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| Cannabis Joins Battle of The Bulge |
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Posted by CN Staff on September 07, 2005 at 15:24:35 PT By Alok Jha, Science Correspondent Source: Guardian Unlimited 
United Kingdom -- Scientists have unveiled an unlikely weapon in the battle against the bulge: cannabis. More specifically, one of its key ingredients, which has been found to suppress appetite.Anyone who has ever inhaled will know the feeling: an inescapable desire to eat everything in sight, a state called the munchies. It stems from the action of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the active ingredients in cannabis, on specific appetite-control receptors in the brain. The chemical also causes the body to lay down more fat. But Roger Pertwee, a neuropharmacologist at Aberdeen University, said yesterday at the British Association festival of science that there is more to the cannabis story. "We've discovered to our surprise that cannabis, as well as containing a drug that boosts appetite, contains a drug which has a blocking effect," said Professor Pertwee. "The work so far has been working with tissue and we've yet to see what this drug does when we give it to a whole organism and what it does when we give it to humans." The drug, known as tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), works on the same receptors as THC but has entirely the opposite effect. The research will be published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. THCV is not the first appetite suppressant to be inspired by cannabis. The drug Rimonabant works by blocking the brain receptors that the body's own cannabinoid compounds - released when we comfort eat - attach themselves to. Because the cannabinoids do not reach the receptors in a person taking Rimonabant, they will feel less compulsion to eat. Why THCV does not manifest itself to people who smoke cannabis is a mystery, but Prof Pertwee said it might have something to do with the proportions of the various ingredients in the drug. "The relative proportions of THC and THCV vary from cannabis to cannabis," he said. "There is a large amount of THCV in Pakistani cannabis, which is the one used to make a medicine called 'tincture of cannabis'. That contained about equal amounts of THC and THCV." Prof Pertwee said that there were several promising medicinal compounds to be derived from cannabis, both for boosting the effects of the body's own cannabinoids and for blocking them. Boosting the cannabinoids could bring pain relief, for example, and relieve spasms for sufferers of multiple sclerosis. Prof Pertwee added that there was also evidence that the compounds had a protective effect against cancer. As well as controlling appetite, developing drugs that block the body's cannabinoids could help people to quit smoking by stopping nicotine having any effect on the brain. Note: The drug that gives smokers the munchies could also suppress hunger. Newshawk: Siege CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #23 posted by dongenero on September 08, 2005 at 07:28:07 PT |
| "Just say no to critical thought" is the DEA's message. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #22 posted by dongenero on September 08, 2005 at 07:27:11 PT |
| So, they are saying how well alcohol prohibition worked and what a great program it was? Next these idiots will be saying what a great president Nixon was.......oops the neo-cons are already saying that! May the DEA's idiotic web sites lanquish with zero hits. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #21 posted by mayan on September 08, 2005 at 05:50:59 PT |
| People couldn't be so incompetent if they tried. Just as 9/11 intelligence "failures" led to the beast known as the Department of Homeland Security and also gave us the Patriot Act, it seems that the Katrina "failure" will breed a whole new beast in an expanded FEMA. Ruppert has been dead on since before 9/11... GREEKS BEARING GIFTS: Paul Krugman at the New York Times and Clinton FEMA Director James Lee Witt Leading America Into the Next Slaughter - By Michael C. Ruppert: http://copvcia.com/free/ww3/090605_greeks_gifts.shtml I just now found this next link and I can't believe it. Actually, it IS a system that rewards failure... FEMA chief fired from previous job: Michael Brown oversaw horse shows, had no significant disaster experience: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46155 Interesting... Chertoff's Wife Worked For FEMA During Big Budget Cuts: http://rense.com/general67/eife.htm Such secrecy... Republicans block efforts to amend relief bill, hold vote without providing copy of bill: http://tinyurl.com/7wdvj The Wayne Madsen Report is saying that a loose barge broke one levee but the msm isn't reporting it, not to my knowledge... http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/ I have a hunch that FEMA and DHS may be in the business of population control(reduction). Frightening times considering the deaths of dozens of the world's foremost microbioligists in just the last couple years. If the CDC is anything like these other government agencies we are all doomed. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #20 posted by potpal on September 08, 2005 at 05:39:34 PT |
