Donald Trump’s campaign started with his ad hominem birtherism attacks on Obama years ago ad nauseum. That gave him his footing in The Dixie South, which quickly became his stronghold. (Virginia was the only state in The South to vote against Trump, but they always vote blue.) He got 45% of his needed electoral votes (122) in The South.

The South sticks together, and cannabis prohibition is a component of the glue. This is the land where rum smugglers of old venerate the constant left turns of NASCAR. This land is littered with dry counties where moonshine is readily available. States’ Rights are at the tips of all of their lips, but only when buying and selling individual members of a family to work their cotton fields.

Attorney General Sessions got into the US Senate partially thanks to a different southern crop, tobacco. In fact, he had to return $2000 to the RJ Reynolds PAC in 1997[i] because they gave him more money than he could legally accept during the campaign.[ii] I can only assume these are the good people he is talking about when he says “good people don’t smoke marijuana”.[iii]

Who are these “good people”?

They are defenders of 40 years’ worth of more than “800 claims against cigarette manufacturers for damages related to the effects of smoking”.[iv] They lied to their own people so much that their own had bring lawsuits to recoup past Medicare fees that we all had to pay.

Mississippi was the first state to begin these Medicare related lawsuits against Big Tobacco starting in 1994. Other states quickly followed and Big Tobacco was quickly inundated with legal attacks from various states over the next three years. In 1997, after losing smartly, Big Tobacco joined with the states to ask Congress to settle the case. Senator Sessions was their man.[v]

These good people primarily hail from North Carolina. North Carolina, is by far the largest tobacco growing state in the United States.[vi] Their lawyers argued for decades that their cigarettes were perfectly acceptable for human consumption. Why, then, should they be so disinterested in another agrarian crop? What is it about The South that insists that cannabis be embargoed?

Who cares? Frankly, it doesn’t matter. This cat is not going back in the bag. Before 2016, there were zero states in The South that endorsed medical cannabis. Now there are three. Those states are Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida. Florida is a big deal because 71% of the voters overcame the manadated 2/3 citizen vote.[vii] Yet, the Legislature took it upon themselves to write the law to exclude smoking cannabis.[viii] [1]  As it stands now, none of the southern states have legal access to cannabis flower. Instead, they dance around their beliefs that a smoked plant is bad for, I guess, their “white women”.[ix]

This most recent election pushed the number of senators representing cannabis states (I will call them cannasenators) over the halfway mark. There are now more states representing cannabis in Congress than there are  opposing the herb. 217 is the median. Of the 435 Senators, 262 sitting senators now represent medical marijuana in congress. It has been steadily increasing since 2005.

 

Cannasenators by Congressional Session, 1995-2015

As Alabama raced to protect their proud lynching heritage, their native son, the Attorney General, reminds four free states that the federal government is in charge and states’ rights mean nothing. His genteel threat to the governors of these four free states:

      “…would note the concluding paragraph: ?{sic}nothing herein [in the Cole Memorandum] precludes investigation or prosecution, even in the absence of any one of the factors listed above,in particular circumstances where investigation and prosecution otherwise serves an importantfederal interest.? {sic} Thus, the memorandum ? {sic}does not alter in any way the Department? {sic}s authority to enforce federal law, including federal laws relating to marijuana, regardless of state law.”[x]

Sessions is now the top lawman in the country, and the cannabis industry is one of the primary categories of American life that he wants to destroy. In California, his attack dogs are poking holes in Attorney-Client privilege as they search for a way to topple this pillar of justice[xi]. In D.C., he is trying to build a set of prosecutors who will work outside of the skeptical confines of the Justice Department and well within the polarized realm of the DEA.[xii]

Despite all of this, the industry is gaining influence in Congress every election cycle.  Congress has repeatedly cut funding off for the Justice Department to investigate legal cannabis businesses in recent years. The Cole memorandum was some much-needed clarification that has been DOJ policy since 2013.

The serious about-face of the new administration has sent ripples through the halls of Congress. But it is not anything new for the cannabis industry. We survived G.W. Bush. In his first term, we got two senators from 2001-2005. He attacked us hard. He put the pink jail in Humboldt County on the map. He even put Tommy Chong in prison. They tried poking so many holes into Prop 215 that it would fall apart. Yet, we got 21 more senators from 2005-2007. And another 21 in the next two years. That’s 42 senators in the last 6 years of his presidency.

