Cannabis oil helped cure cancer of UK father Trevor Smith given 18 months to two years to live
Trevor Smith, 54, was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2012. Doctors told him that without immediate surgery to remove his bladder, prostate and lymph nodes – followed by chemotherapy – he would be dead within two years. But worried about his quality of life after such radical surgery, he decided to try alternative therapies – and began taking cannabis oil after learning about it online.
He claims that 10 weeks later, despite doctors’ warnings about delaying treatment, the cancer had not spread to any other organs. This meant it could be lasered away in a far less invasive procedure – and he the father-of-three has now been cancer-free for a year. (As of 2014).
‘When doctors told me I had gone into remission, I was lost for words, I almost couldn’t believe it.’
Scientific research does suggest that cannabinoids – the active chemicals found in cannabis – possess anti-cancer properties which help stem the growth of malignant tumours.
Mr Smith’s wife Carol, 55, said: ‘So many thoughts rushed through my mind all at once when Trevor was diagnosed. All I could envisage was I was going to lose the love of my life. ‘We knew we had to try a different approach to save his life.’
While a healthy diet and alternative medicines, such as Essiac tea and vitamin supplements, were successful in improving Mr Smith’s overall health, he was still in excruciating pain as the cancer continued to spread. Mr Smith claims that 10 weeks later, despite doctors’ warnings about delaying treatment, the cancer had not spread to any other organs
It was then that they resorted to using cannabis oil to treat his cancer – risking prison by possessing large quantities of the drug. The couple, from Derby, made the controversial decision after discovering a popular pro-cannabis film called ‘Run From The Cure’, which claimed the class B drug could be used as a cure.
Research published last month by the University of East Anglia found THC has been shown to help combat the growth of cancerous cells.
‘It wasn’t a case of I had no respect for the law, I was fighting to save my life.
‘At that point, I would have risked everything to beat the cancer. ‘These options have always been there, even in the UK, but the medical system has kept it from everyone.
His wife, an artist, added: ‘I would have done anything to give my husband the treatment he needed.’Even if I was caught, what would they do? Send me to prison for trying to treat my dying husband? ‘The only thing in my mind was saving my husband from chemo, radiation and radical surgery – not my freedoM.
Research led by Dr Wai Liu, at St George’s University in London, suggests that cannabinoids possess anti-cancer properties which help to stem the growth of malignant tumours. He said: ‘Mechanistically, both THC and cannabinoids work by switching on cell killing processes that are found in cancer cells. ‘The idea is that by switching these on, cell death can be engaged leading to reductions in tumours.
‘Similarly, actions through these signalling cascades could actually make the cancer cells more sensitive to other forms of therapy – I suppose cannabinoids and THC could act by laying the foundations for other therapies to work more effectively.’
‘I feel indebted to the oil and its medical properties, there are alternatives to chemotherapy but people just need to open their eyes to it’
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 15 August 2014 by ANNA HODGEKISS FOR MAILONLINE, Daily Mail UK.