| Johnny White's is passing out the booze. Who's passing out the herb? Man, a ton of pot is called for, imho. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4224020.stm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #19 posted by CorvallisEric on September 08, 2005 at 00:51:44 PT |
| Thanks Hope. You reminded me of a fascinating story on NPR (interview with John Morgan, co-author of "Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts"):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1429476 More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_leg Similar story about an illegal opiate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPTP [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #18 posted by CorvallisEric on September 08, 2005 at 00:05:44 PT |
| Isn't THCV also prominent in "Durban Poison" and some other African strains? I think they also have a high THC to CBD ratio. Having THCV as a _major_ 3rd independently-acting component of cannabis (in addition to THC and CBD) makes everything a whole lot more complicated and interesting. The NORML Canada statement (comment 11) is one of the best I've ever seen. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #17 posted by BGreen on September 07, 2005 at 23:09:56 PT |
| I've just got this horrible feeling after seeing victim after victim relating their hellish nightmare that post traumatic stress disorder is going to give way to a marked increase in alcohol abuse and addiction. I can also see the booze industry profits and stock values skyrocket, so there's no way that they'll outlaw another cash cow. The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 23:01:15 PT |
| I've been worried about them trying to prohibit alcohol again. You'd think that surely they would know better than to bring all that trouble upon the nation and the world again. I wouldn't doubt them trying it though. There are groups that want just that. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 22:58:13 PT |
| jake leg. n : a paralysis caused by drinking improperly distilled or contaminated liquor. (Named for a product called Jake, which was a Jamaican ginger extract.) It wasn't a temporary paralysis, either. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #14 posted by BGreen on September 07, 2005 at 22:54:05 PT |
| Reading between the lines I'd say what they mean is "we're coming after you alcohol drinkers next." Why in the world since hurricane katrina and our murderous presidential inaction do I constantly hear Jim Morrison's voice in my head singing "This is the end?" I feel like I'm trapped in "Apocalypse Now." BTW, seeing Harry Connick, Jr. carrying people to their safety, as well as all of the musicians and actors who are putting their money and bodies right in the middle of the disaster to save people, it makes me proud to be a "liberal musician." The politicians ridiculed us during the last election, but now who's looking like damned worthless, incompetent fools? The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 22:50:25 PT |
| of the infamous plague of "jake leg" that was brought about by
prohibition of alcohol, too. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by Shishaldin on September 07, 2005 at 22:18:22 PT |
| This is my favorite (from http://www.justthinktwice.com/factfiction/index.cfm): "A word about prohibition: lots of you hear the argument that alcohol prohibition failed---so why are drugs still illegal? Prohibition DID work. Alcohol consumption was reduced by almost 60% and incidents of liver cirrhosis and deaths from this disease dropped dramatically (Scientific American, 1996, by David Musto). Today, alcohol consumption is over three times greater than during the Prohibition years. Alcohol use is legal, except for kids under 21, and it causes major problems, especially in drunk driving accidents." So, Prohibition DID work, huh? Protected all those folks from cirrhosis of the liver. That's great! Too bad it didn't protect them from the hot lead poisonings from the machine guns of criminals or from being blinded or killed by ingesting wood alcohol. Whoops, forgot that part...idiots. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by afterburner on September 07, 2005 at 20:43:04 PT |
| NORML Canada Official Statement of Principles http://www.normlcanada.org/article78.html
[ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by runderwo on September 07, 2005 at 19:59:26 PT |
| All I can say is I hope they give alcohol equal time on that web site. Something tells me they won't. I don't suppose it occurred to them that the teenagers would have called 911 or went for parental help if they knew they wouldn't be going to JAIL for trying to help someone who overdosed? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 18:45:28 PT |
