Cannabis plants are the cannabis genus also known as marijuana or weed occupy a very weird place in our society. In some places in the world, they’re a completely legal drug like tobacco or booze and in other several parts; the use of it can send you straight to jail. Countries like the US, Spain Australia, and Canada have legalized it. Even you can buy weed online in Canada from its online dispensary. Products like Pineapple Express, MK Ultra, and Budget Buds are gaining popularity online. Cannabis might be the most widely used illicit drug in the world. So it’s time to take a look at what this plant actually is all about and what is it doing to your brain.
Cannabis has been around for a long time, there are records of its use back in 4000 BC. The active ingredient in the plant is mainly tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short. Along with some other cannabinoids is simply called cannabidiol. Now their cannabinoids are concentrated in hair-like structures on the plant called trichomes, which evolved to protect the leaves from being eaten by animals and insects. And as the plant ripens, THC rich resin and oil glands start to appear concentrated around the future flowers – the buds. It’s these buds that people are often purchasing if they buy the drug. So THC is the active ingredient but what is it actually doing to your brain? THC primarily affects that cannabinoid receptors in the brain, the cb1 receptors, and it’s these receptors that affect short-term memory coordination. Your body actually makes a natural cannabinoid that activates the cb1 receptors and by overstimulating them, you are basically experiencing a bit of brain damage albeit short-term and reversible.
Well, it’s thought that bi-diol might actually counteract some of the effects of THC and possibly be the source of the sedative and calming feelings. The overall effect also depends on how you partake in cannabis. Most people smoke it in joints in the form of leafy looking herbal grass or weeds or the squidgy extracted resin usually called hash. The stronger varieties are normally called skunk, though increasingly people are actually vaping weed as well. But it can be eaten in food made with cannabis-infused fat then each of these methods can have different effects. For example, some people have a bad time with edibles because they take longer to take effect so they keep scuffing them and then they’re suddenly hit with a huge dose. A joint also has tar in it like a regular cigarette so it’s just as bad for your lungs as tobacco smoke.
So, no matter how it gets into your system what does it do when it gets there? Well, almost immediately some people feel less anxious and in a better mood or they get the giggles and you might even get the munchies which come as a result of the THC binding to receptors in the hypothalamus inhibiting the chemical signals that tell us not to eat. We do know that THC can directly cause paranoid thoughts and on the development of the young brain cannabis probably isn’t as addictive as saying nicotine but some people do find that they become dependent on cannabis and suffer from insomnia or anxiety if they try to stop. In the past decade, the number of under 18, seeking treatment for their cannabis use has risen by a whopping 50% and that’s a big worry since it’s fairly well accepted that there is at least a correlation between smoking pot and an increased risk in developing schizophrenia. The link is even clearer in young people with a family history of mental illness. When they use cannabis they increase their risk of developing a chronic psychotic disorder like schizophrenia. The more cannabis they consume the higher the risk, and the risk seems to be higher with young people. But yet it’s not really clear why certainly prolonged exposure to THC seems to deplete a natural and no cannabinoid in the brain which may leave more people more vulnerable to psychosis.
Another recent problem is that skunk could be becoming more potent with strains of cannabis being selectively bred to increase the levels of THC. Now as the plant makes both THC and cannabidiol from the same starting material. If they’re bred for more of one then that leads to decreases in the amount and if it’s maxed out with THC there will be hardly any kind of bi-diol which is not a good thing because as we said earlier, kind of bi-diol can counteract the effects of THC one of the effects that seems to be the link to psychosis.
Now you should know the medical benefits of cannabis – Now there is general agreement that it’s helpful in treating pain. Especially nerve pain and in helping control nausea and sickness that people often get after chemotherapy. Some say it is very helpful to gain muscle as it works as an appetizer so it is an alternative of steroids Canada. It can even help people deal with muscle spasms caused by MS.