Study by Manuel Guzmán of Madrid Spain

“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.
That process fails to work in tumors. THC promotes its reappearance so that gliomas, leukemias, melanomas and other cell types will in fact heed the signals, stop dividing, and die.”
“But, 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.”
In other words, this article explains several ways in which cannabinoids might be used to fight cancer, and, as the article says, “Cannabinoids are usually well tolerated, and do not produce the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies.
Usually, any story that even suggests the possibility of a new treatment for cancer is greeted with headlines about a “cancer cure” – however remote in the future and improbable in fact it might be.
But if marijuana is involved, don’t expect any coverage from mainstream media, especially since mainstream editors have been quietly killing this story for the past thirty years.
That’s right, news about the abilility of pot to shrink tumors first surfaced, way back in 1974. Researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institutes of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice — lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia.
The Washington Post reported on the 1974 study — in the “Local” section — on Aug. 18, 1974. Under the headline, “Cancer Curb Is Studied,” it read in part: “The active chemical agent in marijuana curbs the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice and may also suppress the immunity reaction that causes rejection of organ transplants, a Medical College of Virginia team has discovered.” The researchers “found that THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers, and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”
“News coverage of the Madrid discovery has been virtually nonexistent in this country. The news broke quietly on Feb. 29, 2000 with a story that ran once on the UPI wire about the Nature Medicine article,” complained MarijuanaNews.com editor Richard Cowan, who said he was only able to find the article through a link that appeared briefly on the Drudge Report Web page. “The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times all ignored the story, even though its newsworthiness is indisputable: a benign substance occurring in nature destroys deadly brain tumors,” added Cowan.
On March 29, 2001, the San Antonio Current printed a carefully researched, bombshell of a story by Raymond Cushing titled, “POT SHRINKS TUMORS; GOVERNMENT KNEW IN ’74.” Media coverage since then has been nonexistant, except for a copy of the story on Alternet .
It is hard to believe that the knowledge that cannabis can be used to fight cancer has been suppressed for almost thirty years , yet it seems likely that it will continue to be suppressed. Why?
According to Cowan, the answer is because it is a threat to cannabis prohibition . “If this article and its predecessors from 2000 and 1974 were the only evidence of the suppression of medical cannabis, then one might perhaps be able to rationalize it in some herniated way. However, there really is massive proof that the suppression of medical cannabis represents the greatest failure of the institutions of a free society, medicine, journalism, science, and our fundamental values,” Cowan notes.

New Zealand's cannabis clubs

New Zealand's first cannabis connoisseurs' club will celebrate its second birthday next month as several other "pot" clubs look set to open across the country.
Since opening in November 2008, the Daktory in West Auckland's New Lynn has gained more than 2000 fee-paying members who have got together to spark up within the Daktory's expansive kitted-out warehouse space.
"I think it's achieved everything we've set out to achieve, ranging from drawing attention to the plight of the people within the cannabis culture, creating a rallying point for people who want to change this evil law and a cool place to hang out," said Daktory founder, Dakta Green.
It has come at a personal cost to Green, however.
The Daktory was raided by police in January following a Sunday News story on expansion plans, and Green was charged with four cannabis-related charges, including cultivation and possession for supply.
The matter is to go to trial next month.
Cannabis smokers in both Invercargill and the Hawke's Bay are finalising Daktory venues and New Plymouth has an informal club underway, Green said.
The 59-year-old has been completing an Armistice Tour of the country gaining signatures calling for marijuana law changes.
As of Wednesday, he had about 3000 signatures.
Green plans to present the agreement along with an "excess of several thousand" supporters to Parliament on November 11.

Nigel Kennedy admits smoking cannabis at drugs raid party

The award-winning violinist suggested he was a regular user of the drug and that he could not work without it.

He is understood to be one of two people facing charges after police raided the hotel, in the Bavarian town of Bad Wörishofen, following complaints of a raucous late night celebration.
Kennedy, 53, told Germany's Bild newspaper: "I smoked a little grass.
"I can't do this job without it, I need it to relax."
Two were reported to the public prosecutor on suspicion of having used either marijuana or heroin.
Kennedy, however, denied any knowledge of the presence of heroin.
Officers are understood to have found equipment used to smoke illegal drugs in rooms rented out by other guests at the party.
Police have said they believe traces of heroin were on the paraphernalia they took away.
Johan Kreuzpointer, the local prosecutor, is awaiting the results of toxicology reports on the drugs found in the pipes, expected this week, before he decides on charges.
While neither he nor local police will confirm whether Kennedy is in line for prosecution, the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper said its sources state he is one of the two who may be charged.
Kennedy, widely considered one of Britain's finest ever musicians, has previously admitted using drugs. The Birmingham-born star, whose interpretation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons remains the best selling classical record of all time, has told how he occasionally smokes marijuana to help him unwind after concerts.
But he is believed to have calmed down since the wild days of the 1980s and early 1990s when he was famed for conducting interviews whilst swigging champagne.