It used to be that Mononucleosis was known as the Kissing Disease. We were warned not to play spin the bottle because we could end up missing school from mono, though that was a desirable prospect to some students and we were sure to make a full recovery in a few months. But these days, kissing can lead to so much more than just mono -- this article suggests that HPV can be transmitted simply by kissing, although it's more likely to be spread through oral sex, and this can lead to cancer. Another cause of the rising numbers of cancer? It's thought that smoking cannabis is to blame for some oral cancers, although this is unsubstantiated.

What do you think -- is HPV really a 'kissing' disease?

Health Canada has approved a medicated spray made from the ingredients of the cannabis plant. The medication, called Sativex, provides patients with advanced cancer a new option for pain management.

Sativex was approved in 2005 for use by patients with multiple sclerosis and has not caused any adverse side effects. Most pain-killing drugs, like Opioids, can't make this claim. They are still very good at what they do, though so for cancer pain, it's likely they will be used in conjunction with Sativex but at lower doses.

For those who may view drugs like Sativex as illicit substances -- because they are derived from cannabis -- one palliative medicine physician says the original substance has been modified and in its medicinal form is an appropriate and legitimate treatment.

When I told my husband that the use of cannabis is being linked to a five percent increase in lung cancer risk -- that's 15 new cases each year in New Zealand where a study was just conducted -- he seemed to think this risk is comparable to his dying from a grasshopper landing in his eye.

A scientist John is not, but his thoughts on the matter seem to parallel international thinking on the drug which goes something like this: the risk marijuana use has on cancer incidence is so very low it's hardly worthy of much worry.

A California study of more than 1600 people last year found no link between cancer and smoking the drug, despite researchers' prediction they would find some kind of connection.

New Zealand researchers have found a connection, though, and however small it may seem, they say it's significant.

They found the risk of developing lung cancer increased by about eight percent each year for people whose cumulative exposure equated to smoking one joint per day -- about the same as the increase for someone who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day. They also found the younger someone starting smoking cannabis, the greater the risk and that contributing risk factors include smokers' deeper inhalation and the tendency to hold smoke in their lungs.

Cannabis, the most commonly used recreational drug in the world with 161 million users, has been thought to have a protective effect against cancer due to its chemical THC, which appears to kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous. This study may prove otherwise.

Nabilone, known as Cesamet, a synthetic imitation of an active ingredient found in marijuana, has been shown successful in treating cancer patients experiencing nausea, pain, anxiety and depression, according to University of Toronto researchers who conducted a study on the effectiveness of the synthetic drug.

During the study of 139 participants, a survey was conducted to rate how well the synthetic drug alleviated the adverse side-effects most commonly associated with chemotherapy. According to the study, cancer patients who were prescribed Cesamet indicated less pain, anxiety and depression.

A prescription drug approved for cancer patients who do not respond to traditional anti-nausea treatments, lead investigator Dr. Vincent Maida stated, "This is not a pot pill and has absolutely no street value."

The trouble with the synthetic drug, which is legal, is the stigma attached to marijuana use in general, even on the part of some physicians, who are said to be hesitant to prescribe a version of marijuana even if it is not marijuana. In our modern society, marijuana is sometimes associated with counter-culture populations, addiction and even as a gateway to more addictive drugs.

I would say I just do not get it when it comes to the denial of making cancer treatment for a cancer patient a little easier, but The Scientific American published a brief history of marijuana that brings us from ancient China to the present with, "In 1937 the U.S. Congress, against the advice of the American Medical Association, passed the Marijuana Tax Act, effectively banning use of the drug by making it expensive and difficult to obtain. Ever since, marijuana has remained one of the most controversial drugs in American society. Despite efforts to change its status, it remains federally classified as a Schedule 1 drug, along with heroin and LSD, considered dangerous and without utility."

As anyone who has undergone the grueling ordeal of chemotherapy can tell you, getting high is the last thing on their mind. However, alleviating the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy is critical.

Other medical marijuana-related posts include:

• Montel Williams: poster child for pot
  
• Medical marijuana pot pill approved for chemotherapy
• Breast cancer has made me a criminal patient story
• FDA rejects medical marijuana use
• Guru of Ganja: medical marijuana advocate faces new pot charges

While Queen Mary's School of Medicine Dr Wai Man Liu and researchers were studying the role of cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, in cancer therapy, they discovered the main active ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, has the potential to destroy leukemia cells and other cancer cells. Cannabis has been well-established and recognized as an effective treatment in the remedy for nausea caused by chemotherapy and as a medication for pain. The researchers, using highly sophisticated microarray technology were able to detect changes in more than 18,000 genes in cells treated with THC, and were able to discover the existence of crucial processes through which THC can kill cancer cells and potentially promote cancer patient survival.

Due to widespread illegal use of cannabis as a recreational drug, its legal or licensed use in medicine is now a controversial issue in most countries. Currently, there are eleven states with effective medical marijuana laws on the books: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. However, the United States federal government does not recognize any legitimate medical use, and state laws have been challenged.

Dr Liu states, "It is important to stress that these cannabis-like substances used in research are far removed from the cannabis that is smoked. These novel compounds have been specifically designed to be free of the psychoactive features, while maintaining anti-cancer action." Medical marijuana for nausea and pain is known to be administered by smoking marijuana.