More info from Ed Rosenthals big book of buds 3....
THC: Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and Delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol- THC mimics the action of anandamide, a neurotransmitter naturally produced in the body, which binds with the cannabinoid receptors(cb1&cb2)in the brain to produce the "high" associated with marijuana.
THCV: Tetrahydrocannabivarin- prevalent in certain south African and southeast Asian strains of cannabis. Although THCV may possess many of the therapeutic properties of THC, it does not contribute significantly to marijuiana's potency.
CBD:cannabidiol- previously believed to be psychoactive, or to contribute to the high by interacting with other cannabinoids. The most recent research indicates that CBD has a negligible effect on the high. It is however a strong anti-inflammatory, and may take the edge off some THC effects, such as anxiety. Although a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, CBD appears to be helpful for many medical conditions.
CBN: Cannabinol- a degradation product of THC, CBN is not psychoactive, but is believed to produce a depressant effect or "fuzzy" forehead when it is present in significant quantities.
CBC: Cannabichromene- This cannabinoid is a non-psychoactive precursor to THC.
CBG: Cannabigerol- a non-psychoactive cannabinoid. Hemp strains often conain
elevated levels of CBG while possessing only trace amounts of THC.
And here is some other interesting info
by Paul Armentano
Senior Policy Analyst
NORML | NORML Foundation
“Cannabinoids possess … anticancer activity [and may] possibly represent a new class of anti-cancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells." So concludes a comprehensive review published in the October 2005 issue of the scientific journal Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry.
Not familiar with the emerging body of research touting cannabis' ability to stave the spread of certain types of cancers? You're not alone.
For over 30 years, US politicians and bureaucrats have systematically turned a blind eye to scientific research indicating that marijuana may play a role in cancer prevention -- a finding that was first documented in 1974. That year, a research team at the Medical College of Virginia (acting at the behest of the federal government) discovered that cannabis inhibited malignant tumor cell growth in culture and in mice. According to the study's results, reported nationally in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, administration of marijuana's primary cannabinoid THC, "slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."
Despite these favorable preclinical findings, US government officials dismissed the study (which was eventually published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1975), and refused to fund any follow-up research until conducting a similar –- though secret –- clinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the US National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods experienced greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls.
Rather than publicize their findings, government researchers once again shelved the results, which only came to light after a draft copy of its findings were leaked in 1997 to a medical journal, which in turn forwarded the story to the national media.
Nevertheless, in the decade since the completion of the National Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to encourage or fund additional, follow up studies examining the cannabinoids' potential to protect against the spread cancerous tumors.
Fortunately, scientists overseas have generously picked up where US researchers so abruptly left off. In 1998, a research team at Madrid's Complutense University discovered that THC can selectively induce apoptosis (program cell death) in brain tumor cells without negatively impacting the surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by six weeks.
In 2003, researchers at the University of Milan in Naples, Italy, reported that non-psychoactive compounds in marijuana inhibited the growth of glioma cells in a dose dependent manner and selectively targeted and killed malignant cancer cells.
The following year, researchers reported in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research that marijuana's constituents inhibited the spread of brain cancer in human tumor biopsies. In a related development, a research team from the University of South Florida further noted that THC can also selectively inhibit the activation and replication of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses, which can lie dormant for years within white blood cells before becoming active and spreading to other cells, are thought to increase one's chances of developing cancers such as Karposis Sarcoma, Burkitts lymphoma, and Hodgkins disease.
More recently, investigators published pre-clinical findings demonstrating that cannabinoids may play a role in inhibiting cell growth of colectoral cancer, skin carcinoma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, among other conditions. When investigators compared the efficacy of natural cannabinoids to that of a synthetic agonist, THC proved far more beneficial – selectively decreasing the proliferation of malignant cells and inducing apoptosis more rapidly than its synthetic alternative while simultaneously leaving healthy cells unscathed.
Nevertheless, US politicians have been little swayed by these results, and remain steadfastly opposed to the notion of sponsoring – or even acknowledging – this growing body clinical research, preferring instead to promote the unfounded notion that cannabis use causes cancer. Until this bias changes, expect the bulk of research investigating the use of cannabinoids as anticancer agents to remain overseas and, regrettably, overlooked in the public discourse.
one more dope article!!!
Potential role of cannabinoids
in Parkinson's disease
by Sevcik J, Masek K Institute of Pharmacology,
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague.
[email protected]
Drugs Aging 2000 Jun; 16(6): 391-5
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, resulting from an oxidative stress. The lack of dopaminergic neurons is reflected by a disturbed balance of the neural circuitry in the basal ganglia. Cannabinoids might alleviate some parkinsonian symptoms by their remarkable receptor-mediated modulatory action in the basal ganglia output nuclei. Moreover, it was recently observed that some cannabinoids are potent antioxidants that can protect neurons from death even without cannabinoid receptor activation. It seems that cannabinoids could delay or even stop progressive degeneration of brain dopaminergic systems, a process for which there is presently no prevention. In combination with currently used drugs, cannabinoids might represent, qualitatively, a new approach to the treatment of PD, making it more effective.
