Cannabis By Any Other Name Part 2
Everyone Has Their Own Cannabinoid System
Ready to learn a little more about Cannabis? Cannabinoids were first found in plants and only recently has it been discovered that each of us has our own internal cannabinoid system called the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). This system underlies all other systems including the Autonomic Nervous System. It’ offers both protection and regulation and interfaces with every system in our body.
The Gift of Protection (ECS)
The protective aspect interfaces with several systems. ECS aids the immune system by boosting immunity and shutting down the inflammatory response including anti-neoplastic (anti-cancer) effects. It acts as a neuroprotector by protecting and regulating pain. Studies have shown that when given prior to a head injury it limits damage to the nerves. NFL football players want cannabis to be taken off the banned list and used prior to playing to protect/limit damage to the brain/nerves if injured.
Present-time ease (anti-anxiety as in “all is well”) is another gift of cannabis. As anyone who has ever smoked cannabis can attest, it affects the perception of time. This results in increased exploratory behavior (curiosity) by removing emotional tags to experiences (especially helpful in PTSD) and can help with feelings of hope.
The Gift of Regulation (ECS)
The regulatory effects are well known to those undergoing chemotherapy (it does potentiate the chemotherapy so lower dosing is needed) where it helps with hunger and appetite and decreases nausea/vomiting. It also modulates blood sugars and general metabolism. In addition to toning the cardiovascular system it allows for beneficial cognitive function, emotional memory, neuroplasticity, learning and evolving mind expansion
ECS can be made by almost all our cells on demand and is heavily populated in the brain and skin (that’s why topical preparations work so well). One of the places that doesn’t have CBD receptors is the brainstem (controls respiration and heart rate). That’s why you can’t overdose on CBD (you may feel like you’re going to die, but you won’t).
You can, however, overdose on opioids because we do have those receptors in the brainstem. Warning: If using opiates and cannabis together, cannabis potentiates opioids by 30%. Therefore, the opioid needs to be reduced by at least 30% to prevent an overdose. In pain control, you want to use the least amount of both cannabis and opioids to get the results you want, as opioids have their own set of side effects and interactions.
The Medicine of Cannabis: What do THC, CBD and Terpenes do?
The best medicine is made with the whole plant using the CBD, THC and terpene constituents. They all have benefits for the plant and us. Studies show whole plant extract to be 4-330 times more effective than just using its isolated components. Different strains of cannabis contain different ratios of THC and CBD. In Virginia, we can plant the <.3% THC varieties. Even the low THC plants have different terpene profiles which result in different uses. Some terpene profiles are better at lowering anxiety and some are more beneficial for decreasing inflammation.
In the plant, CBD functions as an animal/insect deterrent and UV protectant. In us, CBD acts as an analgesic, anti-convulsant, anti-anxiety, anti-emetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotectant. In plants, THC functions as an insecticide and antifungal. In us, THC acts as an analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, anti-convulsant, anti-anorectic (energy wasting and decreased food intake), anti-emetic and decreases cancer cell growth. In plants, terpenes (responsible for the scent) act as an insecticide, antibiotic, antifungal and gives the plant its characteristic resinous/stickiness. In us, terpenes (in general) act as an anti-psychotic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-anxiety, to name just a few.
Flowers Rule!
There is plenty of information about how to grow the “best cannabis ever” (sort of like those “grow the best tomato ever” articles) yet, if you can grow nettles, you can grow cannabis. Seedlings don’t like wet feet or crowding and need plenty of sunshine. Once established, they’ll outgrow everything around it, needing watering if weather is dry. Terpene production does best with more light and decreases with soil fertility. The goal is to keep the female flowers from going to seed. Therefore, the male flowers need to be removed. They appear before the female flowers and look like little round balls. These are removed to enable the female flowers to get big and produce more trichomes. Trichomes are where the cannabinoids and terpenes are located.
