Marijuana may be something of a wonder drug  though perhaps not in the way you might think.

Researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana  tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC  and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.

Image Credit... Chris Gash

It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup.

The current research, by Giovanni Appendino of the University of the Eastern Piedmont and colleagues and published in The Journal of Natural Products, looked at the antibacterial activity of the five most common cannabinoids. All were effective against several common multiresistant bacterial strains, although, perhaps understandably, the researchers suggested that the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids might prove more promising for eventual use.