Effects Of Marijuana And Its Effects On Cancer Cells

The process by which ∆^9–Tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC, a major component of Cannabis sativa, has been found to possess anti-tumor properties of many cancer types. However, the use of THC is limited; particularly its usage during chemotherapy due to its psychotropic activity, the ability to affect mental activity, behavior, or perception. In addition, the exact mechanism in which THC produces this activity is not fully known. For these reasons, there has been debate about its incorporation as a common treatment for cancer. There is growing evidence that some pharmacological effects of marijuana are due to Cannabis components other than THC. C. sativa contains at least 400 chemical components, 66 of which have been†¦show more content†¦Still, in the case of the endocannabinoid anandamide, it has been shown to produce its effects on cancerous cell growth via a mechanism utilizing the transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 (TRPV1) receptor s and noncannabinoid, nonvanilloid receptors ¹. Furthermore, cannabidiol supposedly inhibits growth of glioma through a completely and independent mechanism in vitro and in vivo. Today, cannabinoids have been effectively used to treat the two most prominent side effects of chemotherapy: nausea and vomiting. The main reason that the use of THC is slim in the future is principally due to the effects it produces within the central nervous system. These effects include: perceptual abnormalities, occasionally hallucinations, dysphoria, abnormal thinking, depersonalization, and somnolence (long periods of sleepiness or drowsiness). ¹ One way to dodge these effects is in the use of non-THC plant cannabinoids, which do not seem to produce psychotropic effects. Canabidiol, for example, is considered to be nonpsychotropic. A proposed method cannabidiol allays this effect is by preventing its usual conversion to the more psychoactive 11-hydroxy-THC. Recently, scientists have found that systematic variations in constituents of THC (i.e., cannabidiol and cannabichromene) do not affect the behavioral or neurophysiological responses to marijuana ¹