The Science of Marijuana – What Weed Does To Your Body Chemistry

The Science of Marijuana - What Weed Does To Your Body Chemistry | Third Monk image 5

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Next time you burn one up, thank the sea squirt for your ability to enjoy it. This very distant, gelatinous relative was the first organism to develop the ability to respond to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

When humans joined the evolutionary lineage, we quickly realized the recreational benefits of cannabis. Archeologists have even found secret stashes from 2,700 years ago. Despite our rich marijuana history, we’ve only just begun to understand the complexity of how the drug affects the body.

THC has a wide range of effects, from psychotropic, i.e. getting high, to pain relief. It’s also able to act as a stimulant and a depressant at the same time. How does one molecule do so many things? 

Magic Plant Provides Fun and Medicine

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The first thing you need to know is that THC’s effects depend on where exactly the chemical interacts with your body. There are two types of recognition proteins, also known as receptors, for THC.

The first is CB1, which is concentrated in the brain. These receptors account for the high feeling you get when smoking pot.

The second variety of THC receptors is CB2, which are found throughout your entire body on cells of the immune system.

THC interacts with both receptor types, which is why the drug has medicinal and recreational uses.

The Munchies

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There’s a purely scientific reason why you can suddenly ingest 5,000 calories and still wonder if that Thai place will deliver late. It’s the CB1 receptors in your hypothalamus, the region of the brain that regulates appetite.

Usually, your body makes its own cannabinoids, which bind to your CB1 receptors to tell your brain that you need food. When you supply your body with THC, you artificially boost the “I’m hungry” signal and consequently end up thinking the entire local diner menu sounds AMAZING. This side effect is good not only for the bottom line of late night food spots, but also for cancer patients who have lost all desire to eat.

Dazed Introspection

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There are also CB1 receptors in your hippocampus, the area of the brain that processes short-term memory and spatial navigation. Because you’re over-stimulating this portion of the brain when you smoke pot, your neurons can’t function well and actually resemble brain damage.

So when you forget what you’re talking about in the middle of a sentence, it’s not because you forgot, but because you never stored what you were saying in your short-term memory. But this side affect isn’t all bad: The hippocampus is also associated with anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

That fact may explain why marijuana has proven to be an effective treatment for some individuals with mental issues.

Herbal Ecstasy

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Cannabis also acts a stimulant, completely warping your sense of time. Having THC in your body leads to elevated levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a molecule that is released in response to food, sex, and things that generally make you happy. In fact, dopamine causes that happy feeling, which is why it’s nicknamed the body’s “reward system.”

Dopamine also proportionally regulates your internal sense of time. More dopamine means you feel like time is going faster. So when you’ve smoked, you’re experiencing time more quickly, but you’re also not making memories of it — which is a trippy, Memento-esque concept.

Your Brain on Cannabis

This is what you look like, on the inside, when smoking cannabis. The effects of Marijuana on your brain, and how it defines your experience.

The Science of Smoking Weed: How Marijuana Affects Your Molecules | Policy Mic (Written by Brooke Horton)

Marijuana May Relieve the Symptoms of Autism (Study)

Marijuana May Relieve the Symptoms of Autism (Study) | Third Monk image 1

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Recent studies indicate that compounds found in marijuana may be used to successfully treat autism.

Researchers at Stanford University say that the debilitating effects of autism are primarily caused by a gene mutation that blocks the body’s natural production of cannabinoids, called endocannabinoids, and hinders the way those molecules communicate with the brain.

In the study, researchers found that the mutation of the neurologin-3 gene, which is responsible for creating and sustaining normal communication between brain cells, appears to have a direct correlation to autism – introducing derivatives of cannabis to the brain could ease symptoms associated with the disease.

Although the exact science revolving around how a disturbance in endocannabinoid signaling contributes to autism symptoms, researchers say there is significant evidence that suggest medical marijuana may be a viable treatment option for this condition.

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Researchers from the University of Irvine in California believe the folks at Stanford may be on to something: because they, too, have discovered a link between endocannabinoids and autism.

In a study of mice with fragile X syndrome, it “showed dramatic behavioral improvements in maze tests measuring anxiety and open-space acceptance.” And because THC, the active compound in marijuana, stimulates the same receptors as the endocannabinoids, researchers concluded, “increasing natural marijuana-like chemicals in the brain can help correct behavioral issues related to fragile X syndrome, the most common known genetic cause of autism.”

A recent article published in the Autism Daily Newscast indicates that many families are already experimenting with marijuana as a treatment for their children’s autism – as an alternative to other drugs with major side effects and questionable results.

