Dennis Leahy
8th October 2014, 20:27
If you're up to speed, you know
we humans have an "endocannabinoid" system that interacts with other systems so much and at a basic level as to lead to the endocannabinoid system being referred to as "the regulatory system of regulatory systems" in the body.
we humans produce and use cannabinoids
I don't think it's a stretch to say we could not live without the cannabinoids that our body produces - they are involved in basic functionality in so many systems
the cannabis plant ("marijuana") produces cannabinoids that mimic the natural cannabinoids our bodies produce
different genetic strains of cannabis produce different amounts of the various cannabinoids. Industrial hemp, a member of the cannabis family of plants, has been bred to have extremely low THC (so you cannot get high), and the plant is used for nutritional (but not medicinal) and industrial hemp oil, the fibers for fabric, the seed meal as food, etc. Industrial hemp - evidently - CAN be high in the cannabinoid CBD
the best known cannabinoid is THC - which is both a powerful medicine as well as a euphoric drug
the second best known (and studied) cannabinoid is CBD - cannabidiol - and is is also extremely medicinal
This thread is about CBD/cannabidiol.
If you are unfamiliar with the medicinal use for CBD, you may want to watch the following video that chronicles the journey of two epileptic children, Charlotte and Zaki. (This story has also been shown on national TV in the US.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH5yzEu3JGQ
When I checked a year ago, there was one company that was just coming onto the market with CBD, and willing to sell it to any of the 50 States in the US, because it has no THC.
When I tried to find that company today (someone asked me about CBD), I was stunned to see how many companies have CBD products on the market. (Go to "Amazon dot com" and type cannabidiol in the search box!)
Caveats:
Just like many herbal suppliments, you need to know how to read the label, and read between the lines. Note that the CBD that stopped seisures in the movie posted above was cannabis oil with 17% CBD. [ They don't say, but I do not get the impression that they started with industrial hemp seeds. Rather, I think they grew a variety of seeds, found a plant with extremely high CBD, and have been cloning it ever since.]
17% CBD would mean that (by weight) 1 gram of oil (1000mg) would contain 170mg of CBD. Contrast that with a label on a retail bottle saying "100mg of cannabis oil." In that entire bottle, there is 100mg TOTAL of oil, and unless we know what percentage of the oil is CBD, we do NOT know how much CBD is in each dose or even in the whole bottle. Best case: around 17% to 18% CBD in the oil, and that would mean the bottle in the example actually only contains 17mg of CBD in the entire bottle! And that is only if it hit the highest potency of the most expensive CBD-rich cannabis oil.
Secondly, just like THC, the CBD needs to have been processed with a medium amount of heat, to change the oil's chemistry to make it much more effective ("decarboxylated".) If you ever ate a gram of (room temperature, unheated) potent THC-rich cannabis, and on another occasion ate a cookie or brownie with a gram of potent THC-rich cannabis in it, you would know how drastic the difference is.
So, you need to read the labels, carefully.
I'll add more to this topic, need to run right now, but I am hoping that since there has been an explosion of CBD products on the market, that others can help me sort out exactly what to look for, and which companies have the highest potency (most medicinal) CBD products... as well as alternatives that are still worthwhile but a lot less expensive that the "best." (Once you see the prices, you'll understand why I added that.)
I know someone suffering from neurological migraines, and wants to try CBD, and my goal is to have something specific in this thread by later today. Please "beat me to the punch" if you can!
Thanks,
Dennis
we humans have an "endocannabinoid" system that interacts with other systems so much and at a basic level as to lead to the endocannabinoid system being referred to as "the regulatory system of regulatory systems" in the body.
we humans produce and use cannabinoids
I don't think it's a stretch to say we could not live without the cannabinoids that our body produces - they are involved in basic functionality in so many systems
the cannabis plant ("marijuana") produces cannabinoids that mimic the natural cannabinoids our bodies produce
different genetic strains of cannabis produce different amounts of the various cannabinoids. Industrial hemp, a member of the cannabis family of plants, has been bred to have extremely low THC (so you cannot get high), and the plant is used for nutritional (but not medicinal) and industrial hemp oil, the fibers for fabric, the seed meal as food, etc. Industrial hemp - evidently - CAN be high in the cannabinoid CBD
the best known cannabinoid is THC - which is both a powerful medicine as well as a euphoric drug
the second best known (and studied) cannabinoid is CBD - cannabidiol - and is is also extremely medicinal
This thread is about CBD/cannabidiol.
If you are unfamiliar with the medicinal use for CBD, you may want to watch the following video that chronicles the journey of two epileptic children, Charlotte and Zaki. (This story has also been shown on national TV in the US.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH5yzEu3JGQ
When I checked a year ago, there was one company that was just coming onto the market with CBD, and willing to sell it to any of the 50 States in the US, because it has no THC.
When I tried to find that company today (someone asked me about CBD), I was stunned to see how many companies have CBD products on the market. (Go to "Amazon dot com" and type cannabidiol in the search box!)
Caveats:
Just like many herbal suppliments, you need to know how to read the label, and read between the lines. Note that the CBD that stopped seisures in the movie posted above was cannabis oil with 17% CBD. [ They don't say, but I do not get the impression that they started with industrial hemp seeds. Rather, I think they grew a variety of seeds, found a plant with extremely high CBD, and have been cloning it ever since.]
17% CBD would mean that (by weight) 1 gram of oil (1000mg) would contain 170mg of CBD. Contrast that with a label on a retail bottle saying "100mg of cannabis oil." In that entire bottle, there is 100mg TOTAL of oil, and unless we know what percentage of the oil is CBD, we do NOT know how much CBD is in each dose or even in the whole bottle. Best case: around 17% to 18% CBD in the oil, and that would mean the bottle in the example actually only contains 17mg of CBD in the entire bottle! And that is only if it hit the highest potency of the most expensive CBD-rich cannabis oil.
Secondly, just like THC, the CBD needs to have been processed with a medium amount of heat, to change the oil's chemistry to make it much more effective ("decarboxylated".) If you ever ate a gram of (room temperature, unheated) potent THC-rich cannabis, and on another occasion ate a cookie or brownie with a gram of potent THC-rich cannabis in it, you would know how drastic the difference is.
So, you need to read the labels, carefully.
I'll add more to this topic, need to run right now, but I am hoping that since there has been an explosion of CBD products on the market, that others can help me sort out exactly what to look for, and which companies have the highest potency (most medicinal) CBD products... as well as alternatives that are still worthwhile but a lot less expensive that the "best." (Once you see the prices, you'll understand why I added that.)
I know someone suffering from neurological migraines, and wants to try CBD, and my goal is to have something specific in this thread by later today. Please "beat me to the punch" if you can!
Thanks,
Dennis