More Medical Uses For Marijuana Found

The federal government has been lying to the American people for decades now -- ever since they made the herb illegal (so they would have another tool for social control of minorities). First they tried to claim marijuana was a dangerous drug, but we now know that is not true. Marijuana cannot be overdosed on, and is actually safer than any of the other legal drugs -- like alcohol, tobacco, aspirin, cold remedies, etc.

Another lie told by the federal government (and one they are still trying to spread) is that marijuana has no medicinal value. But we know now that marijuana does have medicinal value in the treatment of glaucoma, migraine and other forms of pain, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, nausea of cancer chemotherapy, AIDS wasting, motion sickness, and menstrual cramps. There is even some evidence that marijuana may be effective in preventing and treating some cancers.

And the list continues to grow. There is now new evidence that marijuana may help prevent and treat diabetes, help in keeping excess weight off, and aid the production of "good" cholesterol. Here is how Time and CNN puts it:

Toking up may help marijuana users to stay slim and lower their risk of developing diabetes, according to the latest study, which suggests that cannabis compounds may help in controlling blood sugar.

Although marijuana has a well-deserved reputation for increasing appetite via what stoners call "the munchies," the new research, which was published in the American Journal of Medicine, is not the first to find that the drug has a two-faced relationship to weight.

Three prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to be obese, have a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body-mass-index measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.

Why? "The most important finding is that current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than nonusers," says Murray Mittleman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. "Their fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood-sugar level."

The research included over 4,600 men and women participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2010. Among them, 48% had smoked marijuana at least once in their lives, and 12% were current cannabis smokers. The authors controlled for other factors like age, sex, income, alcohol use, cigarette smoking and physical activity that could also affect diabetes risk.

Even after these adjustments, the current marijuana users showed fasting insulin levels that were 16% lower than those of former or never users, along with a 17% reduction in another measure of insulin resistance as well. Higher levels on both tests are associated with Type II diabetes, which is linked with obesity.

Marijuana users also had higher levels of high-density lipoprotein, the so-called good cholesterol, which can protect against heart disease. And the regular smokers also boasted smaller waistlines: on average, they were 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) slimmer than the former users and those who had never smoked cannabis. . .