Tag: medical marijuana

CBD Oil Fails to Improve Symptom Control in Advanced Cancer

Has the hype outpaced the evidence when it comes to cannabis? A new clinical trial fails to show any benefit of CBD oil in patients with advanced cancer.

/ January 19, 2023

Marijuana Beliefs Outstrip Evidence

There is a lot of hype surrounding medical marijuana, but the clinical science is very preliminary. The risks and benefits have not been researched enough to make science-based recommendations.

/ July 25, 2018

Medical Marijuana: Where is the evidence?

Marijuana is widely touted as an effective medicine for an array of conditions. But what does the evidence actually tell us?

/ January 11, 2018

Medical marijuana as the new herbalism, part 4: Cannabis for autism

Medical marijuana. It’s promoted as a seeming panacea that can cure whatever ails you. While there are potentially useful medicinal compounds in marijuana, in general the medical marijuana movement vastly oversells the promise. Nowhere is this more true than for cancer and autism, where there is no compelling evidence that cannabis cures cancer. Worse, parents are subjecting autistic children to cannabis with...

/ August 3, 2015

Medical marijuana as the new herbalism, part 3: A “cannabis cures cancer” testimonial

Medical marijuana is often touted, primarily in the form of cannabis oil extract, as a cure for cancer that “they” don’t want you to know about. While some cannabinoids do have modest antitumor activity in vitro, there is no compelling evidence that cannabis can cure cancer. Yet that doesn't stop a proliferation of testimonials claiming that cannabis cured cancer. They are no...

/ March 16, 2015

Medical marijuana as the new herbalism, part 2: Cannabis does not cure cancer

Medical marijuana. It’s promoted as a seeming panacea that can cure whatever ails you. In particular, it's touted, primarily in the form of cannabis oil extract, as a cure for cancer that "they" don't want you to know about. While there are potentially useful medicinal compounds in marijuana, in general the medical marijuana movement vastly oversells the promise. While some cannabinoids do...

/ August 11, 2014

Medical marijuana as the new herbalism, part 1: Science versus the politics of weed in New York and beyond

Medical marijuana. It's promoted as a seeming panacea that can cure whatever ails you. While there are potentially useful medicinal compounds in marijuana, in general the medical marijuana movement vastly oversells the promise. The truth is far more prosaic and nuanced.

/ July 7, 2014

Hash Oil for Gliomas? What Would You Do?

A friend asked me to look at the evidence for hash oil as a treatment for glioma. His teenage daughter was recently diagnosed with brain cancer: a grade 3 anaplastic ependymoma. It recurred very rapidly after surgery and radiotherapy and the latest tissue diagnosis shows an aggressive grade IV glioma. Her prognosis is not good. No further attempts at curative therapy are...

/ May 3, 2011

Medical Marijuana: are we ready?

Cannabis has been used recreationally and medically for centuries. Despite long experience, relatively little is known about the risks and benefits of its use as a medication. A considerable portion of our ignorance can be attributed to government discouragement of cannabis research. Searching the NIH website brings up many studies of both cannabis abuse and cannabis as a therapeutic agent, but most...

/ November 23, 2009