November 27, 2009 – Europe has yet to come up with a unified approach to medical marijuana. The Dutch will tell you it is legal to use the drug to treat certain illnesses; while the Swedish don’t recognize any medical use for cannabis at all.

“European policy is not really changing at all and I don’t think this issue is even on the European agenda. The topic is too controversial and too political,” said Catherine Sandvos, a legal expert for the Hague-based Cannabis Bureau, a Dutch national agency aimed at providing high-quality cannabis for medical purposes.

Ms. Sandvos’s native Netherlands has led Europe when it comes to legalizing medical marijuana, which it treats separately from marijuana legally available at one of Amsterdam’s famous coffee shops. The Dutch police stopped enforcing laws against marijuana in 1976 following an overall tolerance policy in the country. “It’s hard when you try to explain to outsiders that it is illegal to grow cannabis in the Netherlands, but that it is tolerated to buy it,” she says.

But those who buy the drug on the streets are not getting the quality severely ill patients would need. The Dutch government set up the Cannabis Bureau — the only institution of its kind in the continent — in September 2003.

“The state realized that so many people wanted to use cannabis, so it said ‘why not give it to them via prescription instead of them accessing the drug illegally,’ ” Ms. Sandvos added.

The Cannabis Bureau ensures that patients who have a prescription from a doctor are getting marijuana that has been tested to make sure it doesn’t contain any pesticides or bacteria. Not only does the Cannabis Bureau sell cannabis across all pharmacies in the Netherlands through a prescription, but it also distributes the drug to Italy, Finland and Germany through the Ministry of Health of each country. According to the agency’s data, it sells around 100 kilos of cannabis every year.

The situation couldn’t be more different in the U.K., where it is unlawful to self-medicate cannabis regardless of the disease people suffer from. In 2005, Barry Quayle and Reay Wales, who were both afflicted by serious and chronic conditions, found no relief in prescription drugs and turned to cannabis to alleviate their pain. But a U.K. court ruled against them.

“The whole debate in relation to the use of cannabis for medical purposes is highly politicized,” said Daniel Godden, an associate solicitor for Hodge Jones & Allen LLP in London. Those who say marijuana is relatively safe can face severe political consequences. Last month, Professor David Nutt, the British government’s chief drug adviser, was removed from his post after he said the drug was less harmful than alcohol.

Favorable views toward cannabis face opposition from some local politicians and international lobbying groups. Jorgen Sviden, director of Stockholm-based European Cities Against Drugs, which represents 261 cities in 30 countries, isn’t convinced of the drug’s medical qualities.

“In principle, we don’t have an argument against cannabis as a treatment, but we haven’t seen any scientific evidence that provides a convincing argument for its medical use,” he said. “If in the future we come across proof that cannabis is a good treatment, then this is good.”

Some initiatives have managed to stay away from the political debate, however. The U.K. happens to be home to GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, which manufactures a drug based on marijuana extract — Sativex. Although it has some ingredients that derived from the actual drug, it has been treated by the U.K.’s regulators as a medicine like any other as it doesn’t contain the psychotropic substances marijuana does. The company is preparing to launch the drug into other parts of Europe, in partnership with Germany’s Bayer AG and Spain’s Almirall SA.

GW is hoping to sell its product, which will treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, across all countries in Europe but has initially filed for a license in the U.K. and Spain so far. Paul Cuddon, an analyst with KBC Peel Hunt in London, says he expects the drug to win approval in both countries in the first half of 2010 and then the firm will file for individual approval in each country.

“I’m not anticipating any legal problems in the rest of Europe at all,” Mr. Cuddon added. “This is a treatment that is highly different from raw cannabis and it has undergone rigorous chemical trials.”

Other countries have tough stances, however. Ireland, for example, doesn’t recognize marijuana as a drug with medical benefits. This means that manufacturing, producing, selling or possessing cannabis is unlawful for any purpose. The Ministry of Health is the only government branch that can grant an exception, but a spokesman said it never has.

Noel McCullagh, 34, has learned this the hard way. An Irish citizen, Mr. McCullagh lives in the Netherlands, where he uses cannabis medication to treat the severe effects of his muscular dystrophy. However, Irish authorities have warned him that he will be arrested if he enters his native country in possession if cannabis-based treatment.

In Sweden, the law doesn’t recognize the cannabis to have any medical use.