It does not matter that impotent Republicans who fear for their seat in The House recently failed to vote for the popular Rohrbacher-Farr amendment, removing certain cannabusiness protections for those legal states.[xiii]. We will vote them out and put our own congresspeople in their seats.

Fortunately, the Senate did what they are best at and kicked the can down the line when they voted for the Rohrbacher- Blumenthal amendment in their emergency debt limit budget.[xiv] Legal cannabis states are protected- for another three months. Great.

Congress knows that something needs to be done about this. Congresspeople have grown bolder in their legislation, and new bills are constantly introduced that would reschedule, if not deschedule cannabis within the Controlled Substances Act. The latest has been brought forth by Senator Cory Booker. It is called the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017.

The following is a press release taken from the website of Senator Cory Booker:

“The Marijuana Justice Act seeks to reverse these troubling trends and fix our broken marijuana laws.

Specifically, the Marijuana Justice Act will:

• Remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances, making it legal at the federal level;
• Incentivize states through federal funds to change their marijuana laws if marijuana in the state is illegal and the state disproportionately arrests or incarcerates low-income individuals and people of color for marijuana-related offenses;
• Automatically expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes;
• Allow an individual currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana use or possession crimes to petition a court for a resentencing;
• Create a community reinvestment fund to reinvest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs and allow those funds to be invested in the following programs:

o   Job training;

o   Reentry services;

o   Expenses related to the expungement of convictions;

o   Public libraries;

o   Community centers;

o   Programs and opportunities dedicated to youth; and

o   Health education programs.”[xv]

There have been many bills that have come through that tried to deschedule cannabis. None have made it. Will this one? Time and civic activism will tell. The fight against fake laws is not yet over, and it is up to us, the voter, to remind the men and women of Congress that they represent the will of the people. If we don’t say anything, then they have no reason to respond. The lobbyists give them hundreds of millions of reasons to respond. We have only one: the ballot box. Tell your representative what you think of this bill. Remind them of the upcoming vote, and where you stand. Call them constantly.

Link to find your representative: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/

 

 

 

---

---

[1] Many of the cannalaws in the last 20 years have been amendments because the authors are acutely aware that many legislatures will do all they can to hijack these laws.

[i] https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/jeff-sessions-anti-weed-crusader-was-a-shill-for-big-1792831457?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=Paleofuture_twitter

[ii] https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/jeff-sessions-anti-weed-crusader-was-a-shill-for-big-1792831457

[iii] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/18/trumps-pick-for-attorney-general-good-people-dont-smoke-marijuana/?utm_term=.d901e7e811e0

[iv] http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/tclc-fs-msa-overview-2015.pdf

[v] https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=mrxb0009

[vi] https://www.statista.com/statistics/192022/top-10-tobacco-producing-us-states/

[vii] https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Medical_Marijuana_Legalization,_Amendment_2_(2016)

[viii] http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/06/12/florida-medical-marijuana-law-suit/81313/

[ix] http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote/harry_anslinger_quote_846a

[x] http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/08/17/jeff-sessions-letters-marijuana-policy-alaska-colorado-oregon-washington/86246/

[xi] http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-medwest-charges-20170615-story.html

[xii] http://www.npr.org/2017/05/04/526784152/dea-seeks-prosecutors-to-fight-opioid-crisis-critics-fear-return-to-war-on-drugs

[xiii] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/20/federal-court-tells-the-dea-to-stop-harassing-medical-marijuana-providers/?utm_term=.95ae7047f2f4

[xiv] http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/09/08/rohrabacher-blumenauer-medical-marijuana-states/87647/

[xv] https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=638

The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is all about homeostasis. Yin and yang are all about balance. Whole-system treatment may be common in Chinese Medicine, but the idea was completely foreign to European-based medicine. It took an American, Walter Cannon, to introduce homeostasis in the medical lexicon in 1930.[i]

