The health benefits of Marijuana

stonemonkey55

stonemonkey55

Chief Vapor Officer
Manufacturer
I was chatting with resident brainiac, Nicely Toasted, about the benefits of marijuana and cannabonoids. We both came to the conclusion that it would be great to have a thread that had links to good, unbiased studies that talked about the various health benefits of marijuana and to have some intelligent discourse about the topics on this forum.

The inspiration for this thread was because one of my friends is having a baby and his wife doesn't mind him vaping but would like him to stop for a year before trying to conceive because she is worried that the THC will make his sperm lazy and have adverse effects on their child. I recall reading numerous articles in the past about thc not having any effect on your baby, but perhaps the carbon monoxide from the smoke would have some sort of effect on the child. I have tried to find that article with no luck so I am creating this thread so that we have a centralized repository of great MJ factoids.

While my main concern at the present is how MJ/THC affects your baby and/or sperm, and article or links are definitely 110% welcome. Thanks for participating.
 
stonemonkey55,
T

thejudge320

Well-Known Member
i know it's not a real scientific study but in the movie super high me the guy's sperm count was higher after smoking for a month than it was when he didn't smoke for a month. also i don't think the guy smoking or doing anything with his body could really effect the baby. though if the mother smokes or does anything during the pregnancy that could effect the baby.
 
thejudge320,
stonemonkey55

stonemonkey55

Chief Vapor Officer
Manufacturer
wthanna - thank you for that. I think her true concern about the sperm wasn't necessarily about the count, but if THC somehow altered the sperm so that when the sperm penetrated the egg, your baby would have some sort of adverse effect. I'll defintiely peruse the site for more information. Thanks!
 
stonemonkey55,
lwien

lwien

Well-Known Member
I guess the question is, can THC alter your genes? We have much to learn.
 
lwien,
W

wthanna

Well-Known Member
http://www.examiner.com/x-8543-SF-H...okers-face-LOWER-risk-of-head-and-neck-cancer

Recent studies on Cannabis and REDUCED risk of head and neck cancer

On a side note - There are alot of bunk old studies out there. We should try to keep this thread as current as possible.. cite reputable medical studies, as often as is possible, and avoid "vague" propaganda. There's alot of "they say" this.. and "they say" that kind of garbage floating around that is perpetuated. :2c:
 
wthanna,
J

jklasd

Well-Known Member
chloe said:
masejl12 said:
This is interesting but in all honesty I think it only matters on the woman's part.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51663
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I don't like the word "linked" ...and I'm always curious if the studies are done with vaping or smoking the herb
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i will be willing to bet that most, if not all, of the studies are done through smoking, because thats the majority of users. when vaping starts getting mainstream, it will since over, but for now, most studies taken involved smoke, not vapor.
 
jklasd,
nicelytoasted

nicelytoasted

Vaked Chemist
I've been doing a lot of research on marijuana and cannabinoids lately, trying to separate the myths and bunk from the good, science based-information. Unfortunately, any good studies require resources and funds to do them properly and they often depend on who is supplying these requirements that determine what the results are saying...

With the advent of vaporizers, we now have a much safer method of introducing our favorite herb into our bodies (along with ingestion, tinctures, etc.). However, most studies that I have found have been conducted with smoking rather than vaporizing. Fact is, there is simply not much relevant information out there yet, with vaporizing mj as opposed to smoking it, as far as I've found yet.

I am convinced, however, that cannabinoids and the cannabinoid system within our bodies play a huge role in human health, whether it be the endocannabinoids produced within the human body, or the cannabinoids taken externally. The cannabinoid system has evolved in us over millions of years in humans and has been shown to play a significant role in almost every major body function, including the immune/cardiovascular/reproductive/nervous/digestive systems, among many others. It works through synergistic regulation and balance, the most effective method in systems as complex as these, imo. This systematic approach is also mimicked when we take cannabinoids externally. We are only now starting to begin to unravel the amazingly complex biochemistry that is going on. This is a good thing, as big name pharmacy companies are currently spending huge money on trying to isolate one compound and then trying to synthesize it. Marijuana just doesnt seem to work as well that way, imo.

Although somewhat chemically different than our own endocannabinoids, marijuana can be an effective way of supplementation, especially in cases where people are deficient. Ive always found it interesting that different chemical substances can affect our receptors in such similar ways. Another effective method of supplementation is through the ingestion of essential fatty acids (EFAs), such as hemp seed oil, primrose seed oil or flaxseed oil, among others. These EFAs are the building blocks for endocannabinoid production in the body, and since the body cannot produce them on its own (hence the name essential), I believe most people should consider taking these on a regular basis, whether dietary or through supplementation.

