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I noticed an interesting research report a few days ago, a Spanish university study showing that THC—the active ingredient in marijuana—had an effect in killing brain cancer cells. And since brain cancer is one of the worst, any good news is worth a look. Senator Ted Kennedy is fighting this disease right now.

The Spanish study focused initially on mice with artificially induced brain cancers, and THC introduced into the tumors caused the cancer cells to basically consume themselves to death (a process called autophagy), and apparently left the normal cells intact. The researchers then tried the treatment on two human brain cancer patients, with supposedly good results (however, if the patients had actually been cured or put into remission, that would have been huge medical news).

There were reports about THC being effective against brain cancer in 2004 and there have been sporadic positive reports that THC may promote brain neurogenesis (growing new brain cells), and could even help fight Alzheimer’s disease. It seems that many of these studies though haven’t been replicated, which is essential in testing any potential medical advance. Many times one medical study can be flawed in any number of ways.

I suspect though that over the past decade, in the United States at least, it would have been politically difficult to get funding—let along publish—for any study that might show a benefit from THC or cannabis. Let’s hope that now, going forward, objective research can be carried out in what we might call politically sensitive areas (stem cell research comes to mind). Only then can we can learn, for example, if these early studies showing positive effects of THC on the brain are valid or not.