A handful of biological systems work together to achieve the many complex tasks we need to make it through a day. These systems are “made up of many networks that are integrated at and communicating on multiple scales.”[ii] An example is the skeletal system, which consists of all of the bones, joints, cartilage, tendons and ligaments in the body.[iii] It is mainly used for “locomotion, support of the body, and the protection of internal organs.”[iv]

Homeostasis means “same” and “steady”. “Homeostasis is the ability of an organism to maintain a stable, constant internal environment, even when the external environment changes”[v]. A common example of this is when the human body sweats to cool down. The water on the skin absorbs body heat as it evaporates off of the body.[vi]

Homeostasis works the same at the cellular level. The cells seek to maintain an equilibrium inside the cell walls as they live in their respective dynamic environments. Through homeostasis, these cells can do a variety of things. The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is on organs throughout the body and is used to maintain the health of these cells.

The brain, nervous system, liver, kidneys, and immune cells are among the organs that contain the ECS. The system is made of primarily of two receptors, CB1 and CB2. The existence of the ECS in Western (Eastern to me) medicine was discovered in rat brains in 1988 by Allyn Howlett, PhD.[vii]

Then, in 1990 the National Institute of Mental Health published a letter to Nature Magazine that documented the discovery of CB1 receptors in the cerebral cortex of rats. A few years later, in 1993, cannabis receptors were found in the spleen. Now that the CB2 receptor was found, Eastern (Western to most) science took off on researching the ECS.

There are exogenous cannabinoids and there are endogenous cannabinoids that interact with these receptors. Exogenous cannabinoids are cannabinoids that are found in the cannabis plant. CBDs, THCs, and other cannabinoids are examples of exogenous cannabinoids. Endogenous cannabinoids occur naturally in the human body. Anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) are examples of endogenous cannabinoids. There is a third cannabinoid category too. It is the scary stuff; lab-made cannabinoids, or synthetic cannabinoids. Spice (HU-210) and Marinol (dronabinol) are two types of synthetic cannabinoids.

Endogenous cannabinoids, or endocannabinoids(ECs), “act as hydrophobic lipid messengers”[viii]. In the CNS, they act as “receptive messengers or synaptic modulators”[ix] and are “produced on demand”[x]. This is unique in the ECS. Other neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine and dopamine, are already synthesized and stored for later use. [xi]

Lipid messengers are important because they bind to receptors in the cell and use that location for cell signaling. Cell signaling is important because it is how the cell stays healthy. Cells need to “perceive and correctly respond to their microenvoronment”.[xii] Things like tissue repair, homestasis, and immunity must happen in the cell. Otherwise, diseases like cancer and diabetes can set in.[xiii] The ECS a part of the G-coupled protein receptor family, the largest of the cell surface receptors.[xiv]

According to lipidhome, a resource for understanding the chemistry of lipids, “Endocannabinoids exist in dynamic equilibria with many other lipid-derived mediators, including eicosanoids and other oxylipins (oxygenated natural products which are formed from fatty acids by pathways involving at least one step of dioxygen dependent oxidation; many of them have physiological importance)[xv], as part of a versatile system involved in fine-tuning different physiological and metabolic processes, including inflammation, in a tissue- or cell-specific manner.”[xvi]

 

Endocannabinoids

The endocannabinoid AEA is “produced by immune cells and neurons, and is more selective for CB1R than CB2R. It is found in the brain, spleen, skin, kidney, and uterus”.[xvii] It was dubbed “the bliss molecule” because it “mimics the behavioral actions of exogenous compound”[xviii] THC. According to Dr. Mechoulam, who discovered AEA with Drs. William Devane and Lumir Hanus, in 1992, “THC is an aromatic compound, while AEA is a fatty acid derivative”[xix].

AEA is produced on demand and has many anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.[xx] It has benefits to the cardiovascular system. It can help lower blood pressure. AEA also affects metabolism by increasing the amount of food consumed. Macrophage-defined AEA has “anti-inflammatory effects both in the peripheral and central nervous system”.[xxi] AEA is also a key player in apoptosis (programed cell death) of many different cell types in the body.

