Accidental Blogger

This report combines a couple of peculiar and oddly unexpected (for different reasons) stories that were recently in the news – one from the world of entertainment and the other from the annals of medical research.

Contrary to what scientists have long suspected, smoking marijuana does not appear to cause any increase in the risk of developing lung cancer.

"The smoke from burning marijuana leaves contains several known carcinogens and the tar it creates contains 50 percent more of some of the chemicals linked to lung cancer than tobacco smoke. A marijuana cigarette also deposits four times as much of that tar as an equivalent tobacco one. Scientists were therefore surprised to learn that a study of more than 2,000 people found no increase in the risk of developing lung cancer for marijuana smokers."

Marijuana’s usefulness in the alleviation of pain for cancer patients has long been touted by those who have lobbied for the legalization of medical marijuana.  The illegal but tantalizing weed has also shown promise in arresting cancer of the brain.

"The current debate over medical marijuana hinges on its use as pain medication. But an extract of the plant could one day form the basis of cancer treatments. New findings indicate that Cannabis extracts can shrink brain tumors by blocking the growth of blood vessels that nourish them. ….. The scientists also tested the therapy on tumors taken from two patients who had not responded to conventional therapy for their glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. After the cannabinoid injections, both tumors exhibited decreased VEGF levels. Writing in the current issue of the journal Cancer Research, the team notes, however, that a combination of therapies will most likely be required to obtain significant clinical results." 

Potheads, please pause and think before celebrating by rolling out the joint and firing up the bong. A serious study needs to be conducted on how marijuana affects the normal brain and judgement of long term users. After all, if it can cut off blood supply to tumors, then in all likelihood it does the same to healthy brain tissue.

If the following report is any indication, the effects of long term drug use are not encouraging at all ! I admit that the conclusion here is based on a one man study.  But the man in question is a veritable walking laboratory. Keith Richards, the inimitable guitarist for the Rolling Stones who gives new meaning to familiar terms like "Rock n’ Roll" and "potted palm," recently made news by hurting his head (how can one tell?) by first falling off a palm tree and soon thereafter from a jet ski, while vacationing in Fiji.  Richards is the withered and by far the weirdest member of the Stones and that is a feat in itself when you are competing against Mick Jagger.  He has defied all actuarial odds of longevity for a man whose life has been somewhat on the wild side, to say the least. The story is a few weeks old but I am still puzzling over why anyone, let alone a 62 year old aging hipster, would climb a coconut tree unless he was totally bananas!

"Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who fell out of a palm tree and was later involved in a jet-ski crash while vacationing in Fiji, has been airlifted to a hospital in New Zealand, local media reported on Sunday. According to New Zealand’s Sunday Star-Times, the palm-tree plunge left Richards with a serious headache, but he still had the energy to jump on a jet ski — and get into another accident.

The paper provided no details on the jet-ski crash, but quoted Suva Private hospital spokesperson Dr Uzzel Kanti Dhar as saying that Richards was admitted to the hospital, in the Fijian capital, last Thursday, the day of his fall from the coconut palm."

But Richards, in spite of his drug addled mind, remains sober (shrewd) enough to remember that he has an unorthodox public image to maintain. He does not like to wear shiny new shoes (or new anything) – they don’t go with his rebellious persona.  So Richards has good friend, ardent fan and fellow rebel, Johnny Depp break in his size 10s for him, until they are scruffy enough for the fastidious fashion standards of the frenzied guitarist !

"The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is such a fan of Johnny Depp that he asked the Hollywood star to break in his shoes for him. And the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, who famously drew on Richard’s trademark appearance for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, is happy to help his idol out."

Richards’ wardrobe designer Robert Cary-Williams says, "Johnny idolizes Keith. Everyone knows Depp modeled his character in ‘Pirates’ on Keith, so he’s happy to oblige. The thing with Keith is that he doesn’t like things to be new or too obvious. Sometimes you have to leave clothes about the place for him to find, as opposed to just offering them to him."