Marijuana Could Save Your Life

Though oft-maligned (and illegal) in America, cannabis has a lot of good uses.  I’m not just talking about vegging out on the couch and watching a movie, either. It turns out the powerful plant has some incredible antibiotic properties that could be a big help in the fight against MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and other so-called ‘super bugs’.  The Journal of Natural Products recently published a paper describing the newly discovered antibiotic effects of the class of molecules known as ‘cannabanoids’.

From Environmental Graffiti:

This group includes the non-psychoactive cannabichromene, cannabigerol, and cannabidiol but also includes the well-known and definitely psychotropic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Researchers believe that the powerful antibiotic effects of cannabanoids can be enlisted in the increasingly difficult fight against MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and other ’superbugs’ that have evolved resistances to most modern antibiotics. MRSA is perhaps the best known of these superbugs, often running rampant in hospitals, with estimates of up to 1.2 million hospital patients becoming infected and possibly over 100,000 patients dying each year in the United States due to lack of effective medicines against them. The known effectiveness of cannabanoids and the fact that they have not been used before, and therefore no bacteria has yet developed a resistance to them, could prove to be a very valuable tool in the arms race against these constantly changing bacterial strains.

Though it’s been known since the 1950s that cannabis sativa itself, when not smoked, has strong antibacterial properties, research into which compounds in marijuana cause the effects was shelved due to the ‘black-listed’ status of the cannabis plant.  Researchers have only recently begun looking into it again.  Now, researchers and drug makers are actually looking into making antibiotic drugs from derivatives of non-psychoactive cannabinoids.

Pot is good green medicine.  It’s been used as such for hundreds of years, and it makes sense to further delve into its potential.  Now, if only we could get around that whole stupid ‘illegal’ thing…

Link [Environmental Graffiti]
Photo credit: Flickr user Stinkie Pinkie

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