A grandfather battling cancer claims he managed to cure himself of the disease using cannabis oil.
Mike Cutler, 63, was diagnosed in 2009 after blacking out at work – and was given a transplant in November that year.
He was given the all-clear but says the disease came back in late 2012 – attacking the new organ he had been given.
Desperate to survive, he began to look online – and found a YouTube video which described the use of cannabis oil as a cure.
He claims that just three days after taking the class B drug, his excruciating pain disappeared.
In May this year, the grandfather-of-nine went for a biopsy at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
CANNABIS OIL: AN EXPERT’S VIEW
Dr Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK’s science communications manager, told MailOnline: ‘We know that cannabinoids – the active chemicals found in cannabis – can have a range of different effects on cancer cells grown in the lab and animal tumours.
‘But at the moment there isn’t good evidence from clinical trials to prove that they can safely and effectively treat cancer in patients.
‘Despite this, we are aware that some cancer patients do choose to treat themselves with cannabis extracts.
‘These stories can help researchers build a picture of whether these treatments are helping or not, although this is weak evidence compared to properly-run clinical trials.
‘Cancer Research UK is supporting clinical trials for treating cancer with cannabis extract and a synthetic cannabinoid In order to gather solid data on how best these drugs can be used to benefit people with cancer.’
To his relief, doctors told him the new cancerous cells had vanished.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Free Hospital confirmed Mr Cutler had not received any cancer treatment since his transplant in November 2009.
Mr Cutler, a retired builder from Hastings, East Sussex, said: ‘Finding out I could die was terrible.
‘All I had in those dark days was my laptop, and that’s when I began searching for something else that could help me – I couldn’t accept I was going to die.
‘When I found out I was cured I was just completely shocked. I’m a normal family man, not a druggie. I had a serious illness and this helped.’
He started taking cannabis after watching a video online about how it could help cure the disease.
After purchasing the drug through a dealer, he began to cultivate his own tablets from the oil, taking one capsule a day.
When his symptoms disappeared after three days, he began growing his own cannabis plant to keep up a steady supply of the medication.
Mr Cutler was one of the speakers at an event last week about the medical use of cannabis – along with Professor David Nutt and MP Caroline Lucas at Brighton Community Centre.
He is now campaigning for changes in the law to allow the oil and other forms of cannabis to be legally used medicinally to treat other people.
Research published last week by scientists at the University of East Anglia found the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis – Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC – has been shown to help combat the growth of cancerous cells.
Dr Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK’s science communications manager, said: ‘These experiments were done using cancer cells grown in the lab or in mice and the results help to unpick the details of how cannabinoids affect cancer cells at a molecular level.
‘This could potentially lead to more effective treatments for cancer in the future, but there’s still no good data from clinical trials to show that cannabis or cannabinoids can safely and effectively treat cancer in patients at the moment.’
Cannabinoids help to control brain and nerve activity, energy metabolism, heart function, the immune system and even reproduction.
As a result, a number of charities have intensified their research into the use of cannabis as a medical drug.
For more information on cannabis as a treatment for cancer, visit the Cancer Research UK website.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2699875/I-cured-cancer-CANNABIS-OIL.html#ixzz3Jz32XXdj
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook