This Journal Club series hosts monthly educational events where authors discuss their newly published scientific findings. Presentations will focus on a variety of articles and perspectives related to cannabis medicine, including but not limited to clinically-relevant articles and research methodology-focused papers.
This month’s installment will hear Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich discuss a chapter from his new book, The Cannabis Cancer Connection: “When To Think Twice about Using THC (for cancer).”
When to Think Twice About Using THC
Every time I suggest a new therapeutic cannabinoid protocol for a specific tumor type, a phrase from the Hippocratic Oath I took almost 60 years ago pops into my head; “I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.” Abstaining from the deleterious and mischievous has come to be known as “first, do no harm.”
While the readers of this book can in no way be considered my patients, the principle of doing no harm is always my primary concern.
Information on the Internet about the use of cannabis to treat cancer would leave patients to believe cannabis and THC are likely to be antineoplastic for any cancer. In my experience, that may not be true.
Because of the absurd, ridiculous, and cruel Schedule I classification of cannabis, there are no clinical trials documenting the benefits and/or potential harms of cannabis use in treating cancer. Without clinical trials, patients and medical professionals are limited and forced to use the best research available, preclinical research. Most preclinical research shows that cannabis acts as an effective antineoplastic agent, and its use results in the death of cancer cells and the shrinkage of tumors.
But in the interim, before the results of clinical trials, it is imperative first to do no harm.
In this presentation we will take a closer look at:
- HPV-Related Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head & Neck (SCCHN)
- Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus (SCCE)
- Cancer of the Uterine Cervix
- Anal Cancer
- Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC)
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
Excerpted from The Cannabis Cancer Connection by Joe D. Goldstrich, MD, FACC
Joe D Goldstrich, MD, FACC
Joe D Goldstrich, MD, FACC grew up in Dallas, Texas and graduated from Southern Methodist University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. After working as a mathematician for the US Navy, Dr. Goldstrich attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas where as a senior medical student he was present in trauma room and participated in the futile attempt to save president John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
He subsequently became board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases and Clinical Lipidology. In 1978 Dr. Goldstrich met Nathan Pritikin, the father of the Pritikin diet, and became the chief cardiologist at the Pritikin clinic and later the medical director of the Pritikin program.
He practiced preventive cardiology and integrative medicine until his retirement in 2010. In 2013 he accepted a position at a clinic that provided medical cannabis recommendations in Oakland, California. In 2014 he personally worked with approximately 3500 patients who used medical cannabis to treat their medical condition. From these patients, he learned the beauty and efficacy of medical cannabis. During that time, he saw a presentation by Mara Gordon that detailed shrinkage of brain tumors that could be attributed to cannabinoid therapy. At that moment he knew that treating cancer with cannabinoids would become his life’s work.
Dr. Goldstrich has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians since 2016.
Recent Presentations
- Presentation: The Use of Medical Cannabis in the Treatment of PTSD, University of Chicago Medicine, Orlando, Florida, October 2021
- Presentation: Using Cannabis to Treat Cancer, Santa Barbara Medical Cannabis Conference & Expo, Santa Barbara, CA, May 2019
- Moderated panel on Cannabis and Cancer, CannMed 2018, Los Angeles, CA (24 October 2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK3fPS15-As
- Presentation: Unleashing the Full Potential of Cannabis’ Antineoplastic Benefits, Reimagining the Concept of Full Extract, Marijuana for Medical Professionals, Denver, CO (15 October 2018)
