Google and Cannabis: Search and ye shall find

Recently we shared a poster that had a simple message: if you do not know that marijuana cures cancer, just google it.

This is important because Google has come to define our reality in profound ways, whether we like it or not. While most information you find online requires corroboration, in general the information out there is helpful. Many of the articles we read online have pretty good attribution and seem to be legit.

Anyway.

We decided to find out the Google search story of the God Herb and give you a few statistics on how deeply cannabis is rooted in the global culture. On that note, it is important to note that this post was written at 7.00 pm on Wednesday on April 8, 2015.

Here are some interesting facts:

If you search the word ‘marijuana’, you get about 10,10,00,000 results in 0.38 seconds.

Google the word cannabis, and you get about 6,35,00,000 results in 0.32 seconds.

For medical marijuana, the number is about 2,41,00,000 results in 0.33 seconds.

If you put a longer search term like this one, ‘marijuana cures cancer’, you get about 5,65,000 results in 0.29 seconds. This search term is also the top search.

The search term ‘cannabis medicine’ turns out about 1,66,00,000 results in 0.46 seconds.

Marijuana vs alcohol is also a top search and returns about 92,00,000 results in 0.35 seconds. In the first two pages, all stories say that marijuana is safer than alcohol. The second favourite search term of this kind is ‘marijuana vs cigarette’ and we don’t have to tell you that the God Herb wins hands down in terms of safety as compared to nicotine.

If you search ‘number of deaths due to marijuana’, the first page that pops up is ‘Annual Causes of Death in the United States | Drug War Facts’. If you go to the page, there is a table of the most dangerous drugs in terms of deaths. The first position is held by ‘All causes’ obviously and the toll is 2,596,993. Right after it is Major Cardiovascular Diseases (MCD) with 796,494 deaths. Alcohol induced deaths rests at 29,001, while the toll of all illicit drugs combined stands at 17,000. Cannabis is last and the toll is zero. Yes, nobody dies in America by consuming pot.

In the same search there are stories that link certain deaths to marijuana (the numbers are not significant). However, there is no direct correlation but are seen as ‘contributing factors’. That is too much of a loose end.

If you search ‘how much marijuana can kill me’, you get about 2,92,00,000 results in 0.35 seconds. Most of the reports on the first page of the search put the number at a ridiculous number of between 20,000 and 40,000 the amount that is contained in a regular joint. The consensus, both anecdotal and researched, seem to agree that marijuana does not kill.

If you search for ‘I was cured of cancer by cannabis’ you get about 7,49,000 results in 0.43 seconds. The first page that the search throws up is ‘Cannabis does not cure cancer – Science-Based Medicine’. The writer of the article says that cannabis being useful for cancer is still questionable or bad science. However, the first comment to the article just below it this:

My battle with Breast cancer started 2 years ago, after so many Chemo, Radiation and other natural therapy treatment that i took just to cure my Breast cancer, it all did not work for my condition. I have been treating this disease for the past 2 years, but today i am here telling the world about my final victory over Breast cancer with the help of cannabis oil medication. This is a breakthrough in my family with so much Joy in our life today, i do really appreciate all the help and contribution from every member of my family for all they did for me. And if you have any kind of cancer diseases, there is no need to waste money on Chemo or Radiation, go get cannabis oil from UK cancer research centre (ukcancerresearchcentre@gmail.com),this is a medication that totally kill cancer cells.
Britney Alja

Almost all the comments after this seem to discredit the view presented by the article. After the first page, rest of the results seem to concur that cannabis has a healing role in cancer. Most significant, in my view, is what the ‘Marijuana – American Cancer Society – www.cancer.org’ has to say:

The American Cancer Society supports the need for more scientific research on cannabinoids for cancer patients, and on better and more effective therapies that can overcome the often debilitating side effects of cancer and its treatment. The Society also believes that the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration imposes numerous conditions on researchers and deters scientific study of cannabinoids. Federal officials should examine options consistent with federal law for enabling more scientific study on marijuana.
Ultimately, medical decisions about pain and symptom management should be made between the patient and his or her doctor, balancing evidence of benefit and harm to the patient, the patient’s preferences and values, and applicable laws and regulations.

Anyway, this is the kind of post that can go on and on. So, why don’t you do a Google search and find out what people have to say. There are also videos made by cancer survivors on YouTube who say cannabis oil helped them in being cancer free.

While we are sure the cannabis plant is a true miracle plant, we want to give the skeptics the chance to voice their opinion. However, one thing is true for sure: more and more people are waking up to the fact that you cannot brush the cannabis debate under the rug anymore.

(Written by Santanu Borah, a writer and cannabis enthusiast)