GREEN SCIENCE : Cannabidiol (CBD)

This cannabinoid I am most certain you've heard of - the popularly famed CBD. I am HAPPY to say that more CBD cannabis strains are hitting the market, and hitting it fast. So fast, its almost impossible to keep track of them all, nor ALL of the MANY medical benefits this magical cannabinoid has to offer.

What is CBD ? Cannabidiol, or CBD, is one of the most common non-psychoactive cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, occurring in the largest concentrations after THC and THCa.  As we know from my previous GREEN SCIENCE - "THC" article, the reason THC is psychoactive is because it interacts with the CB1 receptor.  CBD, on the other hand, has ZERO interaction with the CB1 receptor and instead uses a collection of the other receptor sites.  Also found, in an interesting reversal of CBD's ability to calm THC psychoactivity, there is a way to transform CBD into THC. Evidence shows that CBD is like THC in that it will breakdown into the heavily sedating CBN.

This non-psychoactive cannabinoid is a powerful treatment for seizures, pain, inflammation, cancer, auto immune diseases, bone growth, and numerous other conditions. While THC and CBD both cause the consumer to feel less pain they use entirely different mechanisms of action. As evidence shows, THC helps with pain by helping one forget they are in pain, or by distracting them from pain. CBD works to reduce the amount of pain felt whenever you are injured or feel the pain, more similar to traditional opiate pain killers. In saying that - while THC is also an analgesic and anti-inflammatory, CBD has been shown to be even more potent than THC and pharmaceutical drugs. #PlantsOverPills

Due to CBD being non-psychoactive and its wide range of medical uses, CBD is highly recommended for treatment of children, the elderly, and anyone who wants to remain clear headed while still getting the medical benefits of cannabis.  CBD appears to change how THC affects the body, making it less psychoactive yet preserving the therapeutic benefits.  

WEED SCIENCE + THE HAPPY CHEF NOTE : Many patients and consumers  who are new to cannabis, especially edibles, report getting too high and having negative experiences. If this ever happens to you, use a CBD-rich tincture or CBD-rich product to calm down the psychoactive effects of THC. CBD will help you sober up!

Formula : C21H30O2

Molecular Mass : 314.2246 g/mol

Decarboxylation Point : 115 - 145  °C (293  °F)

Boiling Point : 180 °C (356 °F)

Lethal Dose (LD50) : 50 mg/kg for mice (Compare to Nicotine for mice - 50 mg/kg, for humans - 0.5-1 mg/kg)

WEED SCIENCE NOTE : These strains tend to show consistent THC:CBD profiles, but you may encounter variations (e.g. ACDC may be found with little to no THC, or exhibit a balanced THC:CBD ratio).  These ratios all depend on the plants environment, salts, nutrients, and the cultivator, or master growers methods. Be sure to check each product's lab tested cannabinoid profile to be certain of its THC and CBD levels. 

Therapeutic Uses for CBD

Analgesic - relieves pain.

Antibacterial - slows bacterial growth 

Anti-Diabetic - CBD is the only cannabinoid identified that helps lower blood sugar levels. 

Anti-Depressant - relieves symptoms of depression

Anti-Emetic - reduces vomiting and nausea

Anti-Epileptic - reduced seizures and convulsions 

Anti-inflammatory - reduces inflammation systemically 

Anti-Insomnia - aids with sleep 

Anti-Ischemic - CBD is the ONLY cannabinoid identified that reduces the risk of artery blockage

Antipsioratic - CBD is the ONLY cannabinoid identified to treat psoriasis.

Anti-Proliferative - inhibits cancer cell growth

Antipsychotic - tranquilizing effects to relieve symptoms of psychosis, two terpenoids also help (linalool and myrecene) 

Antioxidant - prevents the damage of oxidation to other molecules in the body.

Antispasmodic - suppresses muscle spasms.

Anxiolitic - CBD is the ONLY cannabinoid identified that reduces function in the immune system.

Bone Stimulant - promotes bone growth

Immunosuppressive - CBD is the ONLY cannabinoid identified that reduces function in the immune system.

Intestinal Anti-Prokinetic - CBD is the ONLY cannabinoid identified that reduces small intestine contractions.

Neuroprotective - slows damage to the nervous system and brain.

Vasorelaxant - CBD is the ONLY cannabinoid identified that reduces vascular tension.

I've listed below the most common CBD varieties to better familiarize you with what strain would most benefit you, but keep in mind that your dispensary probably has many others available for you.  If the strains below aren't in stock, ask your budtender to point out other CBD-rich strains and products that they carry.

