Biology of cannabis
When the average person thinks about cannabis, they probably picture the flowering tops of the plant which are trimmed into buds. These buds are majority of what you would find sold on https://ocs.ca/. They are usually ground and smoked, vaporized, or incorporated into edibles.
Trichomes are little hair-like crystal resin that blanket cannabis buds.
Trichomes contain:
- Terpenes: aromatic oils for smell and flavour
- Cannabinoids: active chemical ingredients in cannabis
Cannabis contains at least 70 different cannabinoids. However, according to WHO, only a handful of these cannabinoids have been researched.
What are cannabinoids?
Cannabinoids are a diverse class of chemical compounds that act on cannabinoid receptors in the brain. They mimic a naturally occurring group of chemicals in your brain called endocannabinoids. Both groups of molecules interact with the endocannabinoid system, found in cells that alter neurotransmitter release in the brain.
The endocannabinoid system is important for cognition, neurodevelopment, stress response and emotional control, and it helps to modulate other major neurotransmitter systems.
The two most common and talked about cannabinoids are THC and CBD:
- THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol): is the main psychoactive compound that makes you feel “high” or “stoned”
- CBD (cannabidiol): is the non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant – not typically associated with a feeling of being “high” or “stoned”
The pharmacokinetics of cannabis are different from other common addictive substances, such as alcohol and opioids. What makes cannabis different is that the half-life of the drug is much longer (1.3 days for infrequent users and 5 to 13 days for frequent users) and it poses the quality to be stored and recirculate into the blood system.
The reason for this is that THC is fat soluble and not water soluble, meaning it is metabolized by the body differently from many other drugs. While many drugs are metabolized and excreted in urine hours after use, THC and its metabolites may instead be retained in fatty tissues for very long periods after using cannabis.
These pharmacokinetic traits of cannabis makes the toxic effects of cannabis more persistent and unpredictable.
THC and the brain
Cannabis’s main sites of action are in the brain and the spinal cord.
THC produces the main psychoactive effects in the brain. THC resembles several naturally occurring chemicals in the brain, referred to as endocannabinoids.
Endocannabinoids allow nerve cells to communicate with each other. Both THC and endocannbinoids bind to CB1 and CB2, receptors which are present on many different nerve cells.
- CB1 receptors: are predominantly expressed in the brain and located in the basal ganglia, cerebellum, hippocampus, association cortices, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves
- CB2 receptors: are mainly found in the peripheral tissues on cells in the immune system, the hematopoietic systems and in the spleen
However, THC binds more effectively than endocannbinoids, which gives you the feeling of being “high” when taking cannabis, regardless of the administration method.
That being said, smoking cannabis has the most rapid and efficient drug delivery from the lungs to the brain.