It took three short years for the next endocannabinoid to be discovered. Dr. Mechoulam et al discovered 2-AG in 1995. These endocannabinoids were first found in the brain, but they have been found in other places since. These are also made-on-demand. These seem to be the more important ligands for the CBRs in the body. They are full-agonist ligands, as opposed to the partial-agonist nature of AEA.[xxii]

Full-agonist ligands will fully activate the cell, while partial-agonist ligands will partially activate the cell.[xxiii]

These endocannabinoids interact with cells through receptors throughout the body. CB1and CB2 receptors are part of the G-coupled protein receptor (GCPR) superfamily[xxiv], and the passive member of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family, the Vanniloid Receptor (TRPV1) are a few of the cannabinoid receptors that have been discovered.

 

CB Receptors

CB1 receptors express themselves primarily in the brain and central nervous system (CNS). They are not limited to the CNS, however, and are found in organs like the liver and the prostate. These receptors are associated with energy balance and may also “play a role in synaptic plasticity”[xxv]. Synaptic plasticity means that synapses are “able to change their strength as a result of either their own activity or through activity in another pathway”[xxvi].

CB2 receptors are primarily expressed in the immune system. There are small amounts in “human B cells, NK cells, monocytes, polymorphonuclear neutrophils and T cells”[xxvii] CB2Rs are also expressed in the thymus and spleen. The exciting thing about CB2R’s, however, is that they show up in dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are antigen-presenting cells (APC) that are key regulators of the immune system.[xxviii]

CB2Rs have also been found in “astrocytes, microglia, neural subpopulations and oligodendroglial progenitors in healthy brains”.[xxix] Microglia are “resident immune cells of the central nervous system” and “are critical players in the development of pain hypersensitivities that characterize chronic pain”[xxx].

TRPV1 Receptors were discovered in 1997 by Dr. David Julius et al. They are located in many organs of the gut, including kidneys, spleen, bladder, and lungs. TRPV1 receptors can also be found in the Central Nervous System[xxxi]. A wide variety of spices can activate these receptors. The most prominent spice is capsaicin, the component that makes chilies hot. Capsaicin has also been found in black pepper, garlic, ginger, horseradish, and cinnamon.

 

The Gut

The gut is a constantly under attack from antigens. Therefore, we have a wide variety of defenses in our guts to fight these invading antigens. Phagocytes (cells that eat bacteria and other small cells) and dendritic cells (“professional antigen presenting cell, capable of activating naïve T cells and stimulating the growth and differentiation of B cells”)[xxxii], “which are present abundantly in the small intestine lamina propia (siLP), play an instrumental role in maintaining this exquisite balance between inflammation and tolerance.”[xxxiii]

A recent study published in the National Academy of Sciences found that AEA and ECBS in the gut is largely responsible for “maintaining tolerance in the gut”[xxxiv]. Tolerance is important because it suppresses the production of cytokines and the proliferation of t-cells in the gut.[xxxv] The study broke the maintenance down to two steps:

1: “through maintenance/differentiation of the well-known immune regulatory CX3CR1”[xxxvi] macrophage population.

2: “mediating the expansion of regulatory T cells called Tr1 cells.”[xxxvii]

The study also found that these immune-regulatory macrophages expressed themselves the most on the CB2 and TRPV1 receptors. Also, for both CB1R and CB2R, different conformations correspond to different agonists stimuli, consequently activating different signaling pathways (functional selectivity).

 

The Brain and Central Nervous system

 

The brain and central nervous system are full of CB1 receptors. These receptors have been found in the mitochondria of some astrocytes (large star-shaped cells of the glia[xxxviii] (supporting tissue intermingled with the essential elements of nervous tissue especially in the brain, spinal cord, and ganglia)[xxxix]), leading some to believe that CB1 receptors can be involved in synaptic plasticity (important for memory use) and energy balance.[xl]

The list comes from “Distribution of the Endocannabinoid System in the Central Nervous System”

[xli]

