Cannabis is an antibiotic

[Smokin Moose]

I decided to do some checking on this issue and came up with this. It came out of a thread I posted some time ago on hash and hygiene. IMPORTED HASH - is it hygienic?

In a 1959 publication of Pharmacie, Krejci stated: From the flowering leaves and tips of hemp, Cannabis sativa var indica bred in Middle Europe, were extracted a phenol and an acid fraction.
From the acid fraction, two acids were obtained, of which one preserved its antibiotic properties. In another Czech publication, Krejci referred to two additional samples with antibiotic activity.
The results of tests lead us to conclude that the antibacterial action of Cannabis sativa is not identical to the hashish effect found, for example, in tetrahydracannabinol. However, it was established that Cannabis sativa is effective as an antibiotic for local infections.
Proof could be established that the cannabis extracts produce a very satisfactory antibacterial effect upon the following microbes: staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, staphylococcus alphahaemolyticus, streptococcus beta haemolyticus, enterococcus, diplococcus pneumonia, B. anthracis, and corynebacterium diptheriae i.e., all of them gram positive organisms.Noteworthy is the effect upon staphylococcus aureus (golden staph) strains, which are resistant to penicillin and to most other antibiotics.
However, it does go on to say that cannabis has no noticeable effect on e-coli!
This seems to indicate that imported hash may, in an odd way, be somewhat hygienic, unless ingested (yuk)
It will not change my caution about imported hash as I will always have that image of the wayward left hand and its part in daily ablutions.

 

[sLiCe]

Very interesting! I've noticed that I seem to get sick alot less often then others, it sounds like this may have somthing to do with that.

 

[Smokin Moose]

My mate makes a canna honey salve, using special "active" honey from New Zealand, called Manuka Honey. The salve is to treat an infection in a healing wound following surgery.
This is what they say about Manuka Honey.

New Zealand's active manuka honey is used as a natural product both internally and topically on the skin. Apitherapy, the name given to treatment with natural honey, has been used by many different cultures throughout history. Such uses are now being reconsidered by a modern world in light of new research into the properties and uses of active manuka honey.
What is known as 'Active' Manuka Honey has enjoyed growing acceptance by the academic and medical world of late, and reporting of the honey's unique properties has proliferated in the world's press and media.

Bees gather pollen from the flowers of the Manuka Bush, which is indigenous to New Zealand. The honey making process is enriched by the pollution free environment of New Zealand, and certain types of Manuka Honey which are produced have been observed to have some very special properties indeed.

It is only thanks to academic research, predominantly in the last decade, that we are now able to explain many of the incredible observed effects that certain specially selected and tested honeys can have.
Not all Manuka Honey is 'Active'
It is not as yet fully understood why only some Manuka honey has the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF®) antibacterial property. The presence of this property can be detected by laboratory testing, which is conducted by the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Honey that is tested and verified is given a UMF rating and is referred to as 'Active'.

IMPORTANT - please note that we are very restricted over what we can say about the honey's medical uses here due to strict Trading Standards and Medicines Control Agency regulations. Because Manuka Honey is a purely natural product, rather than a licenced drug, medical claims are prohibited. However, we are permitted to include links in our website to external third party sources of information on the honey's use. This includes links to research papers and articles on the applications of the honey, links to the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato and links to press articles on the honey. These links can be accessed from the menu to the left.

Combined with cannabis, this salve my mate makes can have profound antiseptic and wound healing qualities.
Here is a link to the Company in New Zealand. SummerGlow® Apiaries : Superior certified Active UMF16+ Manuka Honey natural ulcer, wound, digestive treatment

 

[Smokin Moose]

And here is a link to an in depth report to the United Nations, on the anti-bacterial qualities of cannabis.
UNODC - Bulletin on Narcotics - 1960 Issue 3 - 002

Here is an extract

The investigations were carried out with specimens of gram-positive micro-organisms - i.e., Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus - and from the gram-negative series the Escheria coli were used. The extracts produced a remarkable bactericide effect upon Staphylococcus aureus, whilst E. coli showed to be resistant. On the basis of these preliminary findings we have aimed our work in this direction. Proof could be furnished that the cannabis extracts produce a very satisfactory antibacterial effect upon the following microbes: Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, Streptococcus alpha haemolyticus, Streptococcus beta haemolyticus, Enterococcus, Diplococcus pneumoniae, B. subtilis, B. anthracis, Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium cutis - i.e., all of them gram-positive micro-organism. Note-worthy is the effect upon Staphylococcus aureus strains, which are resistant to penicillin and to other antibiotics (fig. 10).

That was one of the peculiar properties of cannabis which was found to be most attractive. We saw the possibility of utilizing the antibiotic locally without any danger of producing resistant strains to other antibiotics administered at the same time throughout treatment. We must also remember the very good effect of substances from cannabis upon Staphylococcus aureus, particularly nowadays, when a high percentage of staphylococcus diseases offers resistance to penicillin. It is interesting that staphylococci manifesting various degrees of resistance to one or more antibiotics (erythromycin included) are sensitive to the antibiotics from cannabis in the same degree throughout. So far, we have not observed that any resistance of the staphylococcus strains to these substances would arise. The degree of the artificially produced resistance to these substances, as shown by Martinec [ 62] , corresponds with the origin and the degree of resistance to substances of the phenolic type and to other disinfectants.

 

[J842P]

Interesting info. I had never heard of any of this.

 

[Smokin Moose]

Time to spread the word!

 

[Smokin Moose]

I would love to see an info sheet on the "active" canna honey and it's antibiotic properties, sent to all the dispensaries. The combination of the active honey and cannabis is quite unique, and I have never heard of anyone doing this before.

 

[Brett2theMax]

so smoking hash is like an anti-biotic?

 

[Smokin Moose]

There is divided opinion on this, although the bulk of opinion is that a topical application is the most efficacious. The Manuka Honey is an added bonus for healing as it is sterile. I a using this very thing at the moment on an infection on my back.

 

[beensmokin420]

Does it still make you feel high?

 

[Smokin Moose]

No sensation of a high at all except for a little tingling at first. The wound is no longer itchy.

 

[beensmokin420]

Very interesting. I hope this is a medicine thats widley available to the public in the future. This just adds another + to the already many apllications of cannabis. Cannabis can be used as clothing, medicine, food, fun, oil and fuel, plastics, and an array of other things.... Tell me, is there another known species of plant that has all of those known uses? NO! Cannabis is the Tree of Life, IMO!