Pot Versus The â??Superbugâ??

Pot Versus The â??Superbugâ??
August 25th, 2008 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
MRSA has more annual US deaths than AIDS
NORML Blog Â» Blog Archive Â» Pot Versus The ‘Superbug’

UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!!

You can also comment on this story at the Huffington Post by clicking here:
Paul Armentano: Pot Versus 'The Superbug'
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According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, colloquially known as MRSA or â??the superbug,â?? is now responsible for more annual US deaths than AIDS. Yet despite this sobering statistic, itâ??s unlikely that either JAMA or anyone in the mainstream US media will report on the findings of a forthcoming Italian study â?? you didnâ??t actually think I was going to say that this took place in America did you? â?? demonstrating that compounds in cannabis possess â??exceptional antibacterial activityâ? against multi-drug resistant pathogens, including MRSA.

â??Although the use of cannabinoids as systemic antibacterial agents awaits rigorous clinical trials, â?¦ their topical application to reduce skin colonization by MRSA seems promising,â? the studyâ??s authors write. â??Cannabis sativa â?¦ represents an interesting source of antibacterial agents to address the problem of multidrug resistance in MRSA and other pathogenic bacteria.â?

(You can read the full text ahead of publication here.)

Ironically, the study notes that preparations from cannabis were â??investigated extensively in the 1950s as highly active topical antiseptic agents.â? Predictably â?? in yet another â??victoryâ?? for prohibition â?? authors declare that little, if any, research into this potential clinical application has taken place since.

Several years ago, when I first began writing the booklet Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, I mused about what sort of advancements in the treatment of disease may have been achieved over the past 70+ years had U.S. government chosen to advance â?? rather than stifle â?? clinical research into the therapeutic effects of cannabis.

Now, more than ever, this is a question that our elected officials â?? both Republican and Democrat â?? must answer.

Share this Article Tags: antibacterial, antiseptic, MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus

This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Cannabis and Health, News, medical cannabis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a trackback from your own site.

19 Responses to â??Pot Versus The â??Superbugâ??â?
Lolli Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Awesome! Hopefully some one (government wise) will start listening to this so the sick can get help and we can stop killing our planet.

Paul Csuhta Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Lack of handwashing has epidemic conconsequences. Door knobs are a greater danger than a knife but yet millions of dollars a year are spent on antibiotics with long lasting effects on the kidneys and other vital organs because of MRSA. The drug companies want nothing to do with this report, would cost them money and profit!!! People are dying and they could careless.

chris Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
all the legal scripts out there claim to heal your pain. but ever notice how the commercial always seems to list the possible side effects, which are generally 5 fold for the initial reason for taking it. would you rather have R.L.S. for your life and live, or take a pill that could cause, stroke, heart attack, blood clots, dizzieness, hunger.. etc.etc.
The F.D.A has nothing to do with protecting the citizens who use the meds, they just protect the companies who make them so that they arent causeing mass murder with whatthey put in the pills. You know, im only 21 and im already thinking â? when are the people going to get protected from our own govâ??tâ? when are they going to stop protecting their retirements and actually start listening to what the country has to say. i understand the election processes, and voting the people into office. but what i dont understand is that how can a group of people sit around and say what they think is best for our people when the people are at the point of yelling at them what is needed. its kind of like having the school hall monitor holding your baby and telling you(the parent) how to raise your child and what it needs.

Eric Johnson Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Excellent that it was acknowledged here that Democrats are just as responsible for the continuation of prohibition and the intransigence on research.

Eric

Jim Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Given the recent research findings and the Govt. patent on cannabinoids, isnâ??t it time for some group to legally challenge the Schedule I status of mj AGAIN ? How can they call the whole plant a drug anyway? Is the opium poppy a schedule I drug?

Jeremy Williams Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
They have to start listening to the results

PHOENIXTEARS.CA Rick Simpson has been curing people of all cancers and practicly EVERYTHING else.

