Cannabis Nurse Truths

Our endocannabinoid system is primarily responsible for maintaining homeostasis, which is our body's balance of the internal environment against the external environment, and all living systems have an endocannabinoid system.  Since the 1930s, our body's endocannabinoid system has lain dormant, as many of the processes in regulation of all of our body's systems require regular care and feeding.  The issue at hand is - what do we feed this system with?
Well, as you can guess, we feed this system with endocannabinoids, either from our body or from a plant. A plant that is especially designed to interact with the systems for balancing and regulating our bodies to either maintain health or prevent disease. In this episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths, we explore Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency and why science is now making the case that we all carry this problem. 

We used to think that baseball was America's favorite pastime, but that was decades ago. and something besides baseball fans started showing up at every stadium across the country.  America's favorite pastime can be in every stadium, at every event, at every neighborhood soccer game, and in every refrigerator or pantry across the country.
Our NEW favorite pastime is alcohol, and use of cannabis with alcohol has created some new challenges and surprising evidence related to co-use of both substances.  On today's episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths, we share the good, the bad, and the ugly effects of co-mingling alcohol with cannabis. 

A diagnosis of cancer is a very scary thing. The standard treatment for cancer is chemotherapy, however, this is especially problematic because usually there is a narrow therapeutic window and potential for serious toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs.  Additionally, several cancer types have been found to be drug resistant.  The cannabis plant produces hundreds of compounds with potential therapeutic properties, and many of them have been found to kill cancer and prevent cancer from spreading.
In this episode of CNT, we highlight ongoing important questions - how does cannabis affect chemotherapy treatment and more importantly, why aren't we already integrating these cannabinoids into cancer treatment protocols? 

Over the past several episodes, we have presented how cannabis affects cancer cells: they are hunted by the body's immune system, they commit suicide, they lose their blood vessels, and they are prevented from being born.  Cancer cells contain cannabinoid receptors, and it is for this reason that the endocannabinoid system is an attractive target for pharmacological intervention in the treatment of cancer.
In this episode of CNT, we highlight the effects of cannabinoids on cancer migration and invasion, stopping the spread throughout the body.  The only question remaining is, why aren't we using these compounds in every cancer treatment?

Cannabis and cancer have a love-hate relationship.  Cancer loves cannabis because it gives people the munchies and it's the munchies that feed the cancer cells that cause them to thrive and metastasize.  However, cannabis hates cancer, and in our previous episodes, we have reviewed how cannabis causes cancer cells to commit suicide, helps your body decide which cancer cells to eliminate, and tells your body to stop allowing the growth of cancer cells altogether. 
In this episode of CNT, we review the process of angiogenesis, which is the body's natural way to grow new blood vessels to sustain new cells.  But when cannabis enters the picture, that process of growing new blood vessels is exactly how cannabis strangles cancer cells by blocking new blood vessel growth.  This is just another incredible natural way in which cannabis kills cancer cells. 

It is well-established that the uncontrolled cellular growth of cancer is related to its cell cycle process, where cancer cells rapidly divide and spread.  Interrupting the cell cycle of cancer cells is one of the hallmarks of cancer treatment, through chemotherapy or radiation therapy. 
One of the most exciting and promising areas of current cannabinoid research is the ability of these compounds to control cell survival and death decisions involved in cancer cell cycle.  This makes cannabinoids a valid cancer treatment with one unique distinction - cannabinoids discriminate between healthy cells and diseased cancer cells. In this episode of CNT, we review the cell cycle process and why cannabinoids help your body stop cancer cells from even being born. 

The stories are true - Cannabis kills cancer.  Well, that's not quite accurate.  Cannabis helps your BODY kill cancer by signaling it to seek out and destroy cancer cells through a process known as autophagy, where the body naturally removes and recycles damaged or dysfunctional cellular components.  In other words, cannabis helps your own immune system find dysfunctional cells and then the body does what it does best - defend itself against dysfunctional cancer cells by destroying them. 
In this episode of CNT, we review the amazing process of autophagy and how cannabis naturally influences this process, without side effects, and with a high degree of discrimination. 

Have you heard rumors that cannabis can cure cancer? Yes, the stories are true. Researchers are now intensely investigating cannabis and the cannabinoids within the plant for their anti-tumor, anti-proliferative properties.  While cannabis has been used (and approved) by the FDA for symptom management associated with cancer treatment, studies now highlight how cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, CBC, THCV, and THC can cause the death of cancer cells in addition to use as an adjuvant treatment that synergizes chemotherapy medications. 
In this episode of CNT, we review the ongoing research related to cannabinoids that influence the process of apoptosis, a form of programmed cell suicide, which signals the cancer cell to kill itself while having no adverse effects on normal, healthy cells. 

The US Attorney General has published the proposal to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.  While the move to a lesser-controlled category is a move in the right direction, the implications of rescheduling cannabis at this level also will create a myriad of concerns and conflicts with state-run dispensaries and individuals freedoms related to access. 
On this episode of CNT, we review the consequences of federally-controlled cannabis, which has the potential to disrupt every facet of American culture.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, after a recommendation by the Department of Health and Human Services, has indicated it will be moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III in the Controlled Substances Act. This proposed move cannabis to a lower schedule supports what science has indicated after 80 years of research - cannabis is medicine with a low potential for abuse and harm. 
But in reality, rescheduling will only benefit businesses and the medical industrial complex.  Why? Schedule III drugs are still under the control of the DEA and more significantly, Big Pharma. In this episode, we highlight the potential good, bad, and downright ugly repercussions of this proposed rescheduling.