Preface: Necessary Information
One of the most active components of the human body is the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS exists in mammalian brains and has been shown to be responsible for regulating appetite, sleep, pain, and several other crucial bodily functions. The CB1 and CB2 receptor sites–those to which many of those cannabinoids bind–have extremely low concentrations in the brain stem making it virtually impossible physically to fatally overdose on cannabis.
Cannabis is a plant that naturally contains several dozen cannabinoids which act upon the ECS in many therapeutic ways. As well, cannabis contains a number of terpenes–aromatic molecules that are produced to some degree by every plant on Earth. While delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is not the only cannabinoid that will affect the human body in a psychotropic way, it is certainly the strongest. It is also the combination of the various cannabinoids with the terpenes that modulate those cannabinoids that is responsible for the numerous beneficial effects of the cannabis plant.
In cannabis, the process of cannabinoid production begins with the combination of olivetolic acid and geranyl pyrophosphate which produces cannabigerolic acid. Cannabigerolic acid then decarboxylates (loses a molecule containing oxygen) into several synthase molecules, THCa-synthase, CBDa-synthase, and CBCa-synathase, which are the precursors that further decarboxylate. (The ‘a’ in each of these stands for ‘carboxylic acid’.) Cannabichromene (CBC) and Cannabidiol (CBD), working together in an ‘entourage effect’ with THC, have been shown to inhibit tumor growth while CBC has even been shown to reduce tumors in rodents (see video below).
NOTE: THC and CBN are two of the only psychotropic cannabinoids in cannabis, meaning that they are the ones that give us the “high” feeling. THC is not actually present in any appreciable concentrations in the living plant. Only through time (drying and curing) and with the application of heat does the THCa (which, again, is not psychotropic yet has several unique therapeutic effects in and of itself) decarboxylate into THC.
The Experience: Methods of Cannabis Ingestion
Ingesting cannabis in edible form, i.e. candies, chocolates, cookies, etc., affects users and patients in wildly different ways. Whereas some can handle several hundred milligrams spread throughout each day, that amount can cause someone much less experienced with cannabis to become sick, perhaps vomit, and be to a certain degree incapacitated due to that sickness for a day or two. When ingesting cannabis in edible form, it can take up to 2 hours for the full effect of the cannabinoids. However, CBD can be used to counteract the effects of the psychotropic cannabinoid THC.
When smoking the dried flowers of the cannabis plant, known by several thousand different names, the effects are quite different than those associated with edibles. First, effects can be felt within several seconds to a few minutes since THC dissolves almost instantaneously in the blood stream. When inhaling the smoke, the THC dissolves into the bloodstream not just through the mouth but also through the many blood vessels present within the lungs. Generally, the maximum amount of THC that the lungs can absorb in a given hit is absorbed within a few seconds. Another way to extract the THC from flower is by heating it to a temperature just under that of combustion which vaporizes the cannabinoids and releases them to be inhaled.
Concentrates contain, as the name implies, high concentrations of one or more cannabinoid–typically THC–as well as terpenes. From extracted oils that are mixed with other chemical components such as propylene glycol, or in healthier cases coconut oil, and vaporized in a handheld pen, to tinctures that are used as a fast-acting sublingual, to hash, wax, and shatter, which can also be used in vaporizers and pens, ‘dabbed’ with a type of bong called a ‘dab rig’, or even smoked with flower, the high concentrations can, if used excessively (which, of course, is subjective and based upon one’s body chemistry), send the endocannabinoid system into a sort of overload in that a single inhalation can contain as much THC as an entire joint. For comparison, a joint typically contains around one gram of ground flower, concentrated anywhere between 14% and 27% THCa or more, while a dab of wax, for instance, is a small fraction of a gram concentrated anywhere between 50% and 85% THC or more (the wax is produced through a whipping/heating process that decarboxylates the THCa and is also why some wax is actually called butter).
Transdermal patches and topical creams introduce the cannabinoids into the body through absorption through the skin. Placing patches and rubbing creams, ranging from several dozen up to several hundred or more milligrams (here in Colorado, recreational products are capped at 100mg of THC while medical patients are limited only by their doctor’s prescription) on pain areas as well as high blood flow areas (e.g. the wrist) is a safe alternative for those medically incapable of smoke inhalation due to lung, bronchial, or other issues and can be produced with high concentrations of specifically isolated or combined cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids affect different people in different ways based upon body chemistry. However, several characteristics are generally common with the various methods of ingestion. For example, a phenomenon known as cotton mouth is often experienced which is the result of submandibular glands, those responsible for the production of saliva, being located near the CB1 and CB2 receptors. As well, red eyes are the result of the expansion of blood vessels caused by regulation by the ECS. While it does happen throughout the body, this expansion becomes prominent in the eyes due to the white background of the eyeball. Finally, memory can be affected in varying ways because there are CB1 receptor sites–those to which THC bind–located in the hippocampus which is responsible for both short-term and long-term memory encoding and recall in humans.
A final noteworthy result of cannabinoid consumption is the number of success stories over the past few years about the massive reduction and even stopping altogether of epileptic seizures in both children and adults by using high concentrations of CBD. Cannabis oil has been used several times in conjunction with radiation and/or chemotherapy to reduce many of the negative side effects and drastically increase the success of such treatments.
The Fifth Dimension 