BusGreg Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
This is just one more example (as if we needed more proof) that our selected government does not care, manipulates science and panders to special interests. Cannabis has been around for thousands of years, yet lies and fear mongering over the past 94 years have prevailed.
The number of posts here at the NORML web site, as well as those comments to Allenâ??s blog on â??The Hill Blogâ? are proof that we have the numbers, yet the special interest lackeys in Washington DC hold the truth hostage and dictate policy, regardless of the peopleâ??s will.
Our Nationâ??s treasury is being depleted by wasting OUR tax money on an un-winnable â??warâ? on drugs and other atrocities perpetrated by those in office. We can only hope that there are enough of us â??pot headsâ? who vote and educate ourselves on where the candidates stand and support those who are willing to end the futility of trying to regulate a harmless plant. Grandpa Munster (McBush) certainly does not qualify as one of those who will put an end to the insanity, and unfortunately Obama / Biden canâ??t be counted on either. Sen Bidenâ??s stand on ending the ridiculous drug war leaves a lot to be desired. While Obama / Biden are the lesser of two evils I put little faith in them doing the right thing.
One way of getting things done is to push Congress to do the right thing. With many of the congressional seats opening up for election / reelection, here is where we can achieve results. It is time to force the issue to the front and demand of the candidates for House and Senate to address the subject. As far as my own district is concerned â?? 11th congressional, Western NC â?? the republican candidate, Carl Mumpower, certainly will do anything to perpetuate the travesty of the war on drugs. Freshman Heath Shuler who is up for reelection has so far refused to answer any of the correspondence with regards to cannabis. Elizabeth Dole, repug. Senator, up for reelection has answered (finally) one of my many inquiries with platitudes and vagueness. She, too, deserves to be sent into retirement, as her pious posturing wonâ??t help our cause. That unfortunately leaves the third party candidates and independents, yet their silence is deafening, as the main stream media wonâ??t give them the time of day here in WNC.
If any visitors to this site want to contact me with candidateâ??s names who are pro cannabis, feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected] with their info or click on my name and join my blog.

Mikmo6 Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
wooo-wooo-wooo, weeew, weeew, weeew, waaaaaahh, waaaaaaah (simulating the sound of a police siren). Iâ??m sorry, I was busy making too much noise to hear what you were saying â?¦

a prohibitionist

Will Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
In 1930, a new division in the Treasury Department was established â?? the Federal Bureau of Narcotics â?? and Harry J. Anslinger was named director. This, if anything, marked the beginning of the all-out war against marijuana.

Harry J. Anslinger

Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity â?? a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and cocaine wouldnâ??t be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.

Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. He also promoted and frequently read from â??Gore Filesâ? â?? wild reefer-madness-style exploitation tales of ax murderers on marijuana and sex andâ?¦ Negroes. Here are some quotes that have been widely attributed to Anslinger and his Gore Files:

â??There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.â?

â??â?¦the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.â?

â??Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.â?

â??Reefer makes darkies think theyâ??re as good as white men.â?

â??Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashingâ?

â??You smoke a joint and youâ??re likely to kill your brother.â?

â??Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.â?
And he loved to pull out his own version of the â??assassinâ? definition:

â??In the year 1090, there was founded in Persia the religious and military order of the Assassins, whose history is one of cruelty, barbarity, and murder, and for good reason: the members were confirmed users of hashish, or marihuana, and it is from the Arabsâ?? â??hashashinâ?? that we have the English word â??assassin.â??â?

THE GOVERNMENT STILL LIVES IN THE 1930â??s!!!! Can we please come to grips with our country and pull our Govt. into the 21st Century!!!

OBAMA â??08!

Dustin Says:
August 26th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Legalalization of marijuana should have been done a long time ago and It is a medical herb that has no dangerous side effects. The government just wants the people to think it does so they can be so crooked as to shit on the American people. This country was founded under the right to be free and our freedom is being tok away. We need to get together as a nation and stand up to the government and put and end to thier lies and stop being so chicken shit and take back our freedom that was once given to us.Are we just going to sit on our asses and let the government try to fuck us any way they can by keeping the legalization of marijuana and raing gas prices or are we going to join together and fight for our freedom. Well I choose to fight. I donâ??t care if any one joins the fight with me but Im gonna stand up for my freedom.

william tucker Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
what we need to do, as it is impossible to get a group of mj users organized to create a responsefavorable to our wishes. MMP offers grants to people that has a plan to further the role of decrimalizing pot. My idea is that on april 20 2009, have every state pick a city to use as a meeting site for wounded warriors to pick a rep for being responsible for each state to design ad campaigns for the medicinal use of pot. This would do 2 things organizations in all 50 states with a terrible injured from the war a job that would be payable bvy a grant from

william tucker Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
cont: they could easily use evidence of neuropathic pain. Be pretty cruel govt that wouldnâ??t let a young soldier whose life is shatered by a leg lost and suffering , medicine that would help relieve said pain.

