Many cancer patients use “medical marijuana” to treat pain but die of cancer anyways.
And if weed can cure cancer, you’d think that daily pot smokers would never get the disease – even recreational users.
“There is no evidence that cannabis cures cancer,” says Jonathan Stegall, MD, an integrative oncologist and medical director for The Center for Advanced Medicine, an adult cancer treatment center in Alpharetta, GA.
There are no studies showing that the rate of cancer in pot smokers (either heavy or recreational) is amazingly low when compared to non-pot smokers.
In short, cannabis hasn’t even been shown to lower the risk of cancer.
If you want to lower your risk, increase your consumption of fresh produce and fiber, and get daily exercise.
So what’s with all these claims that cannabis sativa cures cancer?
• Pot smokers get cancer.
• Most everyone has known at least one person who died of cancer despite smoking “medical marijuana” to combat pain and nausea from the disease or from medications used to treat the disease.
“Research suggests that marijuana smokers have an increased cancer risk, since cannabis smoke contains many of the same carcinogenic substances that tobacco smoke does,” says Dr. Stegall.
“With that said, we do have good research showing that cannabis can help with nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, insomnia, and even anxiety and depression.”
Sadly, nothing has been shown to predictably cure cancer.
Though there are people who have been cured of this disease, it also “comes back” in many other patients who have been given an all-clear by their treatment team.
A cure is defined as being five years free of any evidence of disease.
According to Cancer Research UK, cannabis is not a cure for the disease. The American Cancer Society concurs.
Jonathan Stegall, MD,
