Cannabinoids Galore!

Our cannabis knowledge is increasing exponentially thanks to scientific enquiry and we are constantly learning more about the potential health benefits of cannabinoids.

So far, over a hundred cannabinoids have been identified in the cannabis plant and research is underway to discover the attributes of many of these unique compounds. Current studies show particular interest in CBV, CBC and THCV.

Cannabinoids derived from cannabis are phytocannabinoids, meaning from plants, incredibly they match the endocannabinoids that exist in all mammals and play a central role in maintaining health.

Medical science now acknowledges that auto-immune conditions are linked to deficiencies in the endo-cannabinoid system (ECS) and that an emphasis on a healthy ECS brings wide-reaching health benefits. Well documented successful treatment of epilepsy, digestive disorders, arthritis, anxiety and depression and cancer are driving more research.

Currently it’s open season for scientific cannabinoid studies and new research is revealing other plants which contain significant phytocannabinoids.

We are living through a paradoxical moment in cannabinoid awareness: On the one hand, scientific research shows how cannabinoids support our ECS ( Endocannabinoid system) which functions to maintain balance in the body, on the other hand, cannabis, the main source of phytocannabinoids remains illegal in many countries. The legal issues of cannabis stem from the presence of THC, the only psychotropic cannabinoid that has been discovered.

This has led to the extraction of cannabinoids, most notably CBD, from industrial hemp, which contains less than 0.3% THC. Hemp doesn’t contain the same level of cannabinoids as cannabis so hemp-derived CBD means vast amounts of hemp are needed to meet demand.

Science has revealed that small amounts of cannabinoids occur in a wide range of plants; chocolate, black pepper and liverwort are just three examples. Though these sources are not viable for extraction, other plants are yielding some astonishing results.

A recent study by a team led by molecular biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, has discovered that a common weed that grows all over Brazil contains large amounts of CBD, but no THC.

Trema Micrantha Blume is a prolific shrub, native to South America and growing wild all over the sub-continent. Neto’s research team found high levels of CBD in the plant and have been awarded a research grant from the Brazilian government to continue their work. Neto is excited about the possibility of a viable source of CBD which sidesteps the illegality of cannabis in Brazil.

The CBD market alone is a 5 billion dollar industry worldwide and is predicted to reach 47 billion dollars by 2028, fuelled by high demand from the health and wellness industry.

The discovery of CBD-rich Trema Micrantha Blume holds promise for the future, potentially providing medicine and an economic boost for South America. Who knows where we’ll find cannabinoids next?

Cannabis and Music: Science Backs Up Our Subjective Experiences

By Dan Reich

Many of us may have had this experience…using cannabis to get into an altered psychoactive state, listening to music and hearing it in more detail and with more focus than normal. Some scientific studies have undertaken to find out whether there is a solid basis for this or whether it’s a matter of delusional thinking, as has often been suggested.

Scientists have noted that sounds in the frequency range of 6000hz were especially favored and focused upon. This is in the range for much of music, including rock electric guitar and jazz horn solo, which would explain both the appeal of the “stoner rock” guitar noodling and cannabis’ role in the emerging jazz world, where “reefer” and other drugs were used to help musicians pull off instrumental solos with increasing complexity.

Years of research are revealing cannabis’ scientific ability to enhance creativity. Dr. Jörg Fachner, Professor at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, told Vice Magazine, “[Cannabis] works like a psycho-acoustic enhancer. That means you are more able to absorb, to focus and to have a broader spectrum [musically]. It changes the way we perceive music.” He is also aware of cannabis’ ability to refocus its users’ attention to the current moment by changing their perception of time.

Some studies have shown cannabis has a habit of speeding up our internal clocks. This makes the external world feel slower. A 15-second time interval, for example, might be ‘expanded’ to 16.7 seconds. This is a difference of only about 11%, but that makes a significant difference when performing music.

Here is summary of what happens when we combine cannabis and music:

1. Our Pleasure Center Lights Up

One theory is that since cannabis triggers the brain’s pleasure centers and alters our sense of timing while we are altered, it makes the experience of music more complex. It can keep us focused on the present moment in each song, not what proceeded or what will follow, but a note by note experience.

2. Listening to the Detail

Cannabis seems to induce a more aware, focused state of mind, where we can hone in on small things. In this way, cannabis can bring our attention to the rivers of detail that flow in any piece of music.

3. Sense of Timing

As mentioned earlier, the time frames you’re hearing seem enlarged, giving you more time to experience melodies and other building blocks. This theory also suggests that musicians are aided in creating more complex music as well.

4. Sound Perception

With an expanded sense of time, we hear more of the music. We have more time to examine beats, melodies, lyrics, and vocals we’d been too distracted to pay proper attention to before.

5. Defined Focus

Cannabis relaxes you. If you’re not distracted by lists and guilt and regret, you can just sit back and enjoy the music. This defined focus helps you experience sound and music therapeutically, as rich, complex and deep.

6. Memory and Processing Differences

Cannabis triggers our memory. That’s why when you listen to music when high it can take you back to places in your past. What’s more, you might not merely remember events or moments, but feel like you could almost taste, smell or touch them.

Ever had that sensation that you could feel or taste music when you were in an altered state? Cannabis appears to produce something called mild synesthesia. That’s where sensory information from one sense is partially processed in another area. You might feel like you’re feeling the music instead of just hearing it, making for a richer experience.

7. The Placebo Effect

The placebo effect says that we feel what we expect to feel, such is the body’s ability to respond to suggestions. Cannabis makes music better because we expect it to. While this might explain a small element of what’s happening, the above items suggest that much more is going on.

8. Auditory Stimulation

Cannabis appears to act on the part of the brain that processes auditory input. People seem to process music more effectively when altered, later remembering lyrics and other nuances better than the control group, suggesting that cannabis actually heightens our ability to process complex input from our senses.