• Retinas- amacrine cells, horizontal cells, densely expressed in the inner plexiform layer, rod and cone photoreceptor terminals.
• Cerebral Cortex- “CB1 receptors are densely expressed in all regions of the cortex”.[xlii] These regions include the cingulate gyrus, frontal cortex, secondary somatosensory, and motor cortex.
• Olfactory-in descending orderàhighest in the inner granular cell layer, then the inner piniform layer, less in the external plexiform layer, glomerular layer, and the accessory olfactory bulb
• Hippocampus- “high levels of CB1 receptors on large CCK-positive basket and Schaffer collateral- associated interneurons in the hippocampal pyramid cell layer.”[xliii] CB1 is also highly expressed in the molecular layer and the granule cell layer in the dentate gyrus.
• Cortical subplate- mainly expressed in the CCK-positive GABAergic basket cells in high levels.
• Subcortical Nuclei- basal ganglia has the highest amount of CB1 expression.
• Striatum-low-to- moderate level expression in the nucleus accumbens. “However, CB1 receptors seem to be absent in the dopaminergic terminals projecting from the ventral tegmental area(VTA) to the accumbens”[xliv]
• Striatum Medial- basal forebrain, medial and lateral septum and the nucleus of the diagonal band has moderate levels of CB1 receptors
• Cerebellum-The authors called the CB1 expression patterns “striking”. “CB1 receptors are mainly expressed in the terminals of the climbing fibers, parallel fibers, and (some)basket cells, suggesting a prominent presynaptic localization of CB1 receptors, mediating modulatory effects of (endo)cannabinoids at glutamatergiv and GABAergic inputs onto Purkinje neurons.”[xlv]
• Deep Cerebellar Nuclei-Medial, lateral, and interposed nuclei have weak Cb1 immunoreactivity throughout the neuropil.
• Brainstem- Thalamus has low Cb1 expression in most parts. CB1 is strong in the lateral habenular nucleus, the anterior dorsal thalamic nucleus, and the reticular thalamic nucleus.
• Hypothalamus- much CB1 expression in the arcuate, paraventricular, ventromedial, dorsomedial nuclei, the external zone of the median eminence, infundibular stem, and lateral hypothalamic area.
• Mesencephalon- extremely high levels of CB1 in the substantia nigra (SN) pars reticulate and low levels in the exact same place. This suggests that “the high levels of CB1 protein are restricted to incoming axonal projections from other brain regions[xlvi].”
  • Ventral Tegmental Area- dense CB1 neuropil labeling.
  • Periaqueductal Gray- There are low to moderate expressions of CB1 receptors found in the Periaqueductal Gray. This is “where the ECS is involved in the control of pain sensation, including stress-induced analgesia”.[xlvii]
• Hindbrain-low CB1 expression in the medullary respiratory control centers. This is in contrast to the opioid receptors, which “likely explains the low mortality caused by cannabinoid intoxication.”[xlviii]
• Spinal Cord-spinal dorsal horn. Scientists believe that this is where the “application of cannabinoids has been found to suppress pain…)”.[xlix]

The endocannabinoid system has led to many discoveries within the scientific community. A handful of pharmaceutical companies have already set out to create cannabis-derived medicines to remedy rare diseases, like Dravet Syndrome. Some companies have since returned positive results while others made fatal mistakes in the drug development process.

The most notable company to successfully bring a CBD-derived drug to market is GW Pharmaceutical, in Britain. Their oral spray, Sativex, is used to help people with multiple sclerosis. They are working on another drug called Epidiolex. This orally-administered, CBD-derived medicine has shown amazing results in its clinical trials with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Positive FDA results in this final set of trial runs could be a game-changer for the official Federal stance on the cannabis plant moving forward. The giant ideological wall that is the current Trump administration, however, is a different story. The sitting Attorney General will never accept FDA findings that prove that cannabis must be descheduled. It will instantly be disregarded as “fake!”. A smear campaign will follow, and the men and women of the FDA will be in its crosshairs. And we will continue to move on in two diverging roads, with many Americans continuing down a different road than our government is paving.

