For years scientists couldn’t really figure out why people on a small island off of Japan hardly ever suffered from cancer – until they stumbled onto a curious fetish the Okinawans had for a seaweed delicacy called Kombu. (Okinawans use various longevity secrets to live to be 100 and older). Although it would be difficult to find Kombu now that isn’t tainted with Fukushima radiation, at least in or near Japan, there is a long chain carbohydrate in the seaweed called Fucoidan that has proven to fight cancer again and again.
Fucoidan is absolutely lethal to certain types of cancerous cells. Sometimes called U-fucoidan, it is referenced in more than 600 peer-reviewed studies listed at the US National Library of Medicine. Found in the cell walls of brown seaweed, fucoidan, has antitumor, antiangiogenic, antiviral, and immunomodulatory effects on the human body. Fucoidan also stimulates natural killer cells by down regulating AP-I involved in cellular proliferation, or the spreading of cancer cells. What’s more, fucoidan also has anti-coagulant and antithrombic activities, while also being radioprotective.
“…More recently, fucoidan has been shown to have antitumor and anticarcinogenic effects. Fucoidan’s therapeutic properties may come from its ability to act as natural killer cells and regulate substances involved in cell growth.
Research published in the March 2011 issue of Phytotherapy Research [study source] suggests that fucoidan stopped some lung cancer cells from proliferating and triggered the programmed death of cancer cells. A study published in the October 2011 issue of International Journal of Biological Macromolecules [study source] also found that fucoidan killed lung cancer cells. Additionally, it improved the activity of white blood cells, the natural killer cells.”
Read: Blueberry Compound Kills Cancer Cells without Side Effects
Fucoidan extract has even been used to treat workers at nuclear sites that were exposed to hazardous levels of toxic radiation. There are nearly 2000 species of this brown seaweed, and fortunately, not all of them live in the Pacific Ocean, which has been greatly compromised by the incident at Fukushima. Sea urchins, sea snails, and other marine life have also been found to contain this amazing healing compound, so protecting our oceans has never been more important.
Overview of Fucoidan Benefits:
Fucoidan contains antioxidants, which protect against cell damage.
Kills viruses
Combats inflammation
Stimulates and balances the immune system
Protects against neurotoxicity
Prevents blood clots
Protects against radiation
Destroys cancer cells
Helps reduce blood pressure
Marijuana consumption in Washington state is about twice as large as previously estimated, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Using federal data and information from a new survey of marijuana users in Washington state, researchers say marijuana consumption likely will range from 135 metric tons to 225 metric tons during 2013, with 175 metric tons as the median estimate.
The analysis was done as a part of efforts to help the Washington State Liquor Control Board prepare for commercial sales of marijuana, which will begin in 2014 as a result of Washington's Initiative 502 that legalized the commercial production and sales of marijuana for recreational use
The Washington Office of Financial Management previously had estimated that marijuana consumption in Washington would be 85 metric tons in 2013. That estimate was based on federal data from 2008 and 2009, which estimated there were 363,000 past-month marijuana users in Washington. The figure for 2010 and 2011 was 556,000.
RAND researchers say understanding the size and composition of the current marijuana market is important to help state policymakers make decisions about the number of marijuana sales licenses to issue, to accurately project tax revenues and provide a foundation for evaluations of the state's legalization of recreational marijuana.
"Updated federal data and information we collected from marijuana users in Washington prompted us to conclude that consumption is significantly larger than previously estimated," said Beau Kilmer, the study's lead author and a senior policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding marijuana market estimates, but our work used new insights and novel data collection tools to improve upon previous efforts."
Randy Simmons, the Initiative 502 implementation project manager with the Washington State Liquor Control Board, said researchers shared their insights about marijuana consumption in June and the information was "very useful" as state officials made decisions about production and licenses.
The Washington state marijuana consumption estimates were compiled using information from the federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health, as well as a web-based survey of marijuana users in Washington state compiled by the research team. The online survey included novel approaches such as showing participants photos of marijuana to help them better report the actual quantity that they use.
"The federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health provides useful information about marijuana users, but it does not account for all of them," said Jonathan Caulkins, a study co-author and the Stever Professor of Operations Research and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. "We devoted serious attention to this undercounting issue in the report."
The RAND report estimates marijuana consumption in each of Washington's 39 counties, showing that the state's three most-populous counties (King, Snohomish and Pierce) account for about half of all use.
Support for the study was provided by the state of Washington as part of a contract with BOTEC Analysis Corporation, which advised the state on technical issues related to implementation of legal marijuana in the state.
Voters in Washington approved Initiative 502 in November 2012 that legalized recreational use of marijuana for those aged 21 and older, and requires the state to regulate and tax a new marijuana market. Commercial marijuana stores and associated supply chains are scheduled to begin operating in 2014.
The RAND report, "Before the Grand Opening: Measuring Washington State's Marijuana Market in the Last Year Before Legalized Commercial Sales," is available at http://www.rand.org. Other authors of the report are Jonathan P. Caulkins and Linden Dahlkemper of Carnegie Mellon University, Greg Midgette and Rosalie Liccardo Pacula of RAND, and Robert J. MacCoun of UC Berkeley.
Since 1989, the RAND Drug Policy Research Center has conducted research to help policymakers in the United States and throughout the world address issues involving alcohol and other drugs. In doing so, the center brings an objective and data-driven perspective to an often emotional and fractious policy arena.
Contacts and sources:
Warren Robak
RAND Corporation
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