Marijuana: The next diabetes drug?
Source: TIME
Three prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to be obese, have a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body-mass-index measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.
Why? "The most important finding is that current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than nonusers," says Murray Mittleman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. "Their fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood-sugar level."
and ...
>>Even after these adjustments, the current marijuana users showed fasting insulin levels that were 16% lower than those of former or never users, along with a 17% reduction in another measure of insulin resistance as well. Higher levels on both tests are associated with Type II diabetes, which is linked with obesity.
Marijuana users also had higher levels of high-density lipoprotein, the so-called good cholesterol, which can protect against heart disease. And the regular smokers also boasted smaller waistlines: on average, they were 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) slimmer than the former users and those who had never smoked cannabis.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/health/time-marijuana-diabetes/index.html#cnn-disqus-area
Just one more reason to legalize this valuable medication!
STOP THESE ILLNESSES AND THE SUFFERING NOW!!
YES WE CAN & YES WE MUST!!
= new reply since forum marked as read
I just can't see something that makes me want to sit on the couch and eat a bag of peanut butter M&Ms being that great for my diabetes. 
much better option for you I'd suspect! 
healthy food. It makes everything taste better. For me, nausea goes away or greatly diminishes, and I am able to eat more.
(Yea, okay - sometimes I do the entire bag of candy thing, but only once in a while...) 
and I also think 
that a lot more research needs to be done to find out what ALL of the values are to be found in this powerful MEDICINE and yes, that is indeed what it is for many out there that suffer, a medicine.
If it helps one to eat more and better and they are sick, that is good.
If it helps to lower cholesterol, well take that PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES FROM HELL. It is a huge 
in the pants to the lot of these crooks pushing drugs that sicken you and often make you worse and may even go so far as to kill you (i.e. Tysabri; a MS medication that has a FATAL side-effect known as PML ... a deadly form of encephalitis -- duh, no thanks!).
I've yet to hear/read of a single person that actually got worse that has a condition that they tried and/or used medicinal marijuana for.
It is not joke, not by a long shot. In many cases, it is the only option out there for people that suffer horribly from chronic conditions.
It must be legalized immediately and the prohibition must be overturned.
We can do this!
YES WE CAN!!!!
I'm sure there are a million more like me.
How much fucking research do we need to do? Of course due to the law we never admit this to our doctors.
One last point. Can we lose the Cheech and Chong crap and the juvenile idea of what smoking cannabis actually is?
That is, for the most part, movie bullshit!
It also keeps this issue from being taken seriously.
The biggest problem is the piss test which junkies and meth users can pass after 3 days of abstaining while cannabis metabolites last up to two months or more. No job for you, but the alcoholic and junkie are fine.
Really? 
My fasting tests are always in the normal range and I smoke and drink like a fiend. I also went from 323lbs to 247lbs (still 32 to go), while smoking, drinking, and eating 3 healthy meals a day. Pot has protected my all these years, I'm not about to stop now!