Researchers add that while they do not advocate giving medical marijuana to children with autism, they believe their findings will lead to the development of important treatments for this devastating disease.

Pot Brownies Save Autistic Boy’s Life

A mother discusses how marijuana saved her autistic son’s life.

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> Marijuana Uses | High Times

How Marijuana Became Mainstream After Decades of Propaganda (Video)

How Marijuana Became Mainstream After Decades of Propaganda (Video) | Third Monk


Marijuana, once a political liability, is now almost mundane; with public officials openly admitting to its use.

Mason Tvert from the Marijuana Policy Project visits MSNBC to discuss how cannabis has started to break away from its negative reputation in society:

Gallup Poll: The current trend of acceptance towards marijuana is reflected by a solid majority of Americans favoring legalization.

Community Leaders: Residents of a city in California made history by electing a mayor with significant ties to medical marijuana.

Legal Recreational Use: The Feds will stay out of Colorado and Washington as long as state regulations are set up to prevent sales to minors and out of state citizens.

Crime Reduction: Political leaders will monitor how the underground market completely shrinks in legal states and use it as a reason for nationwide legalization.

Revenue: Cannabis is the healthiest, safest and cheapest way for an individual to alter their consciousness. Legal sales are expected to hurt the alcohol and cigarette industries.

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Cannabis Reduces the Stutter and Calms the Nerves of a Woman with Cerebral Palsy (Video)

Cannabis Reduces the Stutter and Calms the Nerves of a Woman with Cerebral Palsy (Video) | Third Monk

Jacqueline Patterson tries to fight Cerebal Palsy with cannabis, but lives in a society where the natural medicine is illegal. She explains how cannabis transforms her from a helpless person to someone that can function and care for her kids.

Cerebal Palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement.

At some point very early in life, something happens to interfere with the normal development of the brain or to injure the brain tissues. This abnormal development or injury disrupts the nerve signals between the brain and the muscles, leading to problems with movement, posture and coordination as the child grows up.  – BBC Health

After Jacqueline was reported in Kansas City for cannabis possession, she moved to California to continue her cannabis treatment. Since experiencing the positive benefits of cannabis, Jacqueline has become an activist to help others get better. She conceived the first Missouri Patient Protection Day to raise awareness about the medical properties of cannabis.

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Children of Cannabis – Getting Stoned and Fighting Sickness (Video)

Children of Cannabis - Getting Stoned and Fighting Sickness (Video) | Third Monk


Medical cannabis is legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia, but there are still use cases that are very controversial, like medical marijuana for children.

Some claim it’s a wonder drug for epilepsy, severe autism, and even to quell the harsh side effects of chemotherapy, while others decry pumping cannabis into still-growing bodies.

We went to the small town of Pendleton, Oregon, where medical marijuana is legal, to visit Mykayla Comstock, an eight-year-old leukemia patient who takes massive amounts of weed to treat her illness.

Her family, and many people we met along the way, believe not only in the palliative aspects of the drug, but also in cannabis’ curative effect—that cannabis can literally shrink tumors. – Vice Weediquette

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Mom Saves Her Son From Cancer by Choosing Cannabis Over Chemotherapy (Video)

Mom Saves Her Son From Cancer by Choosing Cannabis Over Chemotherapy (Video) | Third Monk image 2

Under doctors’ orders, 3-year-old Landon Riddle began treatment for his leukemia: aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. But while still living in Utah, Sierra Riddle watched her little boy become violently ill from the chemotherapy.

Landon suffered nerve-damage in his legs, nausea that led to vomiting dozens of times a day, intense pain and at one point went 25 days without eating following the chemo treatment, according to CNN.

“Around the clock, he was usually on liquid morphine, Ativan, Promethexane,” Sierra told CNN.

“And it just really didn’t seem to be helping.”

Feeling like her family “didn’t have anything left to lose” she looked into medical marijuana treatment. She moved her family to Colorado Springs, Colo. to benefit from the state’s marijuana laws and started to give Landon liquid forms of both Cannabidiol, or CBD, and Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC.

“Within four weeks we could see the improvement,” Sierra told KRDO, a local news affiliate

Sierra swapped chemotherapy for cannabis therapy and has seen her son return to his old energetic self as his cancer has gone into remission. 

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Doctor Threatens Mother for Choosing Cannabis Over Chemo

Sierra Riddle’s decision to use medical marijuana as treatment for her son’s cancer has raised some eyebrows in the traditional medical community — so much so, that one Colorado doctor reported Sierra to Human Services for refusing chemotherapy for Landon.

