Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Puff Puff Pass the Medicine

While browsing a café in Montepulciano, I came across some peculiar chocolate. It was titled “Cioccolato Al Latte Con Cannabis”. The chocolate possessed cannabis seeds, which contain almost no THC, the cannabinoid that has psychoactive traits, or CBD, the second most common cannabinoid. However consuming the resin that is excreted by the female plant is what contains the most potent amount of cannabinoids. 
Consumption of cannabis has many beneficial effects on the human body. Humans have two different types of cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2. They are affected by the body’s own endocannabinoids and the phytocannabinoids produced by the plant. The endocannabinoid system is significant in an assortment of homeostatic process involving pain regulation, memory, and appetite. The CB1 receptor is the most predominant neurotransmitter system in the brain, and the nervous system. The THC molecule fits like a key in a lock with the CB1 receptor. The CB2 receptor possesses a similar mold for the cannabinoid, Cannabinol, which helps mitigate anxiety and improve sleep. Some other benefits of cannabis include reduce seizure frequency and improve epilepsy, provide anti-nausea and appetite improvement in debilitating diseases, improve lung capacity, improve insulin sensitivity, ease chronic pain- without making people feel high, reduce the severity of inflammatory and auto-immune diseases. With all these benefits and very few bad side effects, it baffles me that cannabis is still illegal, while other more harmful drugs, like alcohol and tobacco, are legal and also socially promoted within our society. 

REM

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