Mixed Emotions At Cancer-Stopping Marijuana Discovery

Lots of different feelings arising for me, reading about this scientific breakthrough, reported at Huffington Post.

A pair of scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has found that a compound derived from marijuana could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, potentially altering the fatality of the disease forever."It took us about 20 years of research to figure this out, but we are very excited," said Pierre Desprez, one of the scientists behind the discovery, to The Huffington Post. "We want to get started with trials as soon as possible."The Daily Beast first reported on the finding, which has already undergone both laboratory and animal testing, and is awaiting permission for clinical trials in humans.

Awe and appreciation for the work that goes into this discovery. Excited for lives it may save.

Sobered with the understanding that our current social and economic systems can't prioritize healing millions or billions of poor people with preventable / curable / treatable illnesses. Whatever medicine comes out of this discovery may still be unaffordable or inaccessible for thousands of working-class and poor people who need it.  As engaged Buddhist Rona Luo points out,

Interesting that they found a natural compound that works, but want to make a synthetic version --> patents --> $$ --> limit access. This is why we need community controlled research.

Plus, one of the reasons so many of us are getting weird-ass cancers in the first place is probly because we have to rely on poisons to work, to live, to eat.

Also sadness at the realities of animal testing.  I don't have well-formed opinions on this, but being in community with many animal-lib Buddhists and activists, I now notice an internal cringe when I read about testing in rats, mice, etc.

And last but not least, this of course maintains a good-pot-vs-illegal-pot divide, leaving perfectly intact the racist War On Drugs that continues to criminalize and traumatize black and brown communities.

Very complex.

Anyone else having responses to this news?