I love this sort of story.
Ancient Siberian Mummy Had Breast Cancer and Self-Medicated with Marijuana
October 18, 2014 |
A team of Russian scientists has determined that the Siberian “ ice maiden” likely died of breast cancer and used marijuana to treat the pain, The Siberian Times reports.
An investigation of the mummified, 2,400 year old remains of the young woman indicates that the young woman died of breast cancer, and the researchers speculate that the marijuana found in her burial chamber was used to mitigate the pain it caused.
Let us note that we have a striking headline but buried in here is the word "speculate". I am assuming there's no toxicology reports showing anything chemically supporting the 'speculation'.
"Ice Maiden" Photo
The 'official cause of death' appears to be Breast Cancer:
“During the imaging of mammary glands, we paid attention to their asymmetric structure and the varying asymmetry of the MR signal,” Andrey Letyagin, a physiology professor from the Russian Academy of Medical Science, told the Times. “We are dealing with a primary tumour in the right breast and right axial lymph nodes with metastases.”
She is also reported to have osteomyelitis and has several fractures including one that happened very near her death.
Natalia Polosmak, the archaeologist who discovered the young woman’s remains, said that the Pazyryks were familiar with marijuana and its analgesic effects. “Probably for this sick woman,” she speculated, “sniffing cannabis was a forced necessity.”
Pazyryk culture
The Pazyryk culture is an Iron Age archaeological culture (c. 6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in the Siberian permafrost in the Altay Mountains and nearby Mongolia. The mummies are buried in long barrows (or kurgans) similar to the tomb mounds of western Scythian culture in modern Ukraine. The type site are the Pazyryk burials of the Ukok Plateau.(NOVA 2007) Many artifacts and human remains have been found at this location, including the Siberian Ice Princess, indicating a flourishing culture at this location that benefited from the many trade routes and caravans of merchants passing through the area.(State Hermitage Museum 2007) The Pazyryk are considered to have had a war-like life.(Jordana 2009)
So, yeah, cannabis has been used for various and sundry purposes for thousands (and thousands) of years.
I wonder what Ms. Ice Maiden would have thought of America's foamy-mouthed reefer madness and the US Federal Government's insane claim that 'cannabis has no medical value".
Sounds like they wouldn't take it sitting down....