BusGreg Says:
August 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Rep. Barney Frankâ??s (D. Mass) Bill is designed to eliminate most criminal penalties on the federal level. In other words, it will not legalize possession and use of marijuana, it merely eliminates the feds from the equation and leaves it up to the states to decide on what to do. On its own this bill wonâ??t fly, as too many legislators will continue to pander to what ever special interests they are attached.
What is needed are well crafted amendments to HR 5843 to bring those reluctant to support this bill on board. One such example is Industrial Hemp, the non-stoney kind. Industrial hemp has many uses, from rope to bio fuel, from cosmetics to fabrics and more. Living in North Carolina I have seen many textile mills shut down and hemp could easily re-employ many of the workers who lost their jobs in the textile industry, just to mention one example.
Another is bio fuel. Hemp produces slightly over twice the oil as corn (280 lbs of oil @ acre from hemp, 135 lbs of oil @ acre from corn) and can be used to make bio diesel, which will run any diesel engine without modification. Bio diesel runs much cleaner than petro diesel, has better lubricity than petroleum based diesel and can be produced locally. This will accomplish a number of benefits. Besides reducing carbon emissions, bio diesel feedstock production will be a boost to agriculture as Rudolph Diesel said in 1911, â? The Diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it.â? In 1912 Dr. Diesel said, â??The use of plant oil may seem insignificant today. But such products can in time become just as important as kerosene and these coal-tar-products of today.â? His foresight is inspiring, but after his untimely passing in 1913 his engine was developed to run on petroleum based diesel, which at the time was cheaper. Today, non food crops, such as hemp and others, should be used and converted into bio diesel, a carbon neutral fuel. By planting these crops and producing the fuel locally would not only improve local or regional economies, it would also save huge amounts of fuel as transportation distances would be cut by thousands of miles, compared to crude oil from Saudi Arabia, for example. Of course, National Security would be enhanced, as well as eliminating disruptions from hurricanes as during storms like Katrina in 2005. Cellulosic ethanol is another fuel that can be made from hemp and help us in reducing our dependence on foreign fuel sources.
Of course the â??drug warriorsâ?? will be quick to argue that Industrial Hemp fields would be used to camouflage pot for smoking, which is absolute nonsense, as Industrial Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Industrial Hemp is harvested at a different time than pot and lastly cross-pollination between hemp and pot plants will almost completely reduce the THC content of the pot plant making it useless for smoking.
These are but a couple of suggestions for possible amendments to Rep. Frankâ??s courageous and long overdue bill. For more on Industrial Hemp check this link for more on Hemp and urge your congressman to add an amendment to legalize Industrial Hemp.
HEMP AND MARIJUANA: Myths and Realities

clint Says:
August 28th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Thatâ??s ok, Mikmo6, the world needs closed minded, empty headed people too, so the rest of us have somebody to pick on. Have fun with your siren.

Eric Says:
August 28th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Pot seems to help, better militarize the country and execute users. â??GW

Rev. Gershom Says:
August 29th, 2008 at 2:44 am
YouTube - The Truth

Dr.Hillbilly Says:
August 29th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Will, your â??Obama â??08″ cheer came a few days early. Today, Obama 08 = Binden 08â?¦ No thanks. Theyâ??ll do away with Obama and weâ??ll have another LBJâ?¦

BusGreg Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Dr Hillbilly,
You are corect with the statement about Sen Biden being another LBJ, butâ?¦.
A vote for Grandpa Munster and Hockey mom Palin (I wish he had nominated Michael Palin - Monty Pythonâ??s Flying Circus) is certainly worse than Obama / Biden. Having said that, if you live in a State where either candidate has an insurmountable lead (McCanâ??t in Texass for example) may I suggest a protest vote for Bob Barr, for example. Otherwise Iâ??d stick with Obama, as he is clearly the better choice of the two tickets. When it comes to the congressional seats, however, thatâ??s where we need to get pro cannabis or at least anti prohibitionist legislators. I mentioned in a previous post, as well as in my blog (click on my name, it will take you there)that Barney Frankâ??s HR 5843 wonâ??t fly on its own. Even though it does not legalize pot, it only removes some of the federal penalties, it needs help. It is my hunmble opinion that well crafted amendments, such as including legalization for industrial Hemp, are needed and strong pressure on your members for the House of Representatives are needed. I think that will get us further than either of the candidates for 1600 Sesame Street will.

staford kelly Says:
September 4th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
well not many folks talked about â??MRSAâ? but i recently had a car accident and broke my spinal cord and the time i was in recovering mode i manage to get â??mrsaâ? and now i take my medical herbs three times a day and was wondering if i was helping mrsa stay alive of aam i keeping it strong? this sux!!!! but if any one knows let me know wats up..