 

References:

https://Mechoulam.tcmworld.org/what-is-tcm/yin-yang-theory/

http://norml.org/library/item/introduction-to-the-endocannabinoid-system

https://agelessherbs.com/yin-yang-theory/

http://Mechoulam.orientalmedicine.com/yin-yang

https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2993256/pdf/zpg588.pdf

https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3775668/pdf/nihms510207.pdf

https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21079038

https://Mechoulam.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-homeostasis/

https://Mechoulam.reference.com/science/concept-homeostasis-112a53029f85f5c4

https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2848184

Click to access nihms99606.pdf

http://www.yourdictionary.com/oxylipin

http://lipidhome.co.uk/lipids/simple/endocan/index.htm

https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/41427483_Cannabinoids_and_the_immune_system_An_overview

Click to access nihms155268.pdf

http://druglibrary.net/olsen/HEMP/IHA/iha01113.html

“Distribution of the Endocannabinoid system in the Central Nervous System.” Sherry Shu-Jung Hu and Ken Mackie. Sept 2015 Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology

http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s1/chapter07.html

https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/41427483_Cannabinoids_and_the_immune_system_An_overview

http://Mechoulam.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19035

https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/307511132_Topography_of_microglial_activation_in_sensory-_and_affect-related_brain_regions_in_chronic_pain

Click to access nihms131900.pdf

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/04/18/1612177114

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4292724/

“Endocannabinoid system acts as a regulator of immune homeostasis in the gut”. Department of Immunology and Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06030; and Division of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Farmington, CT 06032. Nandini Acharya, Sasi Penukonda, Tatiana Shcheglova, Adam T. Hagymasi, Sreyashi Basua,

and Pramod K. Srivastava. March 20, 2017

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19035

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glia

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astrocyte

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

 

 

[i] https://Mechoulam.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-homeostasis/

[ii] https://www.systemsbiology.org/about/what-is-systems-biology/

[iii] https://www.systemsbiology.org/about/what-is-systems-biology/

[iv] https://www.systemsbiology.org/about/what-is-systems-biology/

[v] https://Mechoulam.reference.com/science/concept-homeostasis-112a53029f85f5c4

[vi] https://Mechoulam.reference.com/science/concept-homeostasis-112a53029f85f5c4

[vii] https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2848184

[viii] https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2768535/pdf/nihms99606.pdf

[ix] https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2768535/pdf/nihms99606.pdf

[x] https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2768535/pdf/nihms99606.pdf

[xi] http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Cell%20signaling/en-en/

[xii] http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Cell%20signaling/en-en/

[xiii] http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Cell%20signaling/en-en/

[xiv] http://dictionary.sensagent.com/G-protein%20coupled%20receptors/en-en/

[xv] http://www.yourdictionary.com/oxylipin

[xvi] http://lipidhome.co.uk/lipids/simple/endocan/index.htm

[xvii]https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/41427483_Cannabinoids_and_the_immune_system_An_overview

[xviii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2828614/pdf/nihms155268.pdf

[xix] http://druglibrary.net/olsen/HEMP/IHA/iha01113.html

[xx] http://lipidhome.co.uk/lipids/simple/endocan/index.htm

[xxi] http://lipidhome.co.uk/lipids/simple/endocan/index.htm

[xxii] http://lipidhome.co.uk/lipids/simple/endocan/index.htm

[xxiii] http://membranereceptors.com/membrane-receptors/agonists-and-antagonists/

[xxiv]  https://Mechoulam.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21079038

[xxv] Distribution of the Endocannabinoid system in the Central Nervous System. Sherry Shu-Jung Hu and Ken Mackie. Sept 2015 Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology

[xxvi] http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s1/chapter07.html

[xxvii]https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/41427483_Cannabinoids_and_the_immune_system_An_overview

[xxviii] http://Mechoulam.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19035

[xxix]https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/41427483_Cannabinoids_and_the_immune_system_An_overview

[xxx]https://Mechoulam.researchgate.net/publication/307511132_Topography_of_microglial_activation_in_sensory-_and_affect-related_brain_regions_in_chronic_pain

[xxxi] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802457/pdf/nihms131900.pdf

[xxxii] http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19035

[xxxiii] “Endocannabinoid system acts as a regulator of immune homeostasis in the gut”. Department of Immunology and Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06030; and Division of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Farmington, CT 06032. Nandini Acharya, Sasi Penukonda, Tatiana Shcheglova, Adam T. Hagymasi, Sreyashi Basua,

and Pramod K. Srivastava. March 20, 2017

[xxxiv] http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/04/18/1612177114

[xxxv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4292724/

[xxxvi] http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/04/18/1612177114

[xxxvii] http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/04/18/1612177114

[xxxviii] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astrocyte

[xxxix] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glia

[xl] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astrocyte

[xli]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xlii]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xliii] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xliv] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xlv] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xlvi] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xlvii] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xlviii] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

[xlix] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282244852_Distribution_of_the_Endocannabinoid_System_in_the_Central_Nervous_System

This is part two in my series on cannabis history in the United States. It is a deeper dive into the medical benefits of cannabis that the scientific community has discovered.

