The “C” word: when the doctor said cancer, you were devastated. It’s all around us. We all know someone who has cancer, or who has succumbed in their fight with cancer. But, somehow, you never thought it would be you or your loved one.

Now, it’s out there and you have this harsh reality to face. A reality with a cure? Who knows? Who knows if the cure will be as bad, or worse, than the disease? Words, such as ‘Chemo’ and ‘Radiation’ have new meanings in your vocabulary. But even so, you prepare for the fight and conjure all the strength you can find.  And yet you can’t help but wonder, is there anything else you can do?

It’s quite possible that medical cannabis can offer help in the fight against cancer.  While the findings of the medical field are inconclusive, there is reason for hope.  Hope that medical cannabis can do for cancer patients what chemo and radiation do but without all the adverse side effects.

So, how does medical cannabis fight cancer? You might say that it eats the cancer. The tetrahydroccanabinol, known as THC for short, found in some medical cannabis, may cause the cancer cells to degrade – to eat themselves, in effect. Yes, this means that it’s not the medical cannabis doing the eating but, if a cancerous tumor is fading, who cares what is doing the eating just as long as it stays hungry.

According to the Journal of Clinical Investigation, what actually happens is that the THC binds to receptors on cells that help to kill the cell. This process is called “autophagy.” It’s a medical process that one day may leave terms such as ‘Chemo’ and ‘Radiation’ in the dustbins of archaic medical treatments endured before better alternatives were discovered.

Of course, that time isn’t definitely here yet. We are still waiting for the American Medical Association and the Food & Drug Administration to give medical cannabis their full endorsements as an arrow in the medical quiver for battling cancer. But, some of those with cancer are not waiting for the AMA or FDA’s blessing; they’re turning to medical cannabis in their personal fights with cancer.

On their side, they have the U.S. National Cancer Institute that ‘admits’ medical cannabis kills cancer cells. Even when a patient is receiving chemo therapy, there is significant evidence that medical cannabis can provide relief from the side effects of treatment.