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Molecule to Mind, the Inner Workings of Cannabis

The success of linear methods over the past three centuries has, however, tended to obscure the fact that real systems almost always turn out to be nonlinear at some level. When nonlinearity becomes important, it is no longer possible to proceed by analysis, because the whole is now greater than the sum of its parts...a nonlinear system must be understood in its totality...nonlinearity of physical systems bestows upon them an uncanny ability to do unexpected things, sometimes with an almost lifelike quality.

Paul Davis and John Gribbon, The Matter Myth

The Part Story, Chemistry to Pharmacology

Marijuana is a chemically complex plant that contains over 300 compounds, the best known of which are a group called cannabinoids. But the potential medical benefit of the plant's other constituents should not be overlooked, especially considering these many compounds may work together synergistically to effect healing in ways we do not yet understand.

Synergistic, or synergy, means that the effect of two or more compounds working together is greater than the sum of their individual effects. The basic idea with a synergistic process is that one plus one equals three or more, instead of just two. The exact workings of synergy are beyond our current understanding, but its existence and importance in all of Nature, including medicine, is undeniable.

In the case of cannabis, imagine what you get when you have not just two compounds working synergistically, but dozens or even hundreds. The potential benefit is beyond calculation. The combined and synergistic action of marijuana's many compounds typically makes whole plant remedies more effective and preferable to isolating these compounds in pill form. It's akin to the advantage of eating whole fruits and vegetables over just vitamins. So too in the case of cannabis, it makes sense we utilize this natural drug cocktail whenever possible, even if the pharmacology is not completely understood.

With that said, the cannabinoid THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol (technically delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), is the main compound that causes the typical marijuana high. Other cannabinoids include cannabidiol, cannabinol,cannabavarin, cannabigerol and others. Individually these and other cannabinoids seem to cause specific physiological effects and medical benefits. But again the combined action of these and other cannabis compounds should not be disregarded.

Like many drugs, cannabinoids exert their effect by acting on specific cell receptors, namely cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 and probably others. These receptors are found in many places throughout the body, including the central nervous system (notably excepting the brain stem) where they are normally acted upon by the body's own endogenous, or internally-produced, cannabinoids, such as anandamide. That's right! It seems our own bodies produce cannabinoid-like compounds which in turn act on cannabinoid receptors that are also naturally produced by our bodies (evidence of our close biochemical relationship with this plant).

When cannabinoids act upon cell receptors they effect changes in those cells which in turn alter cell behavior or response to tissue injury. In this way, similar to aspirin and ibuprofen, certain cannabinoids can decrease pain and inflammation. They can also stimulate muscle relaxation. Cannabinoids may also affect nerve cell communication, thereby altering-improving mood, mental function and psychosomatic interaction (that is, the mind-body connection).

The exact workings of cannabis in the human body is still mostly a mystery. Given its great versatility as a medicine and the various cannabinoids it contains, it seems that marijuana affects the body in many ways. Using the jargon of pharmacy, we would say that marijuana works through numerous mechanisms of action.

All chemistry aside, it is important to realize that marijuana is available in a number of plant varieties, whereby specific varieties may have unique cannabinoid profiles and concentrations. The varieties can be highly customized through selective breeding. In this way, depending on their cannabinoid profile, different varieties can give different effects, and therefore some are preferable over others in treating certain conditions.

Cannabis as Chelating Agent?: An Hypothetical Sidetrack

One chemical fact about cannabinoids, which is absolutely certain and obvious, is that they are fat-soluble compounds. This simply means they readily mix with oils, but not water. As fat-soluble compounds, they have the tendency to distribute throughout the body, more readily penetrating fatty tissues that are off-limits to many other drugs. Once in these fatty tissues, cannabinoids may act as facilitators of repair or bind toxins for eventual excretion.

I think this is an extremely important idea to consider because toxins like the pesticide DDT and heavy metals, like mercury and lead, tend to accumulate in the body's fatty tissues, including the brain. As these toxins accumulate they slowly poison the body, causing who-knows-what types of long-term damage, from cancers to mental disorders. Of course, these toxic substances tend to accumulate because the body has no adequate mechanism to get rid of them, or whatever mechanism it may have simply excretes the toxin much slower than it enters the body. That's the gist of toxic bioaccumulation.

Given the marijuana plant's varied and complex chemical composition, as well as the fat-soluble nature of its major cannabinoid constituents, it's quite possible that cannabis might act as a sort of chelating agent. A chelating agent is a compound that tightly binds other compounds, including toxins. Once bound, these compounds are more readily excreted by the body. Think of a chelating agent as a garbage truck that picks up your trash and takes it somewhere outside your neighborhood. Now imagine the compounds of cannabis---either the cannabinoids alone or in conjunction with other chemicals---acting as these chelating agents or garbage trucks, entering the fatty tissues of the body, picking up toxins such as pesticides and heavy metals, and then transporting them out of the body.

If cannabinoids tend to hang around in body fat, how is it they are able to carry toxic compounds out of the body? One answer lies in the actual chelation process. That is, upon cannabinoid-toxin binding, the affinity for lipids, or lipophilicity, of the final product could be less than the cannabinoid by itself. Thus the new product would then tend away from fatty tissues. Another answer may simply lie in bioturnover. That is, even though cannabinoids prefer to hang-out in fatty tissues, human fatty-tissues are not their natural home. So, as fat cells and tissues turnover during the body's on-going process of maintenance

and repair, cannabinoid compounds are more likely the first to exit, carrying whatever toxins they may have attached in their visit. (Another good reason for exercise and physical exertion: It burns fat and promotes fat turnover, thus quickening the excretion of toxins). I honestly don't know if such studies of cannabis-chelation and toxin elimination have been conducted, though they would seem easy enough to carry out. How important is this?

Just over 50 years ago, the idea of toxic bioaccumulation was unheard of. Then in 1962 writer-biologist Rachel Carson exposed the problem in her book Silent Spring, in which she discusses the damage we're doing to ourselves and the rest of the biosphere through the many toxins we produce and spew into the environment. Aside from, and perhaps even beyond our socio-political troubles, this toxification of our bodies and the rest of the world has become one of humanity's greatest threats, one which no military investment, however great, can defend against.

Physiology to Psychology, The Whole Story

From that most mysterious phenomenon of mind called willpower, to the seemless sequence of physio-chemical chain reactions that enable you to move your finger, the entire human organism is comprised of systems built upon systems in an order of complexity that grows exponentially. Which is to say, from the quantum atom to macromolecules and cells, to tissues and organs, to organ systems and finally the whole organism itself, a complete understanding of the body's workings cannot be grasped just by looking at any one level. Nor does healing begin and end at any one level, which is why treatment at merely the chemical level is bound to fail. Living systems cannot be treated like cars. Healing is rarely a matter of replacing a broken part, or molecule. The dynamics of living systems are too complex, their balance or homeostasis regulated by feedback systems, both positive and negative, not readily manipulated in the long-term by the introduction of external agents or chemicals. Consider instead, the whole organism as regulated by a single large feedback loop that begins and ends with mind, whereby the proper functioning of all links in between depends on a healthy beginning-ending.

The Benefits of Marijuana, Physical, Psychological and Spiritual

Joan Bello