{"id":683,"date":"2015-08-10T19:43:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T19:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cannachronicle.com\/?p=683"},"modified":"2015-08-10T19:43:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-10T19:43:03","slug":"what-is-cbd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannachronicle.com\/2015\/08\/10\/what-is-cbd\/","title":{"rendered":"What is CBD?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Written by: Chris Cano M.P.A.
\nExecutive Director of Central Florida Normal
\nCentral Florida Norml<\/a><\/p>\n

In the second installment of this multi-part series on cannabis and health, we will examine the certain components of the plant known as cannabinoids, in particular, cannabidiol or CBD. \u00a0These neuromodulatory lipids and their receptors regulate the human body at the molecular level in the brain, organs, connective tissues, glands, and immune cells culminating in a neuro-network called the endocannabinoid system. \u00a0Cannabinoids promote homeostasis at every level of biological life, from the sub-cellular, to the organism, and perhaps to the community and beyond.<\/p>\n

Most people have heard of the chemical called THC, which is the\u00a0ingredient in marijuana\u00a0that gets users high. \u00a0But recently, attention has shifted to another compound in marijuana called CBD \u2014 and for good reason. \u00a0While doctors for political or philosophical reasons can\u2019t seem to look past certain side effects of THC, CBD doesn\u2019t seem to present that problem. \u00a0Evidence of CBD\u2019s medical benefits continues to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabis compound that has significant medical benefits, but does not make people feel stoned and can actually counteract the psychoactivity of THC. \u00a0The fact that CBD-rich cannabis is non-psychoactive or less psychoactive than THC-dominant strains makes it an appealing option for patients looking for relief from inflammation,\u00a0pain,\u00a0anxiety,\u00a0psychosis,\u00a0seizures, spasms, and\u00a0other conditions\u00a0without disconcerting feelings of lethargy or dysphoria.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientific and clinical research, mostly sponsored by the US government, underscores CBD\u2019s potential as a treatment for a wide range of conditions, including arthritis,\u00a0diabetes,\u00a0alcoholism,\u00a0MS,\u00a0chronic pain,\u00a0schizophrenia,\u00a0PTSD,\u00a0depression, antibiotic-resistant infections,\u00a0epilepsy, and other neurological disorders. \u00a0CBD has demonstrable neuroprotective and neurogenic effects, and its\u00a0anti-cancer properties are currently being investigated at several academic research centers in the United States and elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Even though CBD shows much promise as a medicine, it remains illegal in many parts of the world. \u00a0CBD is classified as a\u00a0Schedule I drug\u00a0in the United States and a\u00a0Schedule II drug\u00a0in Canada. \u00a0Yet, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently\u00a0approved\u00a0a request to trial a pharmaceutical version of CBD in children with rare forms of epilepsy. \u00a0The drug is made by GW Pharmaceuticals and is called\u00a0Epidiolex. \u00a0According to the\u00a0company, the drug consists of \u201cmore than 98 percent CBD, trace quantities of some other cannabinoids, and zero THC.\u201d \u00a0GW Pharmaceuticals makes another cannabis-based drug called\u00a0Sativex, which has been approved in over 24 countries for treating multiple sclerosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

