Research into medicinal marijuana grows up. This summer, British
and Italian researchers found that in a laboratory plate,
molecules in marijuana can slay the superbug methicillin-
resistant staphylococcus aureus, which recently infected seven
babies and four employees in a Yonkers, N.Y., maternity ward,
heightening fears of outbreaks in schools and locker rooms, as
well as in its more familiar breeding grounds, hospitals and
nursing homes. In theory, compounds derived from the cannabis
plant could someday serve in topical creams for patients with
MRSA or other antibiotic-resistant infections. This isn't the
first time marijuana has tantalized the world as a possible
wonder drug. In recent years, compounds in cannabis or related
molecules have been shown to slow the growth of lung tumors in
mice, decrease hardening of the arteries in rats, and boost the
egg-binding capability of tobacco smokers' sperm. Research on
the receptors that THC and other cannabis compounds attach
to—and the nitty-gritty mechanisms by