Smokers may use marijuana drug to quit (England)

[flashl]

NOTTINGHAM, England, March 12 (UPI) -- ...

Teams of pharmacologists have been studying the marijuana-like compounds -- endocannabinoids -- that exist naturally in the body, since the mid-1990s. This led to an explosion in the number of researchers looking into the medical uses of cannabinoids and marijuana compounds, the researchers said.

"The brain is full of cannabinoid receptors and so not surprisingly with diseases like depression and anxiety, there's a great deal of interest in exploiting these receptors and in doing so, developing anti-depressant compounds," David Kendall, a cellular pharmacologist, said in a statement.

"So this tends to indicate that that if the link involving endocannabinoids and the reward pathway, using inhibitors, can be interrupted, it could turn down the drive to seek addictive agents like nicotine."

The findings are available via a podcast of the British Journal of Pharmacology.

UPI

[duhneece]

1. Good

I'm glad to see research funded for studies dealing with anything about cannabis. It's way past time.

[Ramonna Villota]

2. I quit with POT

No more cigerattes I now have a couple bowls a day and I m fine.

[againes654]

3. Me too

March 1st makes 3 months. I couldn't have done it any other way!!!

[mac2]

4. Exchange one habit for another?

No drug inhaled is good for our bodies. There are many impurities in the product right now too. Unless they test them and make a pure form for public use, I'd be careful. I worked in pharmacology research with THC in the 70s.

THC stays and accumulates for a long time in the body. It can damage the fatty lung and brain tissues.When we injected radioactive tracer THC into a mouse it almost immediately went to the brain and lungs. Memory loss and other problems were found during Vietnam usage by troops. You can gain weight (THC stimulates your appetite) which leads to Type II Diabetes in the elderly, etc.

THC is not the same as alcohol for recreational use and should not be treated as such. Even alcohol in great amounts can damage cells,etc.