A patent awarded to the U.S. Health and Human Services in 2003 (US6630507) clearly covers the use of CBD as a treatment for various neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders such as Alzheimer\u2019s and Dementia. \u00a0This medical evidence should be proof enough that prohibition and the War on Drugs are leaving casualties outside of the streets. \u00a0It\u2019s leaving them in our hearts every time we lose a mother or father, grandmother or grandfather to these age-related neuro-inflammatory diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, and his co-workers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, elucidated the exact chemical structure of CBD in 1963 and of THC the following year. \u00a0It was generally assumed for almost two decades that the cannabinoids exerted effects not by binding to a specific receptor but \u201cnonspecifically\u201d by altering the lipid structure of cellular membranes. \u00a0Mechoulam established that the action was specific by purifying THC and showing that only the natural version of the molecule \u2014and not its synthetic mirror image\u2014 was exerting the effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In 1988 Alynn Howlett found that THC was indeed activating a receptor. \u00a0It was dubbed \u201cCB1\u201d and was found in those areas of the brain involved in movement, stress, cognitive function \u2014 \u201ceverywhere it would be expected,\u201d said Mechoulam, given what was known about the effects of cannabis on people. \u00a0\u201cA receptor doesn\u2019t exist in the brain just because there\u2019s a plant out there,\u201d Mechoulam reasoned, \u201cchances are there are endogenous compounds that will act on these receptors \u2014so we went after them.\u201d \u00a0Whereas others were looking for peptides, Mechoulam figured the CB1 receptor would be activated by a lipid. \u00a0Sophisticated analytical techniques and brilliant, dedicated lab workers enabled Mechoulam to isolate a cannabinoid produced by the body itself \u2014arachidonoyl-ethanolamide or AEA, which his colleague William Devane dubbed \u201canandamide,\u201d incorporating the Sanskrit word for \u201cbliss.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mechoulam\u2019s lab isolated a second endogenous compound, arachidonoyl glyceride, or 2-AG, which is more abundant in the body but less potent than anandamide. \u00a0Although their structures are different, AEA, 2-AG and THC have similar pharmacological effects. \u00a0The receptors to which they bind weave in and out of the cell membrane and are coupled to a protein that triggers events within the cell leading to slowed release of neurotransmitters. Because the cannabinoids affect the intensity with which other neurotransmitters are firing, they modulate numerous systems within the body. \u00a0Mechoulam said, \u201cThere is almost no physiological system that has been looked into in which endocannabinoids don\u2019t play a certain part.\u201d \u00a0CBD binds to a second cannabinoid receptor \u2014CB2\u2014originally found in spleen cells by S. Munro of Cambridge University in 1993 and subsequently found in the stomach, liver, heart, kidney, lymph and immune cells, bones, endocrine glands, and throughout the peripheral nervous system.<\/span><\/p>\n

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CBD\u2019s lipid-solubility enables it to get into places in the brain that conventional neurotransmitters cannot reach. \u00a0It is a potent anti-oxidative agent. \u00a0It turns out to be an antagonist to a recently discovered receptor called GPR-55 to which THC and 2-AG bind as agonists. \u00a0It blocks the uptake of adenosine, an inhibitory neurotransmitter that may promote sleep. It blocks the formation of various cytokines (signaling compounds not released by nerves or glands) under certain circumstances. \u00a0It activates the serotonin receptors. \u00a0No wonder, then, that CBD plays a role in many clinical conditions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Consroe and colleagues in Brazil led an experiment in which CBD was tested as a treatment for intractable epilepsy. \u00a0Patients stayed on the anticonvulsants they had been on, which hadn\u2019t eliminated their seizures, and added 200mg\/day of CBD or a placebo. \u00a0Of the seven patients getting CBD over the course of several months, only one showed no improvement; three became seizure-free; one experienced only one or two seizures; and two experienced reduced severity and occurrence of seizures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Mechoulam has and is still currently investigating CBD\u2019s use as a treatment for diabetes, nausea, PTSD, chronic pain, and treatment of substance abuse. \u00a0Yet, barriers to research and approval for treatment in Western Civilization remain hindered due to cannabis\u2019s current prohibition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today marijuana is still demonized for its effects on the human body by prohibitionist forces such as the Drug Enforcement Agency, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Drug Free America Foundation. \u00a0With such scientific evidence, and the call for a removal of research barriers, to continue to support prohibition is to promote death sentences on our families. \u00a0But, in today\u2019s self-serving interests of American politics, science and compassion seem to be considered anathema. \u00a0This would explain why eighty years of prohibition steeped in racism and conjecture still remains the status quo. \u00a0Choose to fight back against the status quo by arming yourself with facts. \u00a0Understand the real value in cannabis. \u00a0It is that value that makes it such an integral part of human life for the last 10,000 years. \u00a0Its integral nature and value can rarely be replaced by man-made substitutes, and for this reason, the powers that be continue to push prohibition. \u00a0But, that is a conversation for another time\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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