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Cannabis Prevents Brain Damage Caused by Binge Drinking (Study)

Cannabis Prevents Brain Damage Caused by Binge Drinking (Study) | Third Monk image 3

A study published online by the journal of  Neurotoxicology and Teratology suggests that cannabis may protect the brain from some of the damage caused by binge drinking.

marijuana-alcoholThe study, by researchers at the University of California San Diego, used a type of high-tech scan called diffusion tensor imaging to compare microscopic changes in brain white matter.

The subjects were students aged 16-to-19, divided into three groups: binge drinkers (defined as having five or more drinks at one sitting for boys or four or more for girls), binge drinkers who also smoked marijuana, and a control group who had very little or no experience with either alcohol or drugs.

Brain_Cortex_Harvard Cannabis Prevents Brain Damage

As expected, the binge-drinking-only group showed evidence of white matter damage in eight regions examined, as demonstrated by lower fractional anisotropy (FA) scores.

But in a finding the researchers described as “unexpected,” the binge-drinking/marijuana group had lower FA scores than the controls in only three of the eight regions, and in seven regions the binge-drinking/marijuana group had higher scores – indicating less damage – than the binge drinkers who didn’t use marijuana (unfortunately, not all of these stats are in the summary linked above; access to the full article requires payment).

Brain white matter tracts were “more coherent in adolescents who binge drink and use marijuana than in adolescents who report only binge drinking,” the researchers wrote.

“It is possible that marijuana may have some neuroprotective properties in mitigating alcohol-related oxidative stress or excitotoxic cell death.” The scientists noted that such protection has already been shown in lab and animal studies.

This study suggests that not only is marijuana safer than alcohol, it may actually protect against some of the damage that booze causes.

It’s far better for teens not to drink or smoke marijuana, but our nation’s leaders send a dangerous message by defending laws that encourage the use of alcohol over marijuana. – Director of State Campaigns Steve Fox, in a statement issued by MPP

Indeed, the U.S. government has a patent on cannabinoids as neuroprotectants. Yes, the same government that wants you to believe that marijuana will rot your brain knows that its active components protect brain and nerve cells from many kinds of damage.

Cannabis Prevents Brain Damage

Marijuana Protects Against Brain Damage from Binge Drinking | MPP Blog

Cannabis Can Help Cigarette Smokers By Reducing Their Addiction to Poison (Study)

Cannabis Can Help Cigarette Smokers By Reducing Their Addiction to Poison (Study) | Third Monk image 1

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Researchers at the University College London found that the cannabidiols (CBDs) in cannabis, given via inhaler could significantly reduce the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers that wanted to quit.

Celia Morgan, Ph.D, who co-authored the first study to investigate the effect of CBD on cigarette addiction in humans, explained that CBD affects memories, or cues, that underlie the desire to smoke.

We found that CBD seems to reduce the salience of cues. It also can reduce anxiety and may affect a memory process called ‘reconsolidation,’ which is where when a memory of the reward of smoking is re-activated by seeing someone smoking, it is rendered vulnerable to destruction.

CBD might mean these positive smoking memories are gradually erased. – Addictive Behaviors Science Journal

Cannabis and Cigarette Addiction Methodology

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24 smokers were recruited and split into two groups, receiving inhalers containing CBD or placebo. Both groups were told to use the inhalers whenever they felt the urge to smoke during a one week period.

The researchers found that while the placebo group showed no difference in their smoking habits, the group that received CBD reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked by 40% on average.

Although treatments for cigarette addiction are available today, researchers are still searching for more effective alternatives. CBD in cannabis seems to be a promising natural and healthy candidate.

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Can Marijuana Help You Quit Cigarettes? Study Says Yes | Leaf Science

The Effect of Cannabis on Pregnant Women and Their Newborns (Study)

The Effect of Cannabis on Pregnant Women and Their Newborns (Study) | Third Monk image 4

It’s almost too taboo to discuss: pregnant women smoking marijuana. It’s a dirty little secret for women, particularly during the harrowing first trimester, who turn to cannabis for relief from nausea and stress.

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Pregnant women in Jamaica use marijuana regularly to relieve nausea, as well as to relieve stress and depression, often in the form of a tea or tonic.

In the late 1960s, grad student Melanie Dreher was chosen by her professors to perform an ethnographic study on marijuana use in Jamaica to observe and document its usage and its consequences among pregnant women.

Dreher studied 24 Jamaican infants exposed to marijuana prenatally and 20 infants that were not exposed. Her work evolved into the book Women and Cannabis: Medicine, Science and Sociology, part of which included her field studies.

Most North American studies have shown marijuana use can cause birth defects and developmental problems. Those studies did not isolate marijuana use, however, lumping cannabis with more destructive substances ranging from alcohol and tobacco to meth and heroin.

