420 with CNW — NIH to Fund Studies Exploring Mar
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published a notice calling on interested researchers to apply for funding to facilitate studies related to the role cannabis can play in various aspects of cancer treatment. In that notice, the federal agency revealed that one out of every four patients with cancer report using marijuana products in order to manage the symptoms they experience. These symptoms include pain, nausea and anorexia. However, NIH points out that despite these reasons for using marijuana, there is scant research about its efficacy and any potential risks that the cancer patients may be exposing themselves to.
The funding is therefore intended to promote studies geared at understanding the different mechanisms through which cannabinoids and cannabis in general influence cancer biology, interception and treatment as well as cancer resistance. Studies looking into oncology symptom management also qualify for the federal funding.
The notice also delves into an overview of existing studies exploring marijuana’s relationship with cancer. According to the NIH, the present epidemiological studies on cancer and marijuana haven’t yielded consistent or definitive findings. For instance, some studies suggest that smoking marijuana exposes an individual to harmful compounds, but no study has so far been able to demonstrate a link between smoking marijuana and increased cases of lung cancer.
The National Institutes of Health also provides eight areas of interest that qualify for funding by the federal agency. These include how ethnicity or sex disparities manifest when cannabinoids and marijuana are being used to treat cancer or manage the symptoms triggered by cancer treatment; developing relevant study models through which a better understanding of the role of marijuana in cancer treatment can be attained; and defining the exact effects that marijuana/cannabinoids have on the treatment of cancer, among other study areas.
There is a rider stipulating that the list of eight items isn’t exhaustive and that scientists looking into any other aspect of marijuana in the treatment of cancer can apply, especially those planning to make use of expertise drawn from diverse disciplines and those making use of highly rated study models that are relevant to humans.
Despite the federal government’s insistence that marijuana remains classified under Schedule 1 of the CSA, many federal agencies are intensifying their efforts in supporting research aimed at documenting the therapeutic effects and possible side effects of marijuana. Such federally funded studies could go a long way toward gathering evidence that can be used to push for a reclassification or even legalization of cannabis, at least for medicinal purposes.
As more data becomes available about the therapeutic effects of marijuana, companies that make products easing the cultivation of this and other plants, such as Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX), could register a surge in demand as more jurisdictions permit cannabis home grows.
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