The part used is the female flower and anything that contains the trichomes including the calyx, bracts, and petioles. The trichomes located inside the flower are where the cannabinoids and terpenes are made. The trichomes trap insects, trap air to prevent dying out and reflects UV and infrared light. The flowers are light sensitive so when the days drop to 12 hours of light, flowering begins.
Harvesting
The trichomes in the flowers can be seen with a magnifying glass and go through 4 stages. The best time to harvest is when the trichomes are in the third stage of 70% milk colored and 30% gold colored. Trichomes harvested when all gold results in a very sedating extract.
Harvesting occurs for about 8-12 weeks. Once harvested, they can be dried by either spreading them on sheet with air circulating for about a week or use a dehydrator at 85°F for under 24 hours to dry. To keep the terpene content, keep the heat below 105°F.
The use of pesticides and herbicides in the cultivation of cannabis is a concern. Cannabis that comes from California and the Pacific Northwest where there are legal markets already have guidelines for growing, the use of these chemicals and testing for heavy metals. The market is currently being flooded by cannabis grown outside of that area. These areas don’t have the same requirements and testing. If buying from a company outside that area, check and see if they test for heavy metals and pesticide/herbicide use.
Processing Makes the Difference
Decarboxylation is a process of using time and temperature to break off the acid chain attached to THC and CBD. Why would we do this? Depends on your purpose for using the oil or extract. If you want to use for pain and inflammation, don’t decarboxylate. If you want help for anxiety, depression or seizures, DO decarboxylate. That’s why it’s important to know HOW a cannabis product was processed.
NOTE: You can make an extract using glycerin, but glycerin extracts only 1/3 as much as alcohol or oil does. If using this as the base, you need to use 2/3 more plant material to achieve the same potency.
Making Extracts
To make an extract for anxiety, depression or seizures, you decarboxylate it. After drying, buzz the flowers in a blender to break up into smaller pieces. Spread evenly in a pan, cover (that’s important so as not to lose terpenes) and place in oven at 250°F for 60-80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. Place the heated herb into a container and barely cover with 190 proof alcohol (very resinous – needs higher alcohol content to extract), cap and set aside. After 24 hours, strain and you’ll have your extract. If you want to use the extract for pain and inflammation, skip the heating part. Buzz herb as above, place in a container, barely cover with alcohol, cap and set aside for 24 hours. Strain herb and now you have your extract.
To make an oil, don’t decarboxylate. (Heat is part of the oil-making process). Place dried herb in container and barely cover with high heat oil. (ex. MCT, coconut oil – not olive oil.) To heat, can use a crockpot, double boiler on stove or Magic Butter machine. The heat must reach 250°F for 60-80 minutes. At the end of the time, strain and bottle. The oil lasts a year and the extract lasts 1-2 years before oxidizing.
Dosing With Your Extract
Different strains of cannabis have varying amounts of CBD and a different terpene (the smelly parts) profile. (We’re talking <.3% THC cannabis but >.3% THC cannabis also has a terpene profile ). Some terpenes are better at providing analgesia while others are more neuroprotective and anticancer. To get an idea of how much CBD and the terpene profile of your final product, send a sample to a lab for analysis (costs about $40 per test run).
Start with 1 drop , wait 2 hours then do another drop. To find the dose for pain may take a few days to get the right dosage. If you’re not getting relief or you were but no longer are, often just switching strains can help without increasing dosing.
I don’t want to make my own. What do I need to know about buying cannabis products?
Let’s talk about buying CBD oil. Tip: the product should have a scent and should have color.
1. Remember in Part 1 I talked about branding? Calling something hemp or marijuana is all the same thing: it’s cannabis. It’s not a single constituent such as CBD. So “CBD oil” is all about marketing. The plant is the medicine, not a single constituent like CBD or THC.
2. To find out if cannabis is right for you, you need to decide the purpose for your use (pain relief? help with anxiety? seizures?), what your current symptoms are that need help, the plant strain, the specific dosage and the growing environment (indoors vs outdoors, use of herbicides/fertilizers,etc.).
