Fibromyalgia Research Paper

Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General, once spoke about the legalization of marijuana for medical use in a press conference. "It's criminal to keep this medicine from patients," she said (Silverman, 1995, pg. 2). She received criticism not only from many citizens of the United States, but also strong criticism from the President who appointed her. The legalization of marijuana for medical use has always been a sharply debated subject, and many of the debaters are uneducated about the effects of using this illegal drug for therapeutic use. Many studies have been done and the results are clear. As a medical drug, marijuana should be available to patients who do not adequately respond to currently available

According to the authors, recent studies have shown that there is another compound in marijuana that is increasing the attention of both scientists and medical marijuana providers known as cannabidiol, or CBD. CBD is not an intoxicating product, and does not produce a high when alone, but some researchers claim it may calm the anxiety produced by THC. Some research suggests that marijuana with a better balance between CBD and THC is less risky than the high-THC, low-CBD strains that now dominate the upper end of the marijuana market (Caulkin 9). With scientists discovering the new compound CBD, it makes them more interested in doing further research in order to discover more roles of other compounds

To see how this works we visualize the cannabinoid as a three dimensional molecule, where one part of the molecule is configured to fit the nerve or immune cell receptor site just like a key in a lock. There are at least two

Cannabis is in fact an extremely popular recreational drug around the world, just behind alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco. Tetrahydrocannabinol’s (THC) primary psychoactive effect is a state of relaxation, and to a lesser degree, forms of euphoria. Secondary psychoactive effects of THC are that of philosophical thinking, introspection, metacognition, in anxiety and paranoia cases. The psychoactive metabolite of THC produced in the liver (11-OH-THC)

Cannabinoids, the four hundred chemicals in marijuana, tend to directly interfere with pain signaling that is located in the nervous

needed to unlock the mysteries of the endocannabinoid system and what effects marijuana is capable of creating. More research is also needed to help physicians, legislators, and society as a whole become more (a) educated, (b) understanding of medicinal marijuana, (c) cognizant of how beneficial it can be, and (d) how safely it can be

The main reason that the use of THC is slim in the future is principally due to the effects it produces within the central nervous system. These effects include: perceptual abnormalities, occasionally hallucinations, dysphoria, abnormal thinking, depersonalization, and somnolence (long periods of sleepiness or drowsiness).¹ One way to dodge these effects is in the use of non-THC plant cannabinoids, which do not seem to produce psychotropic effects. Canabidiol, for example, is considered to be nonpsychotropic. A proposed method cannabidiol allays this effect is by preventing its usual conversion to the more psychoactive 11-hydroxy-THC. Recently, scientists have found that systematic variations in constituents of THC (i.e., cannabidiol and cannabichromene) do not affect the behavioral or neurophysiological responses to marijuana¹

The discovery of endocannabinoids led to the identification of an entire system in the human body, comprised of lipids, receptors, and enzymes. The endocannabinoid system is responsible for a host of physiological processes that rely on the interactivity of cannabinoids and their receptors. Since their discovery and cloning in the early ‘90s, the CB1 and CB2 receptors are still the only receptors that have been identified in the endocannabinoid system. The location of a

Although some people use it for medical purposes, there are others who use it for their personal enjoyment. Further, marijuana is a cannabis plant that can be smoked or eaten. When marijuana is smoked or ingested the psychoactive cannabinoid chemical known as THC along with other cannabinoids interact with the body by filling the brain receptors known as cannabinoid type 1 (CB1R) and type 2 receptors (CB2R) with dopamine, which is the brain’s reward chemical. (Sharma, et al, 2012). Furthermore, the CB1R are associated with the cognition, body movement, and sensory perception, which is the reason for effects on short-term memory, coordination and balance. Additionally, the CB2R receptors are found in the immune system tissues, such as the lymph nodes and spleen (Sharma, et al, 2012). This receptor is said to suppress the function of the immune system, but these functions are not completely understood. The effects of THC on these receptors explain why people experience behavioral effects such as; relaxation, lack of concentration, euphoria, paranoia and panic. People also experience physiological effects such as; increased appetite, rapid changes in blood pressure and heart rate (Sharma, et al, 2012). Moreover, chronic abuse of marijuana at a young age may lead to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, but different environmental and genetic factors play a role in the development of a

The cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) is a G protein-coupled receptor mainly expressed in the central and peripheral nervous system. The CB1 receptor is activated by the endocannabinoid neurotransmitters anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). The CB1 receptor has been implicated in the maintenance of homeostasis in health and disease [2]. The CB1 receptor plays vital roles in modulating neurotransmitter release by preventing the development of excessive neuronal activity, reducing pain and other inflammatory symptoms [2].

The CB2 receptor is principally expressed in immune tissue where it is involved in cannabinoid-mediated immune responses, but CB2 mRNA has been detected in mouse cerebellar cells and cerebellum and in rat microglial cells.

Many regions of the brain contain cannabinoid receptors, of which anandamide molecules, concerned with regulating mood, appetite and emotions, naturally bind to. Cannabis contains an active ingredient known as ‘delta-9-tetrahydrocannabonic’ (THC), and when smoked or eaten, the THC imitates the activity of anandamide by binding to cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells, and therefore influences

The use of cannabis toward medicine should not be shocking to anyone, since it has been around for centuries. As a matter of fact, it has been under medicinal aid for an estimated 5,000 years. Western medicine truly grasped marijuana’s medicinal abilities in the 1850’s. Infact, doctors documented over one hundred papers about how marijuana helped numerous disorders, such as nausea, glaucoma, movement disorders, pain relief, depression, and anxiety. It also helps cancer patients and those with HIV or Aids. Currently, many American patients have access to marijuana use so that they can have effective treatments for their illnesses. Medical marijuana use is achievable because

Nearly twenty years ago, scientists discovered a system in the brain called the endocannabinoid system. This system responds to 60 chemicals in cannabis, also known as marijuana. The endocannabinoid system plays a role in many of the body’s functions, such as in the heart, along with the digestive, immune, nervous, and reproductive systems.

The endocanabinoids which are produced naturally in the body, the phytocannabinoids which are found in cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids which are manufactured artificially, are the ligands for these receptor proteins. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a phytocannabinoid, is the primary psychoactive compound of cannabis, and cannabidiol (CBD) is another major constituent of the plant. Concerning the phytocannabinoids, there are more than 80 different cannabinoids isolated from cannabis that have different