I knew about the rush on medicinal cannabis but I did not understand … till now -The Hat
In simple English, Cannabinoids are a group of active compounds found in all strains of marijuana. Marijuana contains many chemical compounds that create the different characteristics of the plant. Terpenes provide flavours and aromas, while chlorophyll in the leaves makes the plant green. But the essential chemicals in marijuana are the cannabinoids.
This link (https://www.leafscience.com/2017/10/25/what-are-cannabinoids/) has an excellent explanation of what it is and how it works in a marijuana plant, so I will not go into the detail. I want to talk about what is happening with this word…
I know that this is not a new topic and it is well researched. There is even a whole research centre called The Australian Centre for Cannabinoid Clinical and Research Excellence (https://www.australiancannabinoidresearch.com.au/ )
It’s just something that I think the general public is not aware of, at least aware that there has been a heap of research going on about this new “drug”. Other than that, I have just been living in a cave as I am the only one that has no idea what the fuss is all about.
Basic Points
Cannabinoids are the chemicals which give the cannabis plant its medical and recreational properties. Cannabinoids like THC and CBD interact with different receptors in the body to produce a wide range of effects, such as feeling high.
THC is known for its psychoactive properties and is the reason you feel “high” after ingesting marijuana.
CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid and works to counteract the high. CBD also has numerous benefits, such as anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties.
But what exactly are cannabinoids, and why are they able to interact with the body? The answer has to do with cannabinoid receptors in the endocannabinoid system.
Let’s take a more in-depth look at these fascinating compounds.
There are more than 113 different cannabinoids in your real plant. THC and CBD are the most prevalent and the most well-understood.
Marijuana’s cannabinoids are produced and stored within the trichomes (crystals) of the plant. These trichomes give marijuana flowers their shiny and sparkly appearance (never seen one outside of a photo).
While THC and CBD are the most well-known cannabinoids, there are many other cannabinoids in marijuana that offer health benefits. Some of these include cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabichromene (CBC). I do not profess to know everything about these cannabinoids but from what I have read. It seems that those chemists in this area are having a field day with the possibilities. Good or bad.
In summary, its all about how receptors in our system attaching to these cannabinoids in our system and doing chemistry.
Interestingly, we humans also produce cannabinoids. Read the link provided. It’s all exciting stuff.
What is so fascinating about Cannabinoids?
Now as we all know, there is a heap of anti-cancer solutions, but the use of cannabinoids is just too interesting for this rock-licker. This is one very scientific article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584615001190 that I found. But its just not the anti-cancer, I have seen some videos about its use with Parkinson disease and the result is short of amazing…Being a person who considers the aged with such issues, I am all for this fantastic stuff. I would be very interested in seeing if it can do anything with dementia patients… now this area I am very intimate with, and I tell you, it will make lots of peoples life significantly better.
This is the abstract from that paper,
It is well-established that cannabinoids exert palliative effects on some cancer-associated symptoms. In addition evidences obtained during the last fifteen years support that these compounds can reduce tumor growth in animal models of cancer. Cannabinoids have been shown to activate an ER-stress related pathway that leads to the stimulation of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit tumor angiogenesis and decrease cancer cell migration. The mechanisms of resistance to cannabinoid anticancer action as well as the possible strategies to develop cannabinoid-based combinational therapies to fight cancer have also started to be explored. In this review we will summarize these observations (that have already helped to set the bases for the development of the first clinical studies to investigate the potential clinical benefit of using cannabinoids in anticancer therapies) and will discuss the possible future avenues of research in this area.
In my last blog on Industrial Hemp, I was sparked by this mention of the work on cannabinoid that will push governments to look at more liberal legalisation of the uses and production of Industrial Hemp. I was not sure what that meant and was not even able to pronounce the word… and then it all clicked… so this is what all the fuss is all about on the stock market.
A simple Google search will unearth a plethora of information and people can debate the moral and ethical parts of cannabinoid use. I think if we can extract these “things” naturally and it is a good thing, I am all for it.
Interestingly there is a video where one researcher mentioned a study completed where they showed that heavy smokers of “ganja” showed a negative chance of cancer. Heavy smokers of tobacco were 10-fold or 20-fold positive for contracting lung cancer. Whether this is Real or Not, I will leave the decision to DYOR.
source:https://atlasofscience.org/the-safety-and-toxicology-of-cannabinoids/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584615001190
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