Shennong was a legendary Emperor of China around 2700 B.C. His name means Divine Farmer or Divine Husbandman. He is also widely known as the “God of Chinese herbal medicine”. There is no written history of him because he lived before people could write. Therefore, they did not keep historical records yet. He is apocryphal and has attained the status of a god. He spent his life sampling the rich plant life that abounded in the territory that now bears his name, the Shennogjia Forestry District (In July of 2016, UNESCO added it to their World Heritage list.). He is credited with creating Chinese herbal medicine.

It would not be for anther 2000 years that his name would be attached to herbal medicine. Several authors decided to write down the “earliest complete pharmacopeia references and lists an astonishing 365 Chinese medicines” (100 of those medicines would include cannabis) in 220 BC. They placed Shennong as the author of Shennong Bencaojing to honor him as the father of Chinese Medicine.

Soon after this book was published, there was another doctor in the region who understood the benefits of cannabis. Hua Tuo lived around 108 BC. Some say that he invented the first anesthetic when he mixed cannabis with wine, called Mafesan. He was also familiar with acupuncture, which has long been used to treat pain and restore the flow of qi in the body. It is possible that the herb used for moxibustion was cannabis, not mugwort. If this is true, then the medical benefits of cannabis and acupuncture are largely unexplored currently.

People have recognized acupuncture to be a useful treatment for inflammatory pain for a long time. Medicine recognizes that electroacupuncture (EA) “has been regarded as an alternative treatment for inflammatory pain for several decades”. EA has been connected to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in therapy. A 2012 EA study concluded that “Our results suggest that EA reduces inflammatory pain and proinflammitory cytokines in inflamed skin tissues through activation of CB2Rs”

Research on how EA interacts with CB1 receptors has been done for depressed suicide victims, alcoholic withdrawal, and mice with arthritis. A 2004 Molecular Psychiatry article documented “the mood and cognition altering ability of exogenous cannabinoids and alcohol, and the association between depression, suicide and alcohol abuse raise the question whether endogenous cannabinodergic system plays any role in the etiology of depression and suicidal behavior.” The study concluded by saying that “the upregulation of CB1 receptors…strongly suggests a role for the participation of abnormal endocannabinoidergic neurotransmission in the etiology of depression and suicide. The pharmacological manipulation of endocannabinoid system may serve as a new therapeutic target in the treatment of depression.”

The Shanghai First People’s Hospital School of Medicine did a study in 2013 that was based on “Accumulating evidence… that the CB1 and dopamine systems sometimes interact and may operate synergistically in rat striatum…D1/D2 receptors are involved in EA analgesia.” Their conclusion was that “a strong activation of the CB1 receptor after repeated EA resulted in the concomitant phenomenon of the upregulation of D1 and D2 levels of gene expression”.

Cannabis use in Chinese medicine is as old as Chinese medicine itself. Now, as Eastern medicine comes from the west and Western Medicine comes from the east, we are at the convergence of a key herbal remedy that has been known for millennia.

Up next in the series: The Endocannanibinoid System.

Referrences:
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/bios/shennong.aspx
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-07/19/c_135522602.htm
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/about/index.html
http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/1883.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23762129
https://mdanderson.influuent.utsystem.edu/en/publications/electroacupuncture-reduces-the-expression-of-proinflammatory-cyto
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v9/n2/full/4001376a.html
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v9/n2/full/4001376a.html
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v9/n2/full/4001376a.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23762129
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/bios/shennong.aspx
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-07/19/c_135522602.htm
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/about/index.html
http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/1883.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23762129
https://mdanderson.influuent.utsystem.edu/en/publications/electroacupuncture-reduces-the-expression-of-proinflammatory-cyto
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v9/n2/full/4001376a.html
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v9/n2/full/4001376a.html
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v9/n2/full/4001376a.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23762129