Beyond the debate of marijuana’s use, Dr. Willem Scholten, of the World Health Organization, believes patients should have access to high-quality medicine. So if cannabis has medical attributions, “there needs to be a system in place to ensure that patients get their medicine without any contamination and that they get the same content every time.”

Despite the radically different approaches in Europe, some believe the continent will eventually adopt it as a medical treatment.

“I can imagine European citizens will eventually think cannabis is a good medicine and that it should be accessible to people who suffer from serious pain as a result of HIV, multiple sclerosis or other grave illnesses,” said Brendan Hughes, senior legal analyst of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon. By JAVIER ESPINOZA. Source.

September 22, 2009 – The healing properties of cannabis have long been touted amongst the British cannabis community, who have done everything in their power to bring word of the cancer curing properties of cannabis to a wider audience. And at face value it would be fair to expect the worlds press to get pretty excited over even ‘a suspicion’ of a cure for cancer, a disease which will strike down almost 1 in every 2 people.

Cannabis can cure certain types of cancer. So why are we not researching it further? Because the pharma industry cannot get a patent on a plant so law enforcement holds the patent whilst the pharma’s try to build a chemical version..and that’s no longer good enough to keep it outlawed.

Unfortunately that’s not the case. Cancer is on the rise statistically, yet the people who control health issues at a national and international level (the pharmaceutical industry), are simply not prepared to let it be known that people can cure their own ailments, as it would cost them trillions of dollars in over-the-counter pain-relief sales, amongst a great many other products which cannabis has been proven as a safe, natural alternative.

Indeed Canadian Rick Simpson went one further. Instead of telling people about it, he started to use a cannabis-derived oil to cure his own skin-cancer. A cancer his doctor had attempted (and failed) to cure using more mainstream methods like strong drugs and surgery.

Its a truly mind-blowing story which explains in laymans terms the lengths which the establishment surrounding pharmaceutical drugs, will go to stop news of this getting out. Even going so far as to close down a Canadian Legion office and sacking the entire management team for promoting Rick Simpsons marijuana based hemp-oil.

Rumour has it the pharmaceutical industry is attempting to synthesise the active ingredients in cannabis so they may make use of its healing properties whilst at the same time, keeping it firmly outlawed, to stop people treating themselves. Just another conspiracy theory?

Remember Spice artificial cannabis? Which got banned recently?

JWH-018
Inhibition of human tumour prostate PC-3 cell growth by cannabinoids R(+)-Methanandamide and JWH-015 (a close relation to the now banned JWH-018)

According to Christopher P Evans M.D, who is a Contributing Editor with UroToday.Com, “Investigators have found that JWH-015 inhibited human prostate cancer cell xenograft growth in mice. The study’s conclusion is that CB2 receptor agonists have potential therapeutic application in the treatment of human prostate cancer.

So it turns out the active ingredient in Spice artificial cannabis could have cancer curing properties as a result of its ability to ‘tweak’ our in built CB1 and CB2 receptors. A tweak which is necessary to shut down the processes cancer cells need to multiply and grow. And this is the key issue.

“Cancer occurs because cells become immortalized; they fail to heed normal signals to turn off growth. A normal function of remodelling in the body requires that cells die on cue. This is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death”, says Manuel Guzman of Madrid University.

He Continued, “That process fails to work in tumors. But THC promotes its reappearance so that gliomas, leukemias, melanomas and other cell types will in fact heed the signals, stop dividing, and die.”

Dr. Ethan Russo , a neurologist, concurs.

“And, that is not all,” explains Dr. Russo: “The other way that tumors grow is by ensuring that they are nourished: they send out signals to promote angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. Cannabinoids turn off these signals as well. It is truly incredible, and elegant.”

Which brings us back to Rick simpson’s hemp oil. A concoction which would see you facing a 5 year prison term in the United Kingdom, and 14 years if you decided to share your oil with a relative who may be dying of cancer.

Simpsons Hemp Oil has cleared a skin cancer re-occurrence after only 4 days, on his own cancer. A cancer which his doctor could not cure. Simpson also has a whole video-library of statements recorded by people who say they have been cured of cancer by Rick Simpson’s hemp oil.

So if you or a loved one are suffering with any form of cancer please please PLEASE write to your elected representative and ask why we are not supporting research into cannabis and its medical applications.

The clock is ticking for many people. Source.

Please also see: Hemp Prohibition – A Crime Against Humanity