I include two reference videos links on cannabinoids and the human body from researcher, Dr. Robert Melamede (PhD), from the University of Colorado. For those interested, he has done quite a few videos on the subject.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf9M...178FFCF19&index=3&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n31Nuj_AvTg
 
nicelytoasted,
N

novis

Well-Known Member
Funny that you should be asking this question, as I have recently been doing very much research on the very same topic. I am of the opinion that the best way to "weed out" (:lol:) the bad, biased, or skewed reports is to examine the conclusions of the plurality of studies. In other words, instead of relying on one study, find prevailing attitudes in the most studies.

* One useful link in determining this is on ProCon.
* Mitch Earleywine's "Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence" examines the conclusions of many studies, analyzes their respective methodologies, and puts them into perspective. A good read, especially because the end of each chapter has a summary which gets right to the point.
* NORML has some good info.
* One person's list of specific conditions alleviated when using cannabis.
* A good list of studies on drug laws is found here.

I guess the long and short of it is to not take what any individual study says as seriously as conclusions reached by a series of independent studies. After all, what government can truly suppress every level-headed academic (especially internationally)?

Oh, and let's not forget the most important statistics:
l_69c9b088917d0a8da59669ca26372485.jpg


EDIT: I just found a rather good flier on the subject here. It cites some good sources.
 
novis,
aterphasma

aterphasma

Well-Known Member
Purple-Days said:
Skin problems? Interesting that there are non CNS receptors. Never knew it till now.
http://420butts.com/index.php/marij...nnabis-potential-treatment-for-skin-disorders
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Very nice, Tom. I have a friend who swears by her special weed tincture as a majorly effective anti-inflammatory and topical anesthetic. Looks like she was possibly quite right (not that I doubted her, I'm just happy to see some larger-scale scientific work being done in that direction). Sweet.
 
aterphasma,
DevoTheStrange

DevoTheStrange

Ia! Ia! Vapor Fthagn!
i use tinctures on areas I am feeling pain and soreness... makes it go away for a bit. i was amazed first time I did it. Was in total doubt that it would work at all. Sometimes my wrists will bug me (from an old injury from when I was young and dumb) Little bit of tincture rubbed in the area, hours of relief.
 
DevoTheStrange,
nicelytoasted

nicelytoasted

Vaked Chemist
Stonemonkey:

I have not uncovered any articles/research regarding sperm becoming "lazy" as a result of smoking marijuana, though some of the smoking toxins may play a role. I can't think of anything from vapourizing would cause anything similar, in fact, just the opposite. I would still suggest getting the sperm tested well before thoughts of conception (numbers/motility/etc), and regularly there after (while continuing to vape) to get a baseline for comparative data.

One of the better, thorough, scientific studies I found on how smoking marijuana affects the fetus through childhood is in the video link below. It is a little long, but could provide some insight, especially for couples considering children:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9WorIM0RhA
 
nicelytoasted,
bluntfaced

bluntfaced

I'm El Diablo Baby!!!
That was a very interesting video.

"It's not an evolutionary mishap that the two thing needed to perpetuate the species are eating and sex and marijuana makes both more pleasurable"

word
 
bluntfaced,
CrazyCracker

CrazyCracker

Well-Known Member
wthanna said:
http://www.examiner.com/x-8543-SF-H...okers-face-LOWER-risk-of-head-and-neck-cancer

Recent studies on Cannabis and REDUCED risk of head and neck cancer
Click to expand...
I took a psychopharmacology class recently and the teacher (a dr in neuroscience) went off about how pot actually shrinks tumors. Heres a story about a recent studyhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512158,00.html I believe there have been more.

He said its also been shown to be an effective bronchodilator for people with asthma.

On a side note he also stressed that vaporizing/eating is much better than smoking because of the carcinogens created by combustion. Cool dude.
 
CrazyCracker,
lwien

lwien

Well-Known Member
Just gotta look at all this stuff with an open mind for in an effort to fight the anti-pot climate, there are pro-pot articles and books that that also lay a lot of false claims.
 
lwien,
Oddigy

Oddigy

Well-Known Member
Wow i never even knew about 3/4 of these findings and research, incredible. Makes me even more excited to get baked lol

I know this is an old article and not as specific - health related as yours. But i feel it's still important, especially for those who don't know as much about the studied effects etc..

"An alternative hypothesis about how dynamic tolerance to marijuana operates involves receptor "down-regulation," in which the body adjusts to chronic exposure to a drug by reducing the number of receptor sites available for binding. A 1993 paper published in Brain Research by Angelica Oviedo, John Glowa and Herkenham indicates that tolerance to cannabinoids results from receptor down-regulation. This, as we shall see, is good news. It means that marijuana tolerance is actually the brain's mechanism to maintain equilibrium."

Reducing the receptor sites is what MJ does. As opposed to with other drugs, those receptor switches become worn out (rather than reduced) and it's hard for them to funciton without the drug. And this 'malfunctioning' is what explains addiction.

I know this is old news, but as far as "the public" is concerned i think such articles are still valid. It's not really a health benefit, however it is a benefit in consideration to other drugs, if that counts

http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/brain1.html
http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/brain2.html
 
Oddigy,
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