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Saturday, October 12, 2019

legalize :: essays research papers

Cannabis is one of the most widely used drugs throughout the world. The psychoactive constituent of cannabis, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), produces a myriad of pharmacological effects in animals and humans. Marijuana has been in use for over 4,000 years as a therapeutic and as a recreational drug. It can have both stimulant and sedative properties. In usual intoxicating doses, it produces a sense of well-being, relaxation, a loss of temporal awareness, slowing of thought processes, impairment of short term memory, and a feeling of achieving special insights. At high dosed marijuana can induce panic, toxic delirium, and not often, psychosis. Marijuana is the term used to describe the leaves and flowering tops of the Cannabis sativa plant. Like other herbal medicines, the Cannabis plant plays host to a number of chemicals. The plant houses approximately 460 known compounds. Sixty of these are unique to the Cannabis plant and are called cannabinoids. The primary psychoactive cannabinoid is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) interacts with cannabinoid receptors to trigger dopamine relase from the mesolimbic reward system. Chemically the cannabinoids are classed as terpenoid (terpene-like). These compounds occur as essential oils within many plants and some are involved in vitamin, steroid and pigment formation. There are two known endogenous cannabinoid receptors named CB1 and CB2. CB1 receptors are found primarily in the brain. They are most prevalent in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. CB1 receptors in the hippocampus mediate effects on short-term memory. CB2 receptors are also found in the brain, but more so expressed by cells of the immune system, especially B cells. The CB receptor is a G protein mediated receptor that affects primarily calcium and potassium channel activation (Howlett et al, 1995). Both receptors are G protein linked, decrease adenyl cyclase activity, inhibit calcium N channels, and disinhibit potassium channels. Functional changes are most notable in neuronal excitability and neurotransmitter release. Both receptor types selectively bind THC, the active principle in marijuana, and anandamide, an endogenous cannabimimetic eicosanoid (Felder et al, 2000). As was just mentioned, there is also an endogenous cannabinoid system, the brain’s own marijuana, capable of activating these cannabinoid receptors functionally. These endocannabinoids are synthesized by neurons and inactivated by reuptake systems and enzymes in both neurons and glia. Initially, the receptors were considered orphaned receptors meaning that there were no endogenous ligands. Subsequent research turned up two endogenous cannabinoid ligands, anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol, that not only bind to the receptors but also mimic many of the biological actions of plant-derived cannabinoids.

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