3. Since we all have our inner cannabinoid system, we have varying binding sites for cannabinoids. For the greatest effect, the cannabinoids must bind to many kinds of receptors on many different cells. Therefore, a variety of CBDs is important. The more reputable companies will often post their test results on their websites. What’s the percentage of CBD and THC and, equally important, how many varieties of CBD do they contain? Do some checking.
4. Whole plant medicine has been shown in every single study to be superior to isolated constituents.
5. Every strain carries different medicine so one strain of cannabis doesn’t cover all conditions. Find someone who knows 4-5 strains well.
6. If the label includes THC or CBD by itself, the product contains an isolate. This means they probably removed the different components and then added some, but not all.
7. If it doesn’t smell like cannabis, it doesn’t contain terpenes. If it does smell like cannabis, ask if additional terpenes were added or if the medicine contains terpenes from the flowers they used to make the medicine. Many times, terpenes from other sources are added.
8. CO2 extraction is clean. Look for “first run” only. Any other process will remove different constituents and yet call it whole plant.
Dosing:
• Every 6-8 hours to maintain blood levels without a dip.
• 1:1 CBD:THC is ideal for all conditions except seizures, then the ratio is 18-20:1 of CBD:THC.
• Minimum effective dose is the smallest amount you need to get results. Start with drops. When changing strains or medicines, start small.
• Dosages used are the equivalent 170 mg-2700 mg per day of CBD for a 150-pound person.
• Maximum sweet spot for pain is 10-15 mg THC every 6 hours. For CBD, 10-15 mg every 6-8 hours = 20-45 mg daily. (If not used to THC, start low to build up tolerance to THC)
• Higher doses don’t give better pain results. Since cannabis can boost your own ECB system, you might not need to keep taking it. Try skipping days.
• You can make a tea with the flowers but need some sort of fat to make it bioavailable. (Similar to kava-kava and turmeric)
Contraindications/Addiction Potential
For 5000 years, cannabis has been used for pain, sleep, anxiety, seizures and spasms. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, cannabis is considered drying and depleting. If using cannabis on a regular basis, add other herbs to moisten such as marshmallow, violet, etc. To counterbalance its depleting effects, add adaptogens (Ashwagandha, Eleuthero, Shatavari, etc.).
Using high levels of THC without accompanying CBD isn’t good use of the plant medicine. It can increase anxiety and cause paranoia. There is a product (goes by various names such as Dabs, Shatter, Wax) that is the result of making an extract and drying it to make a resinous powder that has a 90% potency of THC. It’s currently being used for seizures (taken orally), post-operative pain that’s not responding to other medications and help with cancer (taken orally). This product can also be used in a vaporizer and is more concentrated than hash. This form of unopposed THC is not appropriate for anxiety as it can cause psychosis. Any other use besides the ones noted above, is overkill. There is potential for addiction at these high doses. Tolerance can develop within 10 days if using doses of 180 mg (30 mg of THC every 4 hours).
Some long term, high dose users develop spontaneous vomiting shortly after ingesting cannabis. It starts with cramping followed by vomiting. Taking a hot shower or bath can stop this but it will resume if cannabis is restarted. This is an allergic response resulting in the need to stop using cannabis.
For those who are cannabis naïve (no prior history of cannabis use), you want to start the first dose on a day that you don’t have to drive or do anything to monitor how you react. Always start at the smallest dosage (1 drop), wait 2 hours then take another drop if needed, wait 2 hours, etc. until you get the relief you need. Cannabis tends to increase the heart rate and lower blood pressure. If your blood pressure is already low, this may cause dizziness. However, over time this usually goes away.
Many studies have been done about using cannabis in pregnancy. The main result is a lower birth weight but no cognitive malformations or long-term deficits. Studies on children and teens who use cannabis, when other factors are accounted for, don’t show long term cognitive deficits.