| "...cannabis blocker...like the Rimonabant." Should have said, "cannabinoid receptor blocker...like the Rimonabant." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by mayan on September 07, 2005 at 18:26:20 PT |
| You said... "If they spend 90 Billion to help New Orleans, shouldn't they send the full 100B and quit the discredited persecution of what God created and said is good on literally the very 1st page of the Bible? Quit burning money (that is not meant to be burned), to stop Us from burning fresh plant material that is meant be burned." It is beyond time to switch to a renewable,sustainable energy/material/food based economy. It is all relevant to what is happening now. It is so obvious after Katrina that we are headed for unfathomable disaster if we continue down this road. How much will we tolerate? It's Not Just New Orleans That Needs Rebuilding: http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050904221329705 The Real State of the Union After Hurricane Katrina: http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050905192435867 Bacteriologist and Government Insider Claims Oklahoma City and 9/11 Both 'Inside Jobs': http://www.arcticbeacon.citymaker.com/articles/article/1518131/32853.htm Top Officials, Leaders State 9/11 Possibly an Inside Job: http://www.wanttoknow.info/050908insidejob911 Cash payoffs, bonds and murder linked to White House 9/11 finance: http://www.tomflocco.com/fs/FinancialTerrorism.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 18:15:00 PT |
| society equates smoking a plant with murder and other heinous acts. It's completely unreasonable. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 18:12:35 PT |
| The other article at http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=1900542005 says Pertwee's stuff is a cannabis blocker...like the Rimonabant. The stuff sounds to me like it could block pleasure in all and any things, as well as suppress the body's own pain suppressant, and that sounds like a bad idea. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 07, 2005 at 18:09:52 PT |
| Cannabis has never directly killed anyone. They worry about Cannabis but what about the toxic chemicals in the water in New Orleans? No one will be arrested for contaminating the water with chemicals down there. I don't know why if it is a health concern or so they say why the standards aren't for all things that can cause harm. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 18:01:55 PT |
| Ever since I realized there was such a thing as cancer...I have been very concerned about it. For me, this isn't about "getting to use pot"...it's about "stopping them from hurting people who do use pot"...but this one...the cancer stuff...makes me have a resentment of the prohibition for another reason. I think, "How dare they?"...but I've thought that about cannabis prohibition for some time. Along with "How can they?" and "Why would they?" [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Hope on September 07, 2005 at 17:53:03 PT |
| As Kap would say, "We've talked about this for years here at CNews." I'm one of the people who stayed slimmer more easily when I smoked cannabis. I was like a kid that was just "too busy to eat". (only I wasn't a kid) It had a stimulating while at the same time relaxing, appetite suppressing effect on me until I "came down". If I smoked it throughout a day, if I had a day at home or somewhere where I could, then I wouldn't have the "munchies" until I quit smoking for the day or evening or whatever. Oddly enough, and for several reasons, I usually made wiser choices more regularly about my foods than I do when not using cannabis. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 07, 2005 at 17:12:03 PT |
| I read about the new web site. I posted a press release somewhere but I'm not sure where right now. I hope adults pay attention to what is taught to their children. It really is the parents responsibility to teach their children about drugs and the associated risks. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by The GCW on September 07, 2005 at 16:55:07 PT |
| Just saw this and right away want to say something... http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1443/a02.html?397 Pubdate: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) US CO: DEA Launches Web Site To Curb Teen Drug Use THCU They use the word DRUG DRUG DRUG, but the only mention of any drug isn't even a drug at all; it's a plant; and the name they use to describe the plant is a Mexican slang term. Marijuana as described by the government doesn't fit the discription of cannabis. They ARE implying... Any bites comes from the most ignorant of society; anyone with any intel, can see, hear and smell the evil eminating from the government, here. If they spend 90 Billion to help New Orleans, shouldn't they send the full 100B and quit the discredited persecution of what God created and said is good on literally the very 1st page of the Bible? Quit burning money (that is not meant to be burned), to stop Us from burning fresh plant material that is meant be burned. [ Post Comment ] |
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