Used for thousands of years for everything, everyone knows that. But what about the research part of it? Marijuana Research History - When did the first case studies of medical cannabis begin and what were these studies?
Suppression of Nerve Growth Factor Trk Receptors and Prolactin Receptors by Endocannabinoids Leads to Inhibition of Human Breast and Prostate Cancer Cell Proliferation
Anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), two endogenousligands of the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptor subtypes, inhibitthe proliferation of PRL-responsive human breast cancer cells(HBCCs) through down-regulation of the long form of the PRLreceptor (PRLr). Here we report that 1) anandamide and 2-AGinhibit the nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced proliferationof HBCCs through suppression of the levels of NGF Trk receptors;2) inhibition of PRLr levels results in inhibition of the proliferationof other PRL-responsive cells, the prostate cancer DU-145 cellline; and 3) CB1-like cannabinoid receptors are expressed inHBCCs and DU-145 cells and mediate the inhibition of cell proliferationand Trk/PRLr expression. ß-NGF-induced HBCC proliferationwas potently inhibited (IC50 = 50–600 nM) by the syntheticcannabinoid HU-210, 2-AG, anandamide, and its metabolicallystable analogs, but not by the anandamide congener, palmitoylethanolamide,or the selective agonist of CB2 cannabinoid receptors, BML-190.The effect of anandamide was blocked by the CB1 receptor antagonist,SR141716A, but not by the CB2 receptor antagonist, SR144528.Anandamide and HU-210 exerted a strong inhibition of the levelsof NGF Trk receptors as detected by Western immunoblotting;this effect was reversed by SR141716A. When induced by exogenousPRL, the proliferation of prostate DU-145 cells was potentlyinhibited (IC50 = 100–300 nM) by anandamide, 2-AG, andHU-210. Anandamide also down-regulated the levels of PRLr inDU-145 cells. SR141716A attenuated these two effects of anandamide.HBCCs and DU-145 cells were shown to contain 1) transcriptsfor CB1 and, to a lesser extent, CB2 cannabinoid receptors, 2)specific binding sites for [3H]SR141716A that could be displacedby anandamide, and 3) a CB1 receptor-immunoreactive protein. Thesefindings suggest that endogenous cannabinoids and CB1 receptor agonistsare potential negative effectors of PRL- and NGF-induced biologicalresponses, at least in some cancer cells.
Since the drug war has become so unpopular with the electorate, instead
of politicians actually changing the drug laws, the Department of
Defense seeks to reduce and conceal the real costs by transferring the
"dirty work" to private contractors to do what "U.S. military forces are
not allowed or not encouraged to do." ~ Eric Blair
The BBC (in Spanish) is reporting
that the U.S. Department of Defense is delegating the war on drugs to
private mercenary companies.
Video - Radio Host Alex Jones Addresses The Scam
Of those companies, the increasingly
infamous organization previously known as Blackwater is said to have
received several multimillion-dollar government contracts for "providing
advice, training and conducting operations in drug producing countries
and those with links to so-called "narco-terrorism" including Latin
America."
The "no bid" contracts, issued under the
Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office's $15 billion dollar
budget, are described as "non-specific" and are said to be "juicy" for
the private contractors. The Pentagon says "the details of each cost in
very general contracts do not go through bidding processes."
An unnamed analyst says "the responsibility of the public and national
security changing from a state's duty to be a private business...has
become the trend of the future."
Although parts of the drug war have been privatized for years,
the BBC reports this "transfer" of responsibilities is an attempt to
placate those looking for Pentagon budget cuts in an election year.
According to Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
(COHA), "the drug war is unpopular and has no political weight except
in an election year like this, so the Department of Defense wants to
remove that spending from their accounts."
"They surreptitiously want to reduce anti-drug budget by transferring it to private agencies," said Birns.
Bruce Bagley, head of International Studies at the University of Miami,
agrees with Birns that the main reason for privatizing the drug war is
to sidestep "the high political cost."
But this move is not without risk, as private mercenaries have known to
operate outside of national and international laws. "Here we go into a
vague area where the rules of engagement are not clear and there is
almost zero accountability to the public or the electorate," said
Bagley.
The Pentagon maintains that it's perfectly legal, and mercenaries must
follow strict parameters. However, Bagley points out that "few members
of the Oversight Committees of the Senate and the House are aware, but
they are required to keep secret, so all this flies under the radar."
There are concerns that contractors acting independently will threaten
the sovereignty of the "key countries" in which they will operate. The
Pentagon says the largest efforts will occur in Latin America including
Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, Colombia and other Andean countries.
Professor Bagley says these private armies could "generate a nationalist
backlash if the public came to realize the situation" of operations in
their countries.
Once again, the war on drugs creates the opportunity to place troops in
countries where having American soldiers would be politically
disadvantageous, or simply impossible.
Ultimately, the Pentagon claims they will save money because private
contractors don't have the bureaucracy and hierarchy involved in
operations and because "if any of its employees dies, they are
responsible."
Apparently, humanity is the last concern for the Pentagon budget, which
always seems to have plenty of money for advanced weapons systems (also
privatized), but is consistently lacking in benefits for its veterans.
By privatizing the drug war, they no longer have to concern themselves
with paying for benefits for warriors who pledge allegiance to the
United States and take an oath to defend its Constitution.
As the war on drugs is increasingly viewed as a money-draining failure,
it's unlikely that this move to privatize it will succeed in anything
but creating demand for more government allocated profit, thus fueling
its continuance through corporate lobbying to prevent a political end to
such lunacy.
Inhibition of skin tumor growth and angiogenesis
in vivo by activation of cannabinoid receptors
Nonmelanoma skin cancer is one of the most common malignanciesin humans. Different therapeutic strategies for the treatmentof these tumors are currently being investigated. Given thegrowth-inhibiting effects of cannabinoids on gliomas and thewide tissue distribution of the two subtypes of cannabinoidreceptors (CB1 and CB2), we studied the potential utility ofthese compounds in anti–skin tumor therapy. Here we showthat the CB1 and the CB2 receptor are expressed in normal skinand skin tumors of mice and humans.
In cell culture experimentspharmacological activation of cannabinoid receptors inducedthe apoptotic death of tumorigenic epidermal cells, whereasthe viability of nontransformed epidermal cells remained unaffected.Local administration of the mixed CB1/CB2 agonist WIN-55,212-2or the selective CB2 agonist JWH-133 induced a considerablegrowth inhibition of malignant tumors generated by inoculationof epidermal tumor cells into nude mice.
Cannabinoid-treatedtumors showed an increased number of apoptotic cells. This wasaccompanied by impairment of tumor vascularization, as determinedby altered blood vessel morphology and decreased expressionof proangiogenic factors (VEGF, placental growth factor, andangiopoietin 2). Abrogation of EGF-R function was also observedin cannabinoid-treated tumors. These results support a new therapeuticapproach for the treatment of skin tumors.
