Bats are blind; seeing red infuriates a bull; freezing prolongs battery life; rice can dry out a wet cell phone? No way.
When Columbus set sail, people believed the Earth was flat, and the Jonestown Massacre victims were killed by poisoned Kool-Aid. Nope.
Does marijuana cause users to “get the munchies” and consequently grow obese? It ain’t necessarily so, because grass “could actually have surprising effects on your waistline,” as Lester Black recently reported for SFGATE.
This news emerged from work done at the University of California, Riverside. The subjects of these experiments were not humans, but mice, whose metabolisms were remarkably affected by ingesting concentrated cannabis oil, with results that included weight loss.
Say whut?
Prof. Nicholas DiPatrizio led a team in tinkering with molecules, as researchers will often do in efforts to bend nature to our will. They obtained results that encouraged them to believe this is only the beginning of a totally unexpected series of beneficial discoveries.
At first, this all sounds as heretical as believing that the sun rises in the west. Everyone knows the correct answer is east.
But it only rises in the east because humans decided to give that name to the sunrise side of the sky. If we had named it “west” instead, that is where the sun would absolutely rise.
Only, it doesn’t rise at all. That is only another myth, one that was eventually debunked when people finally figured that the sun stays in relatively the same place, while the Earth actually revolves. In defining scientific truth, many factors are involved.
Anyway, the scholars obtained some obese mice and divided them into two teams. Some were fed an isolated form of THC, while others received cannabis oil containing “a broad spectrum of cannabis compounds.”
Head to head
Both teams lost some weight, but “the outcomes differed noticeably on other metabolic functions.” The THC mice “still had impaired metabolic function that mirrored diabetes.” The cannabis oil mice “saw their metabolic function return to normal.”
Obviously, much work remains to be done, but the expectation exists that “targeting this widespread system could unlock new therapies.” Some products are already on the market, resulting from earlier work done by other researchers. For example,
Tetrahydrocannabivarin, a natural cannabis compound shortened to THCV, has been shown to cause reduced appetite and increased stimulation.
Of course, Dr. DiPatrizio’s team specifies, just because a new discovery looks promising when tested on animals, there are no guarantees about eventual human benefit. No guarantees, but plenty of hope that obesity and/or diabetes in humans will eventually be defeated by new discoveries. Meanwhile, the scientists involved in the quest are feeling the intoxication that may match or exceed any sensation available from cannabis.
Are they a bunch of deluded hallucinators? Not hardly! According to a recent Cleveland Clinic page, medical marijuana is already in use for more than 20 medical conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, Tourette syndrome, intractable pain, and the list goes on.
Many questions remain about why cannabinoids can do what they do, and also why different people react in unexpected ways. Factors include age, genetic predisposition, gender, dosage, method of consumption, possible conflict with other meds, and more.
But the verdict so far is that the gains outweigh the difficulties. Another problem, of course, is getting the law on the appropriate side of any issues that are involved.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “15 Common Science Myths and Misconceptions — Busted,” RD.com, undated
Source: “13 Widely Believed History Myths,” BuzzFeed.com, 3/23/26
Source: “New Calif. study finds evidence cannabis could treat obesity, diabetes,” SFGATE.com, 05/14/26
Image by Erin Hinterland/Pixabay
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