Well, science is reporting findings on one of the compounds within the cannabis species. That compound is Cannabigerol, also known as CBG and it has been found to wipe out drug-resistant bacteria, raising hopes in the fight against superbugs. Specifically tests in the lab showed that CBG, killed common MRSA microbes and “persister” cells that are especially resistant to antibiotics and that often drive repeat infections. The compound also cleared up hard-to-shift “biofilms” of MRSA that can form on the skin and on medical implants.
In the unpublished study, they found that CBG cured mice of MRSA infections as effectively as vancomycin, a drug widely considered to be the last line of defence against drug-resistant microbes. The study is under review at the ACS Infectious Diseases journal.
Additionally, in the study they found that CBG and other cannabinoids did not work well against gram negative multi-drug resistant bugs. But that when CBG was used with small quantities of the antibiotic polymyxin B, which disrupts the outer membrane of gram negative bacteria, the cannabis compound killed the drug-resistant pathogens.
Eric Brown, a microbiologist who led the work at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said cannabinoids were “clearly great drug-like compounds”.
We are hopeful that with continued studies the potential of cannabis cannabinoids as antibiotics will not remain a mystery and the plant take its rightful place in the clinical medicine field.