Can cannabis cure cancer?

Hyderabad: A Facebook post claims that cannabis can potentially cure all types of cancers.

Medical News Today defines cannabis as a plant that contains “compounds that make it useful as a medicinal drug.” It adds, “People also use it for recreational purposes. It can have euphoric, pain-relieving, and psychoactive effects, among others, depending on its use. Cannabis-based products come from the dried flowering tops, leaves, stems, and seeds of the Cannabis sativa (hemp) plant.”

But can cannabis cure cancer? Let’s find out.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false.

We ran a keyword search to find out if cannabis is legal in India. An article by Hemp Street explained the history of cannabis laws in India and said, “India has also legalized cannabis-based medicines now, it had a complex history with the herb, especially after the British attempted to criminalize it.”

On the use of cannabis for cancer treatment, Cancer Research UK said, “There has been a lot of interest into whether cannabinoids might be useful as a cancer treatment. The scientific research done so far has been laboratory research, with mixed results, so we do not know if cannabinoids can treat cancer in people.”

It further added, “We need more research to know if cannabis or the chemicals in it can treat cancer. Clinical trials need to be done in large numbers where some patients have the drug and some don’t. Then you can compare how well the treatment works. Many of the studies done so far have been small and in the laboratory. There have been a few studies involving people with cancer.”

Moreover, according to CDC, “The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two specific drugs (dronabinol [name brands Marinol and Syndros] and nabilone [name brand Cesamet]) that are synthetic (man-made) forms of specific cannabinoids for use in cancer patients with chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting. More research is needed to understand the effects of marijuana as a treatment for cancer-related symptoms or side effects of cancer therapy.”

It should be noted that the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved cannabis as a treatment for cancer or any other medical condition.

Lastly and most importantly, the use of cannabis as a cancer treatment should not be mistaken for smoking marijuana as the former is about the medicinal inclusion of cannabis. On this, CDC says, “Smoked marijuana delivers THC and other cannabinoids to the body, but it also delivers harmful substances, including many of the same toxins and carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) found in tobacco smoke, which are harmful to the lungs and cardiovascular system.”

From this, it is evident that more research is needed to study the effects of cannabis as a treatment for cancer. Hence, the claim is false.