There is no question about it, cannabis is a big threat to the pharmaceutical industry, and has been for years. Many people believe that this is why, despite the enormous potential cannabis has shown in the lab as well as for people all over the world who have used it, and are using it for medicinal purposes, a severe lack of research and resources are put into medicinal cannabis. But again, this hasn’t stopped people from using it. When it comes to cancer specifically, multiple components of cannabis, like THC and CBD, for example, have destroyed cancer cells in a lab. You would think with these kind of findings that clinical trials would start, but they haven’t. All we have to rely on is the experience and testimony of what seems to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people around the globe.
The latest example comes from, Olivia Netwon John, who recently announced publicly her third cancer diagnosis. This time, it’s stage four breast cancer that’s metastasized to her bones. Ever since her recent diagnosis, she’s been quite open about using cannabis to treat her pain and other symptoms.
As Goodhousekeeping writes:
Olivia admits to being hesitant to use cannabis for her pain at first (especially considering the stigma that still exists around marijuana) but her husband of 11 years, John Easterling, convinced her to take the leap. John has been a long-time advocate for plant-based medicine: In 1990, he founded Amazon Herb Company, an herbal wellness company that has since merged with TriVita.
The article goes on to explain:
“I’d heard a lot from my husband about how [cannabis] could help me,” Olivia tells GoodHousekeeping.com. “I was a little nervous because I don’t like the feeling of any kind of mind-altering thing … but I started out very slowly, and I adjusted to it, and it’s really helped me greatly.”
For the past couple of years, John has been growing herbal remedies “pretty specifically” for Olivia, he says. Today, he grows 21 different cultivars (or strains) of cannabis, which he uses to create a product for Olivia that’s made up of 47% THC, 26% CBD, and a whole slew of other cannabinoids, including CBG, CBC, and CBN. (Cannabinoids are the naturally occurring chemical compounds found in cannabis plants.) Rather than isolate a cannabinoid like THC or CBD, as is popular now, John personally believes in the power of something called the “entourage effect.”
