With the legalization of cannabis slowly making its way across the U.S., the desire to understand this ancient plant is becoming more necessary.
Although cannabis has been cultivated for thousands of years and used for both its therapeutic and recreational properties, the lack of recent history and mass acceptance has resulted in grave misunderstandings. Hopefully, this concise explanation will begin to remove some of the confusion.
In a purely scientific sense, CBD stands for cannabidiol, while THC represents tetrahydrocannabinol. These are two natural compounds found in the genus Cannabis. Both forms interact with your endocannabinoid system (ECS), but their use has two very different outcomes. A brief explanation of the ECS follows, but I encourage you to research this fascinating system on your own.
The endocannabinoid system is a cell-signaling system first discovered by researchers in the early 1990s. The ECS is active in the human body even if you do not use cannabis. The ECS as described in many medical sources but drawn specifically from Wikipedia states: The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a biological system composed of endocannabinoids, which are endogenous lipid-based retrograde neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors and cannabinoid receptor proteins that are expressed throughout the vertebrate central nervous system (including the brain) and peripheral nervous system. The endocannabinoid system remains under preliminary research but may be involved in regulating physiological and cognitive processes, including fertility, pregnancy, during pre- and postnatal development, appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory, and in mediating the pharmacological effects of cannabis.
The stability of your internal environment, homeostasis, relies on these functions. When illness or injury destabilize your body’s homeostasis, your ECS should increase operation to normalize its’ optimum levels. As of today, experts believe that maintaining homeostasis is the primary role of the ESC.
Now that we have a rudimentary understanding of the ECS, let’s return to CBD and THC and their role. Both CBD and THC are chemically like your own body’s endocannabinoids and this allows them to interact with your natural cannabinoid receptors. This reaction is what promotes either relief of symptoms or euphoric results
Interesting enough, the chemical structure of both CBD and THC share the same molecular structure: 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and 2 oxygen atoms. The different effect that they have on the body is attributed to the difference in how those atoms are arranged.
CBD can be derived from two sources, one being the Hemp plant and the second, the marijuana plant. The hemp plant is a cannabis plant that contains 0.03 or less of THC. Marijuana plants are described as containing levels of greater concentration of THC. CBD is a nonpsychoactive compound, it does not produce the high associated with THC.
THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in the genus cannabis that is responsible for the high associated with marijuana use. THC binds with the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors in the brain. It produces a high or sense of euphoria. CBD binds very weekly to the CB1 receptors. In fact, it can interfere with the binding of THC and weaken its’ effects. CBD and THC share many of the same medical benefits. Although they relieve many of the same conditions CBD does not cause the psychoactive reaction that patients may find unwanted.