Medicinal Cannabis Can't Fight Cancer

When AI comes to ruin medical research

Pictured: Great fun, not very useful for cancer. Photo by Matteo Paganelli on Unsplash

Cannabis one of a range of drugs that fall into a weird category. We know from a basic harm-reduction perspective that legalization for recreational use is probably a good idea. Yes, there are some harms caused by cannabis, but those harms are significantly lower than the many and varied problems that criminalizing the substance causes.

But as an illegal drug, cannabis has attracted a bizarre mythos. It’s not just a way to relax with some friends, or potentially help with chronic pain, it must be a cure for a wide range of conditions. You see people claim that various cannabis products can cure everything from depression to polycystic ovarian syndrome, and a whole range of problems in between.

Mostly, this is nonsense. There are a handful of conditions where cannabis appears useful, and even then the evidence is often contested.

So why are we talking about cannabis and cancer? Well, recently a new study was published that hit the headlines. It is one of the worst pieces of research I’ve ever seen, and may herald a whole new era of bad science. It looks like AI slop has come for medical research in a big way, and it’s not pretty.

Let’s look at the publication.

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