(source: Sol Cannabis)

To that list, I would add it is vitally important to anyone working on art, whether it is writing, painting, or musicianship.

9. It Encourages Us to Think Outside the Box

Once in the right headspace, you will find that ideas that never occurred to you before present themselves. Don’t be afraid to use them, at least in drafts, sketches and music practice. It also greatly enhances one’s intuition.

10. It Muzzles Your Inner Critic

Many artists struggle with their inner critic…the one that keeps saying what you are doing is not good enough... and if given space in your reality, can derail any creative endeavor. Cannabis tends to make us more accepting of all things, including ourselves, and acts as a “mute” button for one’s inner critic.

Armed with all this information, you are encouraged to indulge in your favorite cannabis product and listen to some music you particularly enjoy, to let the synergy take effect and to see what you might unexpectedly notice. And, if you perform music, whether professionally or not, cannabis can be a useful aid in both practice and performance.

Cannabis and music were made to enjoy, with each other.

References:

https://thegroovecartel.com/featured/cannabis-and-music-the-perfect-combination/

https://www.pilgrimsoul.com/home/why-music-sounds-so-damn-good-when-youre-high-on-cannabis

https://vocal.media/potent/relationship-between-weed-and-music

https://solisbetter.com/8-ways-cannabis-makes-music-better/

https://herb.co/guides/marijuana-weed-music-jamming/

Cannabis Revisited: How Science is Debunking the Myths

The 21st century rehabilitation of cannabis, as a valuable medical resource, is a triumph of rational science over cultural propaganda.

Cannabis and hemp have been part of the human experience for thousands of years; from India to China and Europe and then to the Americas, cannabis has been utilized for medicine, food, fabric and fiber. Until 1937, Cannabis was listed as a medicine in the American Pharmacopeia, recommended for the treatment of migraines, muscle aches and menstrual cramps.

Martin Lee’s 2012 opus “Smoke Signals'' details the outlawing and demonization of cannabis during the twentieth century and the fight to rehabilitate the plant which culminated in the breakthrough California legalization of 1996. Today, 37 American states have legitimized and reinstated cannabis for medical use and in many states, including California, recreational use is also legal.

Unfortunately the notoriety and misinformation about cannabis is taking longer to reverse than cannabis’ legal status. Although medical cannabis is a multi -billion dollar industry in the U.S. alone, many people still believe that cannabis is a dangerous addictive drug without medical value.

Since the 1960s when Dr Raphael Mechoulam began to study the chemical structures of cannabinoids, hundreds of scientific studies have proved the many health benefits that cannabis has on humans and all mammalian life forms. This extensive body of research has improved life for sufferers of severe conditions; epilepsy, arthritis, autism and anxiety disorders to name but a few.

So, for the record, and to dispel any lingering doubts, here is the science which underwrites cannabis medicine.

MYTH vs FACT

Cannabis has a reputation for making people ineffective, bluntly, stupid. The science shows the opposite, numerous studies have shown that cannabis promotes the growth and development of new brain cells. Cannabis is also inherently neuroprotective, a 2006 study on focussed on stroke victims, traumatic brain injuries and oxygen-deprived newborns, showed cannabis treatment healed injuries faster and decreased long-term sustained brain damage. The study demonstrated that the neuroprotective value of cannabinoids was higher than any other class of chemical compounds.

CBD has been recognised for alleviating symptoms associated with degenerative brain conditions including Dementia, Multiple Sclerosis and Altzeimers. THC is the only cannabinoid which has a psychotropic effect on the brain which some people find pleasurable, while others don’t. The idea that cannabis causes mental instability, precursing schizophrenia is not borne out in any existing data. In fact cannabis, especially CBD, has proved to be helpful with mental conditions, easing depression, PTSD, bipolar and schizophrenia symptoms.

Cannabis is closely associated with smoking in popular mythology and has an unfounded reputation for causing lung cancer. A large study concluded in 2006 reporting that cannabis smokers had an equal or lower rate of lung or respiratory cancers than non-users. Cannabis has proved its value in the treatment of many forms of cancer also alleviating debilitating chemo symptoms like nausea and nerve pain. In addition, research studies have proven THC shrinks cancer tumors and CBD stops the proliferation of new cancer cells.

Yet another negative stereotype is that cannabis makes you eat uncontrollably and saps motivation. Cannabis certainly has been shown to ease nausea and stimulate appetite in both HIV patients and chemo patients. For those who prefer to avoid appetite stimulation, strains high in CBD and THCV can circumvent this side effect. Some of our members claim CBD has helped them lose weight and keep it off and THCV has blood sugar regulation properties that stave off appetite. Also, take into account that in 2011, a large scale study of 52,000 individuals conducted by the American Journal of Epidemiology showed cannabis users were a third less likely to be obese than non-cannabis users. Cannabinoids can affect metabolic hormones, stimulating or repressing appetite and regulating weight loss and gain, If used thoughtfully the pitfall of the “munchies” can often be avoided.

One of the most sinister and off-putting negative claims about cannabis use is that it is a threshold ‘drug’ which leads to drug addiction. Cannabis users have a very low statistical rate of developing dependency or encouraging use of other recreational drugs. Recently cannabis has been shown to be an effective ‘exit drug’ easing withdrawal and cravings from other substance addictions. A recent Californian study of 350 cannabis users showed 40% substituted cannabis for alcohol, 26% for illicit drugs and a massive 60% for prescription drugs. CBD and THC have been used strategically to help people end addiction to opioids.

As the reality of cannabis as an indispensable medical resource is realized by an ever increasing body of users, these outdated and erroneous opinions are losing credibility and cannabis treatment is rising.

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