CBD and MRSA - Salem-News.Com

Research into what CBD can do is still all but forbidden. Cannabis prohibition, based on the twisted racism and greed of long-dead rich men, is still going strong.

(NORTHERN, Calif.) - Just before I started this article, I ran a quick news search on MRSA, just to see if there had been a story posted on it in the last week or so.

To my utter surprise, there were a half-dozen articles for today alone! MRSA may not be in the headlines at the moment, but it is still very much with us.

Unless you have been hiding in a remote cave, you know that MRSA is short for methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus, a nasty little "bug" that laughs at most of the modern antibiotics. It has also been called "flesh-eating bacteria" because of the way it sometimes attacks muscle tissue.

Hospitals, prisons, schools and barracks- anywhere you find crowding and injuries- are where most people get MRSA. According to studies by the Center for Disease Control done in 2007, MRSA caused more than 18,500 hospital-stay related deaths per year, and increased direct healthcare costs up to $9.7 billion.

Because of its resistance to many antibiotics, treating MRSA is difficult, and sometimes amputation of the affected limb is necessary to save a life. Part of the problem is that many antibiotics work in the same way and MRSA is wise to that trick.

In the 1950s, when antibiotics were still fairly new, many scientists looked at various plants to see if they, too, held antibiotics. Cannabis was found to have high level anti-bacterial qualities.

It was found that a 1% solution of a cannabis extract killed 100% of the Staphyloccus aureus instantly. Even a .00001% solution killed all the Staphyloccus aureus in a culture within 8 hours! Tuberculosis and several other bacteria were similarly affected. (see: Hemp (Cannabis sativa)-an antibiotic drug)

Methods and results of bacteriological investigations and preliminary clinical experiences) But cannabis was the "Devil's weed" and the results were swept under the rug and forgotten.

Fast forward 50 years to 2008, MRSA has mutated from a pesky infection into a flesh-eating "monster". A study looking at the antibiotic properties of cannabis found that five cannabinoids, including CBD, all killed MRSA very effectively. No one is quite sure just how it kills germs yet, but they are certain it is a new and totally different way than other antibiotics. (See: Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa: A Structure−Activity Study)

This means that MRSA has zero resistance to CBD and other cannabinoids. It ought to work just as well as it did 50 years ago. Cannabinoids have the plus of being nontoxic, unlike many germ killers.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that in the near future MRSA infections will be treated with a topical ointment containing CBD, combined with injected and oral forms of CBD and other cannabinoids. With CBD there is no danger of the patient experiencing an unwanted high, or a toxic overdose.

It has even been suggested that CBD could be used in biodegradable antibacterial agents for cosmetics and other toiletries, and provide a safer alternative to the much less potent, sometimes carcinogenic, synthetic preservatives found in many items and foods. Since the raw material is grown, not manufactured, the resulting end products are likely to be, not only cheaper to produce, but also far more environmentally friendly.

But, here we are, more than 50 years from when the remarkable antibiotic ability of CBD and other cannabinoids were discovered.

Research into what CBD can do is still all but forbidden. Cannabis prohibition, based on the twisted racism and greed of long-dead rich men, is still going strong.

The nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, CBD, is still improperly scheduled as a substance having no medical value and a high potential for abuse and addiction.

Isn't it time that cannabis is rescheduled, so we can finally have some real research happen?