A compound found in cannabis can inhibit the gene that triggers the spread of breast cancer, which previous studies have found to be more aggressive and harder to treat in black women. Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco suggest that the compound may prove to be an intravenous alternative to chemotherapy for treating breast and other types of cancer, although such treatment requires several more years of research.

However, experts warn that smoking marijuana will not achieve the same concentrated effect as the cannabis injections.