Both are cannabinoids, which, as my glossary of medical marijuana terms explains, are chemical compounds present in Cannabis (the plant your medical marijuana products come from). There’s a common misconception that certain cultivars (“strains”), known as Cannabis sativa, contain a higher ratio of THC to CBD, while other cultivars called Cannabis indica contain a higher ratio of CBD to THC. We now know that this is merely a marijuana myth, and that levels of THC and CBD are not determined by cultivar variety.
Cannabinoids all work together to create the effects of marijuana. In fact, this phenomenon even has a name: the “Entourage Effect.” The Entourage Effect theory essentially posits that many heads are better than one – that cannabinoids work better as a team than alone.
Cannabinoids do appear to have individual
characteristics that may make some of them better-suited than others for the treatment of seizures, chronic pain, and other health problems. For instance, THC and another cannabinoid known as CBN (Cannabinol) are both known to aid sleep. However, attempts to isolate and use individual cannabinoids have failed miserably. Marinol, a synthetic THC approved for use for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, is an example. Brought to market in the late 1980s, it is not widely used because the overwhelming psychoactive effects are intolerable.
The sheer number of cannabinoids in marijuana – about 80 – makes it challenging to identify which are responsible for which effects. The combinations and possibilities are virtually endless, and, as I said in my earlier article on the Entourage Effect, we are frankly unlikely to find all the answers in our lifetime..
KNOWLEDGE
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