The mighty NCI now features a page on how cannabis, and the active ingredients cannabinoids might treat cancer.
The page is part of the NCI’s comprehensive cancer database, and is based on a review of the medical literature.
Cannabis contains compounds called cannabinoids which, the website states, "may be useful in treating the side effects of cancer and cancer treatment". This follows the announcement in April from another American Government agency NIDA that "Recent animal studies have shown that marijuana can kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others. Evidence from one animal study suggests that extracts from whole-plant marijuana can shrink one of the most serious types of brain tumours. Research in mice showed that these extracts, when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation."
11 US states have already legalized growing cannabis for medicinal use.
See Can cannabis cure cancer: /cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3146