August 7, 2017
I came across a sentence today in the LA Review of Books that I HAD to quote: The fundamental question for writing today is how to make the world less stupid. That is also the fundamental political question of our time. The review tackled an older book by David Shields, Reality Hunger, which was ahead of its time in predicting the problems with facts and truth in contemporary society.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/david-shieldss-reality-hunger-age-trump-write-now/
The reason this sentence resonated is because I often think while reading contemporary science writing that it is making the world MORE stupid. Here is a perfect example, culled, via RAWstory, from the International Business Times of August 5th.
Let me take a shot at it, just for kicks, ok? So, the title asks if weed can cure cancer. If you look at the article, nowhere is that questions answered. The intro talks about recreational use, legal in some states (which is different from medical marihuana and not meant to introduce it as a medical drug, claimed by the author. It’s meant to bring recreational use out into broad daylight where it can be taxed and, major benefit, no longer criminalized as to decrease prison populations.) The article mentions California as one of the states, which, as it turns out will only legally allow recreational pot in 2018. (Illegal growing is a major problem, in addition to whatever one thinks of illegal use. It poisons the lands in ways not seen before – and the clean-up of the toxic sites, hundreds at the size of an average of 50 acres a piece in California alone, is a huge problem.) http://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/toxic-waste-from-us-pot-farms-alarms-experts/
The article then talks about the benefits of the substance for cancer patients, citing chemo induced seizures and nausea, weightloss, pain, anxiety and depression, sleep issues, constipation, itching. Those are effects on symptoms, that very well are or might be alleviated by smoking or ingesting THC products, but not a cure for cancer. My favorite here are his musings on constipation: Chemo induces it, and weed helps to reduce bowel movements….
Eventually it mentions Cancer Treatment: saying there are preclinical trials showing that pot may be capable of killing some cancer cells. NO Reference. (Preclinical also means rats and mice…)
The author immediately turns to studies of patients suffering from MS that show pot might improve muscle function, and that it helps with sleep for people suffering from chronic pain. The End.
This is one of the reasons why people, already not particularly educated in the sciences, turn away from it or do not trust it. There might indeed be studies that approach the question of THC attacking cancer rather than its symptoms – although when I checked the National Cancer Institute Site it was slim pickings. Approaching zip. Much talk, again, though, about combating side effects.
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/cannabis-pdq
So how DO we make the world less stupid?
(The OR State Government website, by the way, showed 100 medical dispensaries in 2017, and recreational dispensaries outnumber McDonalds franchises – 281 weed shops vs 205 burger joints….. Let’s hope all the tax revenue gets used for medical research or writing education!)
PS: And the there is always the Willamette Week with news from Potland…
