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Times are changing. With weed dispensaries on every corner, let’s find out what all the hype is about. What follows is a bit of a pot primer for those who are relatively new to the marijuana scene.

Weed 101

After you smoke or ingest marijuana, its chemicals enter your bloodstream. The psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) reaches the brain in seconds, getting you “high”, but your body is also getting high. This is because of “cannabinoid” receptors: CB1 in your brain and central and peripheral nervous system and CB2 throughout the body, mostly in the immune system. In 1964, Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam and his team isolated THC, but that was not the only compound they found: they also discovered cannabidiol (CBD).

CBD, THC, and the human body

There are more than 480 components in the Cannabis sativa plant; at least 85 of them have been classified as unique chemicals known as cannabinoids, and one subclass of these is CBD. (THC is also its own subclass of cannabinoid.)

Those cannabinoid receptors in your body aren’t there for the plant; they are there for anandamide (the Sanskrit word for “bliss”), a naturally occurring neurotransmitter in the brain that binds with CB1 receptors (and that Mechoulam also isolated, in 1992). Anandamide and THC resemble one another, but anandamide breaks down quickly, which explains why it doesn’t produce a perpetual natural high.

When your body is in a state of bliss, it can relax and heal itself, which is why CBD works. CBD does not bind with the two known cannabinoid receptors; instead, it suppresses the FAAH (fatty acid amide hydrolase) enzyme that breaks down and destroys your anandamide, which, in turn, means your body’s natural high is sustained.

(An interesting fact is that CBD can significantly dull the psychoactive effects of THC, which can’t bind to those CB1 receptors occupied by your CBD-assisted anandamide. If you get too stoned, get a high-CBD strain or oil and it will “sober” you up quicker than a bag of Doritos.)

Medicinal Marijuana?

Individually, both CBD and THC have proven to work against cancer, but together they are better. The reason? They have a synergistic effect. CBD is high in antioxidants (stronger than vitamins C and E) and is also a strong anti-inflammatory with neuroprotective properties, which is why it’s being used by some for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and many neurodegenerative diseases.

In the U.K., GW Pharmaceuticals developed a natural cannabis extract known as Sativex, consisting of equal parts THC and CBD, that can help manage multiple-sclerosis-­related spasticity. Research determined that subjects responded better to equal parts THC and CBD than to either pure THC or CBD—the synergistic effect again.

CBD on its own works too, as in the case of Charlotte Figi, an eight-year-old who suffers from a rare disease known as Dravet syndrome. As reported by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, formerly a skeptic, conventional medicine didn’t work and Charlotte had continuous seizures until an oral treatment with CBD. Her condition then dramatically improved: she went from having 300-plus seizures a day to just two. Now parents of children with Dravet have hope, and the tincture of CBD oil is so popular it’s known as Charlotte’s Web.

And even though the Journal of the American Medical Association, in its latest issue (June 23 to 30), gave its backhanded approval for marijuana as an efficacious treatment for only two or three medical conditions, there seems to be no lack of enthusiasm from many quarters for conducting rigorous, high-quality scientific trials in the future for such ailments as Crohn’s disease, colitis, IBS, Tourette’s syndrome, PTSD, hepatitis C, and many others.

There will be more to come on that in a future column.