Do you want to know why many doctors are prescribing marijuana? Below is a simple explanation of marijuana cannabinoids and how they work with our own human cannabinoid receptors. Remember, this is a simple version. You can read more by following the link.
The Alliance for Cannabis Science is providing the following information to our legislators to give them the basics in why cannabis medicine works.
The Basics
Cannabis is the botanical name for marijuana.
The plant, cannabis, is a source of chemical compounds called cannabinoids.
The human body also creates cannabinoids, and we have cannabinoid receptors. Together, the cannabinoids and their receptors make up the human cannabinoid system.
Just as there was a time that we didn’t know we had immune systems or hormonal systems, until 1988 we didn’t know that we had cannabinoid systems.
The cannabinoids from the cannabis plant fit nicely into human cannabinoid receptors. Thus, the cannabinoids from the cannabis plant can be utilized by the human cannabinoid system.
One of the cannabinoids in cannabis – THC - creates a euphoric effect. The other cannabinoids in cannabis do not. CBD is another cannabinoid in cannabis. CBD has medicinal applications both in conjunction with THC, but also independently of it. Other cannabinoids, such THCA, also have likely medicinal applications though there is less data available.
The cannabinoid system participates in physiological functions like appetite, sleep, neuronal growth & migration, cell death, lipid metabolism, pain response, and inflammation, to name only a few.
The existence of the cannabinoid system is not theoretical. It is not even controversial. To find accredited, peer-reviewed material on the cannabinoid system, see PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
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