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

Medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal has been indicted again by a federal grand jury on a number of counts including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana; money laundering and filing false tax returns related to a marijuana operation.

This is not the first time Rosenthal has been brought up on charges involving medical marijuana activities. Three years ago, he was convicted for cultivating marijuana for a city of Oakland medical marijuana program. An appeals court overturned the conviction this past April, citing jury misconduct, but it upheld federal powers to charge marijuana growers.

The Ask Ed columnist for High Times magazine Rosenthal, 61, known as the Guru of Ganja and author of marijuana cultivation books, is quoted as saying, "What they're trying to show is that they can close down anybody, a legitimate club, a legitimate provider who's sanctioned by the city. They're trying to stop patients from getting their medicine."

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

Medical use of marijuana on a doctor's recommendation is legal in a number of states but prohibited by federal law.

When Montel Williams testified before the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee in favor of medical marijuana for chronically ill patients, he referred to himself as a poster child for pot. Williams, who hosts a television talk show, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis almost a decade ago.

MS can cause debilitating pain. For those who might be unaware, let me share with you that Williams does not exaggerate. My sister-in-law suffered from MS all of her adult life, before losing her life to MS at the age of 40, and I will tell you first-hand, there is suffering. When I think of all the life that MS stole from her, and all that she endured, I feel frustration towards anyone who would have denied her the best quality of life available. I am fed up with the lack of compassion of those who would deny anyone suffering from chronic or life-threatening disease the best quality of life available to them. For Williams, it is medical marijuana that offers him the best quality of life possible.

There are as many carcinogens in marijuana as there are in tobacco, but researchers were surprised to find that people who smoke marijuana are not at an increased risk for developing lung cancer. In fact, marijuana smokers might be receiving a weak level of cancer prevention. People who smoke cigarettes are definitely at a greater risk for developing cancer as a result of smoking, and the more they smoke tobacco, the greater the risk for cancer. But pot smokers do not seem to share the same risk.

According to researchers, and the research, even very heavy, long-term marijuana users who had smoked more than 22,000 joints over a lifetime seemed to have no greater risk than infrequent marijuana users or those who never smoked.

Wondering why? Researchers believe it is the THC in marijuana that acts as protection against the damage experienced by any carcinogens a marijuana smoker is exposed to while smoking. Past research has shown that THC has anti-tumor properties. So much for that argument against medical marijuana use.

From the beginning, I was a fan of the music of Jamaican singer, guitarist, songwriter and activist Bob Marley. Once while playing a game of Trivial Pursuit with a group of brainiacs -- that I was sure I was going to lose -- I won because of Bob Marley. So, it was a sad day when the news came that Marley, only 36, had died of cancer. In 1977, Marley found a wound on his right toe. He thought it was a sports injury, but it was melanoma under the toe nail. He refused to have his toe amputated because of his Rastafarian beliefs that the body must be whole. In time, the cancer spread to Marley's brain, lungs, liver, and stomach. Marley finally did seek medical help, and went to Munich in order to receive treatment from cancer specialist Josef Issels, but the cancer had already progressed to the terminal stage. Marley lost his life to cancer in May 1981. He died without a will.

Recently, and over twenty years after Marley's death, Marley's bass player Aston Barrett, attempted to sue Island Records and the Marley family for 60 million pounds stating he did not receive royalties and songwriting credits. Last Monday the suit was dismissed. But not before Barrett had a chance to malign the late Marley as nothing more than someone good at playing sports -- not the music that gained him worldwide popularity.

"We always felt this would be the outcome, and it was hard to listen to Aston Barrett reduce his friend Bob to someone who was more interested in playing football than making music," the family said in a statement. Now, Barrett will be liable for court costs and forced to sell two properties in Jamaica as a result of the ruling. Greed will get you, one way or the other. I was happy to hear the ruling went the way it did.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Cesamet, a synthetic cannabinoid, THC, for treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in patients when conventional antiemetic treatments have failed. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 70 to 80 percent of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience nausea and vomiting.

Current medications to relieve the side-effects of nausea and vomiting only work for less than half of cancer patients during chemotherapy. Cesamet as a prescription drug should be available in less than a month. Synthetic THC acts on the brain like the THC in smoked marijuana -- but eliminates having to inhale the otherwise harmful smoke contained in the illegal drug. Recently, the FDA made a public statement that it did not support the use of medical marijuana.

"On the night of my first round of chemotherapy, exactly six hours after I left the oncologist's office wondering what all the fuss was about, my stomach tumbled into my knees, my knees refused to work altogether, and I crumpled to the floor in a clammy, shivering heap.
   
I lay there until dawn, at one point vomiting on myself, at another crying that I'd rather die of cancer than undergo chemo again."

Breast cancer made me a criminal is a Boston Globe opinion piece written by Lynda Gorov -- a breast cancer patient who shares a personal account of the misery she suffered from the side effects of chemotherapy treatment and her choice to turn to the possible use of marijuana for relief. She pulls no punches and makes a good point, by way of using herself as an example, for the benefits of medical marijuana use and the ludicrous stand the government has taken to the legalities of marijuana for medical purposes. If you are sitting on the fence on this issue, or have never gone through chemotherapy and might not appreciate the grueling life-debilitating experience, her editorial is a fair one to read.