A list of popular recommended strains and their medical uses :

High-CBD/Low THC Strains

Uses : Epilepsy, sever anxiety, inflammation, fatigue

SATIVAS

Charlotte's Web

HYBRIDS

ACDC

Canna-Tau

Canna tonic

Harle-Tsu

Ringo's Gift

INDICAS

CBD Shark

Remedy

Mixed THC/CBD Strains

Uses : Pain, mild anxiety, insomnia, inflammation

SATIVAS

CBD Mango Haze

Harlequin

Hawaiian Dream

MediHaze

HYBRID

Sour Tsunami

INDICA

Pennywise

Sweet and Sour Widow

! KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN !

! FOR USE ONLY BY ADULTS 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER !

These High-CBD or mixed strains have been known to be the best choices for consumers prone to anxiety.  But ultimately you, the patient, will be the one to decide which strain works best for you.

GREEN SCIENCE NOTE : A great site to check for a thorough strain database to find more CBD strains, or find what strains are in collectives near you, visit - Leafly.com.

Because of CBD, with its vast medical benefits coupled with the lack of psychoactivity, CBD-only medical cannabis laws have prompted over two dozen states to pass, legalizing a part of the plant while keeping the whole plant illegal.  This CBD-only Cannabis Law does a dis-service to its patients because even patients who are in need of a CBD-rich regimen of medicine they are often in need of THC, THCa, or CBG.  There are cases of pediatric epilepsy patients using very high ratios of CBD:THC, in range of 28:1, yet they still need THC at times and also see benefits from using THCa and CBG. 

Combining different cannabinoids together has been shown to have a stronger effect than any of those cannabinoids would have had on their own, this effect has been called "Whole Plant Medicine" or the "Entourage Effect". There are many companies that are attempting to cash in on this CBD "Green Rush" and have put numerous inferior products on the market for inflated prices. Basically, they are charging you what us REAL cannabis production do for the REAL product and instead giving you - "Fake News". ProjectCBD has named these Snake Oil Salesmen - "Hemp Oil Hustlers".  This problem became so bad that in February 2015, the FDA informed numerous companies with warning letters that their CBD products did not test as high as they claimed and that they are not FDA approved.  *Make sure at your local collectives to ask the budtender to see the lab results of the cannabinoid profile, this ensures you are getting the benefits of the REAL CBD-rich product desired. 

A little later in our cannabis history, in ending 2016, the DEA made this I like to call "chess move" :

FOX NEWS REPORT December 15th 2016

"A cannabidiol hemp oil that Leafly says is used by "hundreds of thousands of patients" in the US for a variety of medical purposes, including to help relieve seizures, has been designated a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA, 7NEWS reports.

Schedule 1 drugs (which are illegal and include LSD and heroin) are said to have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." The announcement published in the Federal Register last week details the new ruling for CBD, which sets aside a new code number for "marihuana extract" and pertains to any "extract containing one or more cannabinoids ... derived from any plant of the genus Cannabis." This decision came despite the fact that CBD from hemp—cannabis with no more than between 0.3% and 1% of the active ingredient THC—has been widely available up till now via mail order and the internet.

Companies selling it have been operating under assumed legality because of CBD's low THC levels, Leafly notes—an apparently murky area. The DEA made a similar move in 2001 when it failed in an attempt to ban all hemp products."

Below is a photo of my @edibledee Twitter response to this DEA "chess move", SHARE this BLOG if You AGREE! 

And NOW here is a list of ALL the "medical uses" case studies that CBD is being studied for in a variety of conditions - 

If you would like to NERD OUT some more on GREEN SCIENCE, read below :

Summary of Case Studies Done on CBD 

- CBD's strong Neuroprotective and anti-oxidative effects work together to counteract the effects of aging on our brains, helping with Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, and Memory Loss.  

- A study from March 2015 showed that CBD's ability to stimulate bone growth is powerful enough to speed up and enhance the healing of broken bones. Evidence was also found that THC had a related role in the healing of broken bones, working in entourage with CBD in this same study.

- A 2007 study regarding ongoing research being done at San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center, showing that CBD inhibits a particular gene that is responsible for the growth of cancer cells in the body, the Id-1 gene.  By inhibiting this gene CBD shuts down the growth of cancer cells, reversing or even potentially stopping tumor growth. 

- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in October 2013, approved two clinical trials assessing the therapeutic uses of CBD in treating intractable epilepsy in children.  These CBD preparations are being made by British pharmaceutical company GW Pharmaceuticals ($GWPH) , makers of Sativeex.  Dravet Syndrome is a rare seizure disorder where usually children will have their first intractable seizures before they are even one years of age, and in some exceptional cases these seizures can last over 24 hours. 

- CBD stimulates the 5-HT1a receptor in the brain, a region involved in the re-uptake of serotonin and other processes that aid with depression and anxiety.  

