Pubdate: Sat, 15 Oct 2005
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Bruce Mirken
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1621/a10.html?127393
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

JUST TOKING

There's a substantial body of evidence showing that marijuana's active 
components -- cannabinoids -- protect brain and nerve cells from many types 
of damage (Study Turns Pot Wisdom On Its Head -- front page, Oct. 14). A 
recent study in the Journal of Neuroscience, for example, reported that 
cannabinoids can protect against some of the brain damage seen in 
Alzheimer's disease. Other studies have documented that these marijuana 
components protect nerve cells from the degeneration seen in a variety of 
conditions, including multiple sclerosis.

Eventually, science overtakes myth and superstition, even in the case of 
this hugely demonized drug. Marijuana is certainly not a cure-all, but the 
data show it to be far more benign and far less harmful than professional 
drug warriors in both Canada and the U.S. would like us to believe.

BRUCE MIRKEN,

director of communications, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom