Marijuana May Be Effective Against HIV

THC appears to weaken the virus

The chemical compound in cannabis, THC, appears to be able to damage and weaken the most common strain of the HIV virus.

Before you light up a spliff, though, this is only a preliminary result reached under laboratory conditions, and further research will be needed.

THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis—it's the chemical that gets the user stoned. Synthetic versions of it have been developed for research purposes, and it's this that was used to attack the HIV-1 virus, which represents the vast majority (more than 90 percent) of all HIV types.