Serotonin :

"or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter.  Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract), blood platelets, and the central nervous system (CNS0 of animals, including humans.  It is popular thought to be a contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness."

The antidepressant properties of CBD are also very similar to the tricyclic antidepressant Imipramine, which is also being studied for panic disorder.  

- In 2006, CBD was discovered to mitigate the effects of diabetes.  Since then it has been shown to have numerous benefits for people with diabetes, specifically in reducing neurotoxicity and inflammation.  In a later follow up study in 2010, CBD was found to work as a defense against neurodegeneration.  In another 2010 study,  it states that CBD had "great therapeutic potential in the treatment of diabetic complications, and perhaps other cardiovascular disorders." 

- CBD shows a lot of promise for controlling the inflammatory response and discomfort caused by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Crohn's disease.  CBD has shown potential in regulating these diseases to a level that it is being considered for a new class of IBD drugs.

- CBD was shown to have anti-emetic, anti-nausea effects.  The same study also found that CBG could block these anti-nausea effects, this could be because moderate doses of CBD and CBG may oppose each other at 5HTP1a receptor in the brain.

5HTP1a receptor

"The serotonin 1A receptor (or 5HTP1a receptor) is a subtype of serotonin.

They decrease blood pressure and heart rate via a central mechanism, by inducing peripheral vasodilation, and by stimulating the vagus nerve. 

central 5-HTP1a activation increases heat dissipation from the organism out into the environment, causing a decrease in body temperature." 

aka 

Weed Makes You Cool! 

- CBD is powerful antipsychotic currently being considered for use in treating schizophrenia and other psychoses.  Cannabidiol appears to have a very similar chemical profile to certain atypical antipsychotic drugs. 

Some of the common atypical antipsychotics include : 
- Risperidone
- Olanzapine
- Quetiapine
- Ziprasidone

The side effects of these drugs : "Although atypical antipsychotics are thought to be safer than typical antipsychotics, they still have sever side effects, including tardive dyskinesia (a serious movement disorder), neuroleptic maglignany syndrome, and increased risk of stroke, sudden cardiac death, blood clots, and diabetes."

I would like to think cannabis to be a better option than any of those side effects, especially that of CBD.  Be sure to visit these sites if you ever want to NERD out on WEED SCIENCE! The more you know about these compounds and what they do, the better you are taken care of as a patient! Know the Compounds (the ingredients), Know the Effects.  Makes your shopping experience way easier. The strain names can get confusing for most that aren't in the culture, it probably looks like a cheesecake factory menu of strain names to many and that can be confusing.  Being able to communicate what levels you need , you will better find your natural medicine. 

Thank you to all the scientists, researches, cultivators, production, authors, biologists, chemists, collective owners, patients and leaders in this growing industry, all of you sharing your art makes us all better at our jobs. - #DeliciouslyDee

! KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN !

! FOR USE ONLY BY ADULTS 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER !

CLICK TO CHECK OUT OTHER GREEN SCIENCE ARTICLES 

+ Be sure to check out Deliciously Dee's The Happy Chef Expert Cannabis Cookbook for a behind the scenes on "the Herb" and a breakdown of boiling points and recipes to help you maximize the benefits of this healing plant and learn to cook with cannabis! 

DELICIOUSLY DEE

THE HAPPY CHEF

expert cannabis cookbook

CLICK TO PURCHASE on iBooks

CLICK TO PURCHASE on Kindle

And a special thanks to :

@MissRadReefer
@DNA_Genetics
@DigiPathLabs

for their contributions to make this cookbook extra delicious! 

Also check out these GREEN SCIENCE articles :

Know Your Terpenes : Limonene

Know Your Terpenes : Pinene

Know Your Terpenes : Linalool

SOURCES :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219532/
https://www.cannabisindustryjournal.com/feature_article/the-c4-cannabinomics-collaborative-qa-with-dr-zacariah-hildenbrand/
https://www.google.com/patents/US20040143126
http://www.oregon.gov/pharmacy/Imports/Marijuana/StaffReview/ReschedulingCannabis-NOTES_3-10.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15030397
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25801536
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165946/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18025276
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/marijuana-and-cancer_n_1898208.html
http://norml.org/news/2013/10/24/fda-approves-investigational-trials-assessing-cannabidiol-for-pediatric-epilepsy
http://www.gwpharm.com
https://www.projectcbd.org/about/safety-and-quality-control/more-fda-warnings-mislabeled-cbd-products-police-raids
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-HT1A_receptor
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23108553
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2823358/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16698671
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16400026
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21537423
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21144973
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22815234
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21243485
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22716160