What the Hell Are Cannabinoids and What Do They Do?

As a weed smoker, there’s a 50/50 chance that you have heard the term “cannabinoid” thrown around and never cared to do any research. You just want to smoke your joint at the end of the day and be done. Understandable. But the more you hear the term, the more curious you become. So what exactly is a cannabinoid, and what do they do? How do they help you or benefit your health? Let’s find out.

The Breakdown

Let’s begin with the main question. What is a cannabinoid? It’s a compound found within the plant. These compounds are responsible for how weed makes you feel, the catalyst of your high. Each compound, or cannabinoid, give you a different feel within the high. There are more than 144 types of existing cannabinoids, but we’re only going to go into depth about the two main ones, THC and CBD.

It is important to know that most cannabinoids will not get you high. THC is the only one that’s known to cause those types of effects. A lot of other cannabinoids however, can determine how THC effects you, working almost like puzzle pieces. For example, CBD can “even out” the effects of THC, making your high less intense. Let’s read more below on how these particular cannabinoids work.

THC

This is one you probably know already. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the most well known cannabinoid of marijuana. It is the one responsible for marijuana’s sometimes psychoactive effects, happy, energetic thoughts, and positive feelings. Delta-8 and Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol work together with a few other chemicals to produce these feelings that many love marijuana for. This cannabinoid attaches to something called CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 is usually found in the nervous system and the brain, while CB2’s live in the immune system and body. Once THC binds to the CB1 cannabinoid receptors of the brain, a person becomes high. Fun fact; when THC gets exposed to air, it turns into the cannabinoid CBN.

CBD

CBD, or cannabinol, has gotten quite popular within these last few years. Mainly used to treat pain, help obtain quality sleep, and to stimulate appetite, it’s non-psychoactive and provides a different kind of calm unlike its THC counterpart. CBD does not attach to the CB1 and CB2 receptors, but instead contradicts cannabinoid agonists. Some people like to use CBD to almost “cut” the effects of THC when they smoke marijuana if they feel they’re too high, as stated above.

As stated, these two are the main cannabinoids usually found in a marijuana plant. Listed below are a few close runner ups in treating health issues and more:

• CBC (Cannabichromene) good for depression, acne, cancer
• CBG (Cannabigerol) good for glaucoma, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease
• THCV (Tetrahydrocannabivarin) helps with diabetes, Alzheimer’s, appetite suppressant
• CBGV (Cannabigerivarin) helps with arthritis, fibromyalgia, cancer
• CBDV (Cannabidivarin) reduces inflammation and the intensity of seizures,helps with HIV/AIDS, Crohn’s disease
• CBCV (Cannabichromevarin) good for major depression, insomnia, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, eczema

Hopefully at this point, you’re a lot less confused about the makeup of marijuana and all its compounds. Now when you hear the word cannabinoid, it’ll sound a lot less scary to you, and you can participate in those impromptu conversations with other enthusiasts and not feel so out of touch. You might even help out someone who wants a more natural way to treat their ailments. Any way you slice it, you’re on your way to becoming a lot more knowledgeable about the benefits and effects of cannabis.