Exactly how Cannabis Kills Cancer

How exactly does cannabis kill such a wide variety of cancer? Well, there are many mechanisms of action, considering the scope and density of our endocannabinoid systems.

One important and specific way this occurs, called an apoptotic pathway, has to do with the relationship between cancer and cannabinoids. Cancer cells have receptors on the surface of their membranes that receive certain cannabinoids, like THC. When these receptors are activated by a cannabinoid, it causes the cancer cell to produce a chemical called ceramide. The buildup of this chemical shuts down the mitochondria of the cancer cell. It actively inhibits many of cancer's pro-survival pathways by stressing the cell's nucleus, disrupting calcium metabolism, disabling the cancer cell's digestive system, etc. The cancer cell membrane then ruptures and it dies; it should be noted that cannabinoids protect, nourish, and proliferate healthy cells while destroying cancer cells.

So there you have it, an explanation down to the cellular biochemical level about how cannabis RSO with a potent cannabinoid profile, when used at the appropriate doses and decarboxylated, leaves cancer with no possibility of survival.

Suggested Reading:

• Cancer-specific Cytotoxicity of Cannabinoids - Dennis Hill
• Anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of anandamide in human prostatic cancer cell lines: implication of epidermal growth factor receptor down-regulation and ceramide production. (abst – 2003)
• Up-regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 expression is involved in R(+) methanandamide-induced apoptotic death of human neuroglioma cells.
• TRPV2 activation induces apoptotic cell death in human T24 bladder cancer cells: a potential therapeutic target for bladder cancer.
• Cannabinoid receptor activation induces apoptosis through tumor necrosis factor alphamediated ceramide de novo synthesis in colon cancer cells. (full – 2008)
• A metabolically stable analogue of anandamide, Met-F-AEA, inhibits human thyroid carcinoma cell lines by activation of apoptosis (abst - 2009)  
• The CCRF