland House of Delegates approved a bill that reduces the penalties for public cannabis consumption and bars police from using the odor of cannabis as the basis for the search of an individual or auto. Under Maryland’s House Bill 1071, law enforcement officers would be prohibited from using the odor of raw or burnt cannabis as probable cause to search a person or vehicle.
The rulings represent the rights of citizens when they are pulled over by police, even if there are hard drugs involved.
New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud
Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge
Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses
Pot Odor Does Not Justify Probable Cause for Vehicle Searches, Minnesota Court Affirms
New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud
Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses
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