^ I believe that such studies exist.
That cannabis "cures" cancer is certainly not proven, but there are studies that suggest that cannabis may be an effective treatment for cancer.
(N.B. I am not suggesting that anyone give up their chemo or radiation treatment and only use cannabis! I am just saying that there is some evidence, though it may only be suggestive at this point, that cannabis can help with cancer.)
I will post what I can find here.
First one
here.
It says
Explaining that the introduction of THC into the brain triggers a cellular self-digestion process known as "autophagy," study co-author Guillermo Velasco said his team has isolated the specific pathway by which this process unfolds, and noted that it appears "to kill cancer cells, while it does not affect normal cells."
Second one
here.
This is a really good one!
Another article about the same study: interesting but from a biased source, that says
In 1974 researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. But the DEA quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated -- until now.
This one looks pretty solid.
From the results:
Our results show that both Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the most abundant and potent cannabinoid in marijuana, and JWH-133, a non-psychotropic CB2 receptor-selective agonist, reduce tumor growth, tumor number, and the amount/severity of lung metastases in MMTV-neu mice.
Then there is
this one, that says
Researchers in Spain have discovered that a cannabis extract makes brain tumors shrink by halting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumors with life. Cannabis has chemicals called cannabinoids, these are the chemicals that could effectively starve tumors to death, say the researchers.
The study was carried out at the Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.
The team used mice to demonstrate that the cannabinoids block vessel growth.
You can read about this latest research in the journal Cancer Research.
Apparently, the procedure is also effective in humans.
This one doesn't resolve anything, but is suggestive.
Here are some references to studies that are relevant, and seem very exciting.
This one shows that cannabis has a protective effect against lung cancer (but doesn't address the issue of whether cannabis can cure cancer).
This article seems to have been removed, but I copied it, and can show you a quote:
Two notable preclinical trials appeared in press just last week. Researchers at the State University of New York in Syracuse reported in the journal Pharmacology that the administration of the plant cannabinoids delta-8-THC and delta-9-THC halted cellular respiration and tumor growth in human oral cancer cells. Specifically, investigators reported that cannabinoids were a “potent inhibitor” of Tu183 human cancer cells, a notoriously difficult to treat type of oral cancer.
Here is a veeeery biased source (NORML), but the article reviews several studies which are relevant and seem very convincing (though the devil is in the details, as they say, and no details are presented).
This article gives about 20 different published articles, but seems biased (pro-cannabis), so take everything with a grain of salt. (It even gives Wikipedia...)
Here is an old paper that showed that lung cancer in mice was significantly slowed both in mice and in vitro, though it was not cured (at the doses they gave). Interestingly, CBDs showed no beneficial effects, but the other cannabinoids they tested did.
Then there is the point that, despite the fact that smoke can cause cancer, heavy weed smokers don't get more cancer,
as described here. To make sense of this, most researchers assume that cannabis protects against cancer, so that the minus of smoking balances with the plus of the chemicals in weed, and hence there is no increased cancer risk. (This is about preventing cancer, not curing it, of course, but seemed relevant.)
(I am doing this quickly, and there is danger that I linked to two places that cite the same research, so if I did, please let me know!)
More later? If I can find them.
(Any help would be appreciated!)
