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On "pot smokers' day," a study showing your brain makes something like marijuana

By Abby Seiff | Apr 28, 2009 | 5

In the last year, marijuana (or, more precisely, THC, the chemical behind cannabis' kick) has been linked to sharper recall and warding off superbugs. The problem is that along with those potential effects that are good for sick people, the mental impairment, disorientation, and other psychoactive effects of THC are "a major problem" that limits its usefulness, says Lakshmi A. Devi, a researcher at the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

The things that make for a good high are, perversely, a major drag if you're a chemo patient just trying to exploit the appetite-restoring properties of THC or a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer looking for a decent anti-inflammatory drug.

Keep reading »

Pot is good for you? Marijuana fights the superbugs

By Christie Nicholson | Aug 27, 2008 | 14

Good news for potheads making their annual trek to Black Rock, Nev. this week to celebrate Burning Man: A new study says that marijuana appears to fight infections. According to research published in the Journal of Natural Products, the five most common cannabinoid compounds in weed—tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabinol and cannabichromene—can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Think MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which claimed more lives than AIDS in 2007 or, more recently, extensively drug-resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis (XDR-TB.)

Keep reading »


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