Back in 2019, cannabis confusion was at an all-time high.
Following a wave of patient campaigns highlighting the urgent need for access to cannabis medicines, the cannabis debate began to disintegrate down into smaller sub-debates. Wellness was separated from medicine, and medicine separated from recreation.
What began as a simplifying process, quickly developed into a storm of conflicting information and confusion. With regulators still scratching their heads, and the industry growing increasingly frustrated the need for knowledge is at an all-time high.
With the help of some of our fantastic friends, we were able to create The Cannamanual, a beginner's guide to all things cannabis. We had some tremendous feedback and given the confusion in the industry at the moment, we wanted to share a free chapter with you!
"The Canna-Manual is fantastic! This is the go-to for all things cannabis in the UK. The breadth and depth of the topics covered are superb and it's detailed with scientific facts and references. If you are curious about cannabis, want to know more about CBD, or are an industry professional yourself, then this is a must-read!"
Your Free Chapter
The Therapeutic Potential Of The Endocannabinoid System
What we are discovering in cannabinoid medicine is that the ECS responds differently when we are ill. As previously mentioned, the ECS can be highly variable between individuals and the elements of the ECS can be expressed in varying ratios. This can take the form of increased or decreased levels of endocannabinoids, altered levels of the synthesizing and degrading enzymes, or changes in the prevalence and distribution of receptors. We are realising that in disease states, this regulatory system suffers a loss of function and certain elements become exaggerated or degenerate. In diseases such as cancer, healthy cells and cancerous cells show very different ECS patterns (Chen et al., 2015). This altered fingerprint may present in several ways and may be caused by factors that we are slowly beginning to understand.
A strong example of this ECS alteration can be observed in epilepsy. Explorative studies investigating how the ECS may be altered in the epileptic brain have shown that elements of the ECS may be damaged or under-expressed. The CB1 receptor has been repeatedly observed to be deficient in epileptic people’s hippocampus (Ludányi et al., 2008). The significance of this is that THC, the most abundant compound in cannabis, targets and activates the CB1 receptor. The basic principle is that the binding of THC to CB1 initiates this anti-epileptic effect. The effect though is highly dependent on the fingerprint of the individual’s ECS. This points us in the direction of personalized cannabinoid medicine.
The CB1 distribution across the neuronal tissues is highly variable and, as a result, underlying alterations in the endocannabinoid system may vary case by case. There are many forms of epilepsy, each affecting different regions of the brain, depending specifically on the types of neurons in the brain and so the treatment strategy will need to be adjusted.
It is becoming clear that this same relationship is true for many diseases, ranging from cancer to arthritis. For this reason, we must discuss the ECS in greater detail when debating cannabis, medicines and policy. It is the ECS that offers the greatest therapeutic potential but our knowledge of it is still in its infancy. As this knowledge matures, so will the treatment potential of the ECS (Pertwee, 2005). Ignoring the ECS would be comparable to ignoring mechanics and engineers when making automotive policy or directing the industry. The fundamentals cannot be ignored.
"Chris as always presenting his unique view on things! I’ve been digesting this book for a day or so and am familiar with his work. This book is a great start for insight into the complexity of the cannabis plant! Great stuff and more now than ever do we need the science of cannabis to be learned about as the industry broadens its horizon."
Although crude cannabis consumption works very well for some people, it is by no means the future of medicine and is still very much the equivalent of consuming raw opium. Cannabis lacks the specificity of conventional medicines but is arguably far safer than some treatments we administer legally. Cannabis has tremendous potential across the board for general symptom management and relief.
In terms of what can be achieved medically, the ECS and its targeted manipulation hold truly revolutionary potential. Synthetic cannabinoids modulate the endocannabinoid with more precision, creating 21st-century therapies to renew our cells and biology. Our rapid rate of technological advancement will help us process the overwhelming volumes of data, giving us the ability to reprogramme and re-coordinate this dysregulated cellular communication that is fundamental in most diseases. The endocannabinoid system is yet to be fully incorporated into the medical education system and the scale of its potential is only just being recognized by science.
The Cannamanual is available on Amazon in a digital or hard copy.