I listen to a lot of podcasts in my free time, one of my favorite is a Canada-based show that focus on science, skepticism, and critical thinking called The Reality Check. Topics on the show are quite varied, from aliens to homeopathy to My Little Pony, and the hosts have a quirky sense of humor that just makes it an entertaining show. I their most recent episode one of the hosts, Adam, discussed cannabis-based cancer treatment including claims made for hemp oil. While many stoners and patient advocates like to make unfounded claims and invoke Big Pharma conspiracies, we need to be cautious about what we are willing to believe. I like cannabis and I think it can be useful, but I’m not about to suggest it would cure your cancer or that it is preferable in all cases to other interventions. The idea that cannabis cures cancer may be comforting to some, but to over sell it and over step the clinical evidence may actually do a disservice to cancer patients and the future of medicine in this area.
The episode can be heard here, TRC 198: Marijuana and Cancer + Kobe Beef + Start a Skeptic Group
I also recommend checking out the Questions and Answers About Cannabis page on the National Cancer Institute website.