In Jamaica, Dreher found a culture that policed its own ganja intake and considers its use spiritual. For the herb’s impact when used during pregnancy, she handed over reports utilizing the Brazelton Scale, the highly recognized neonatal behavioral assessment that evaluates behavior.

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The profile identifies the baby’s strengths, adaptive responses and possible vulnerabilities. The researchers continued to evaluate the children from the study up to 5 years old. The results showed no negative impact on the children, on the contrary they seemed to excel.

Plenty of people did not like that answer, particularly her funders, the National Institute on Drug Abuse. They did not continue to flip the bill for the study and did not readily release its results.

“March of Dimes was supportive,” Dreher says. “But it was clear that NIDA was not interested in continuing to fund a study that didn’t produce negative results. I was told not to resubmit. We missed an opportunity to follow the study through adolescence and through adulthood.”

Now dean of nursing at Rush University with degrees in nursing, anthropology and philosophy, plus a Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University, Dreher did not have experience with marijuana before she shipped off for Jamaica.

The now-marijuana advocate says that Raphael Mechoulam, the first person to isolate THC, should win a Pulitzer. Still, she understands that medical professionals shy from doing anything that might damage any support of their professionalism, despite marijuana’s proven medicinal effects, particularly for pregnant women.

Dr. Melanie Dreher’s study isn’t the first time Jamaican ganja smoking was subjected to a scientific study. One of the most exhausting studies is Ganja in Jamaica—A Medical Anthropological Study of Chronic Marijuana Use by Vera Rubin and Lambros Comitas, published in 1975. Unfortunately for the National Institute of Mental Health’s Center for Studies of Narcotic and Drug Abuse, the medical anthropological study concluded:

Despite its illegality, ganja use is pervasive, and duration and frequency are very high; it is smoked over a longer period in heavier quantities with greater THC potency than in the U.S. without deleterious social or psychological consequences [our emphasis].

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> Special Delivery | I Read Culture

Inside a Stoner Lab, How Cannabis is Tested for Potency (Video)

Inside a Stoner Lab, How Cannabis is Tested for Potency (Video) | Third Monk image 4

After a grower submits a sample batch of cannabis, a team of stoner scientists take the plant through a detailed process to test for cannabinoid potency. The results can help growers improve their weed quality and guide patients who need a specific set of cannabinoid benefits.

Take a closer look at the standardized cannabis testing done at SC Laboratories that help bring the community clean and safe cannabis.

Cannabinoid Education – Infographic

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Cannabinoid Benefits Chart – Infographic

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Cannabis Lab Testing – Photo Gallery

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Kings of Cannabis, Strain Hunters – VICE Documentary

Kings of Cannabis, Strain Hunters - VICE Documentary | Third Monk

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Kings of Cannabis introduces you to Arjan Roskam. You might not know who he is, but you’ve probably smoked his weed. Arjan’s been breeding some of the most famous marijuana strains in the world—like White Widow, Super Silver Haze, and many others—for over 20 years.

In 1992 he opened his first coffee shop in Amsterdam and has since crafted his marijuana-breeding skills into a market-savvy empire known as Green House Seed Company, which rakes in millions of dollars a year. He’s won 38 Cannabis Cups and has dubbed himself the King of Cannabis.

Kings of Cannabis

VICE joins Arjan and his crew of strain hunters in Colombia to look for three of the country’s rarest types of weed, strains that have remained genetically pure for decades. In grower’s terms, these are called landraces.

As the dominoes of criminalization fall throughout the world, Arjan is positioned to be at the forefront of the legitimate international seed trade.

Cannabis Strengthens Resistance Against HIV Infection (Study)

Cannabis Strengthens Resistance Against HIV Infection (Study) | Third Monk

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A new study published in The Journal of Leukocyte Biology 2013 has found exciting preliminary research which indicates that THC, one of the main compounds in marijuana, may have HIV fighting capabilities.

This study validates past research which also found marijuana’s compounds to be helpful in treating those with HIV and AIDS.

The research team which conducted the study is from the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Researchers infected macrophages (a type of white blood cell which fights certain infections) with the HIV-1 virus, before then exposing cell cultures to a synthesized THC that specifically target the CB2 receptor.

After a week, these cell cultures, were compared against a control group and tests revealed a clear decrease in the rate of HIV-1 infection. Essentially, the macrophages had become stronger at keeping the HIV-1 virus out.

Marijuana and AIDS

Dr. Sunil Kumar Aggarwal explains how medical cannabis has been a benefit to patients dealing with AIDS.

New Study Finds THC May Be Helpful in Combating HIV | The Joint Blog