A Unique Time for Cannabis Research
Cannabis in today’s world occupies a wholly unique position juxtaposed between millennia of human consumption, almost a century of contraband status, and a rising wave of scientific studies and popular awareness that have propelled it into the current spotlight.
Humans have been using cannabis medicinally and ritually since before recorded history, and some even argue it may have been the very first agricultural crop our species learned to cultivate. However, the last time that hemp could be legally researched in America, the term molecular biology had yet to be coined, and nobody knew what DNA looked like.
New Paradigms
As humanity’s advancements in science and medicine have progressed, our understanding of the physiological processes behind health and wellness have necessarily evolved and deepened alongside them. Some of our systems, like the circulatory or digestive, have clearly mechanical and physiological parts to play in keeping us alive, and have been understood for centuries; meanwhile other, newly-described organs (like the interstitium) and systems (like the endocannabinoid system) are still being discovered, and yet others (like the appendix) have undergone profound shifts in our understanding of their function as our understanding of their complex molecular physiology improves.
Cannabis research has arguably led to one of the most important discoveries about the human body this century. Research by Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam into how the psychoactive phytocannabinoid THC worked on rat brains led to the discovery of the neuroreceptor, CB1, which was soon found to be ubiquitous in the vertebrate neural system. A second type of receptor followed, and endogenous cannabinoids were soon identified. This hitherto unknown biochemical communication system is now believed to be the largest network of receptors in the human body, and emerging research suggests it may be the most important physiologic system involved in maintaining health and homeostasis.
Endocannabinoids vs. Phytocannabinoids
Chances are, if you keep your finger on the pulse of either the cannabis or medical worlds, you’ve heard of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and the seemingly limitless possibilities it presents.
First off, the term endocannabinoid is a combination of the words endogenous (meaning growing or originating within an organism) and cannabinoid (any of the class of chemical compounds that act on specific cannabinoid receptors.) When cannabinoids are produced endogenously in animals, they are endocannabinoids. All mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish, along with sea squirts, nematodes, and some insect species, share the endocannabinoid system. Comparisons of the genetics of cannabinoid receptors across these varied species suggests that the ECS evolved in our family tree over 600 million years ago, making it one of the most seminal biological systems of our evolution.
Plants did not evolve an endocannabinoid system, but they did evolve to make molecules very similar to animal endocannabinoids. These molecules are only made by certain plant species (notably cannabis, but also to some degree echinacea, cacao, black truffle, and others), and were thought to evolve in response to predatory pressures (to make it sticky or unappetizing to insects and other pests). These oily molecules are called phytocannabinoids (the root phyto- meaning plant), though now they are mostly referred to simply as cannabinoids.
The Future
While much more research is needed across the board on cannabinoids, ongoing studies are consistently expanding the scope of functions affected by the endocannabinoid system and making it clear that a homeostatic system is key to health and well-being.
