Endocannabinoids and cannabis Flashcards
Cannabis throughout history (I)
Questions about where/ how and when was cannabis used first
- Paleobotanical studies 11,700 years ago near the Altai mountains (Central Asia)
- Used for ropes, nets, food and seeds for oil. Also used for fibre.
- It grows really fast
- Psychotropic effects of the heated female plants (resin).
- Cannabis seeds followed migrations of nomads and commercial exchanges. Eg. moving from china to Europe. So it has been moving around the world with humans.
Cannabis in different languages
Its a widespread plant therefore different languages have different words for it
Cannabis throughout history (II)
- Ayurvedic medicine: Vijaya (cannabis) used for thousands of years to reduce pain, nausea, and anxiety, improve appetite and sleep, relax muscles, and produce a feeling of euphoria.
- Used in different countries and cultures such as China, Egypt, Greece and Rome centuries and even millennia ago as an antalgic and anti-inflammatory.
- Long tradition in Western medicine through translations of Arabic manuscripts.
- Used as a medicine in the late 19th and early 20th… Queen Victoria and Empress Sissi!
- Unlike most “new drugs”, already widely used! (It has been used for centuries). Unique challenges in terms of regulations.
- New drugs having the same effect, should we consider them illegal?
Drugs and tradition
For cannabis it has always been illegal and now they are legalising cannabis such as some states in the US
* How important are traditions (should be!) in the legal status of drugs?
* Cultural differences. How is in your country (country of origin / culture)?
* Restrictions and drugs
* Drugs and self-medication
* Harmful or helpful?
Substance use-related harms
- Which substances are more or less harmful for the users and other people?
- There are different types of harms to be considered:
- Drug-specific - related mortality- has been found in states where cannabis is legalised there are more car accidents and death
- Drug-specific - related damage
- Dependence
- Loss of tangibles: eg. money
- Loss of relationships
- Injury
- Etc. Nutt, King, and Phillip, 2010
What are the most harmful substances?
Experts say cannabis is harmful but not super harmful.
Alcohol, tobacco are more harmful than cannabis and legal
Cannabis use-related harms
Psychiatric conditions
- An increased risk of psychotic disorders following acute and repeated consumption of cannabis in vulnerable individuals and naïve users. (certain people are very vulnerable to have a psychotic break).
- Anxiety and panic attacks following intoxication especially in naive users.
- Chronic use is associated with mood disturbances, mania, and depression.
- People can develop cannabis addiction and dependency.
Cannabis use-related harms
Cognitive and CNS alterations
- Impairment of a wide range of cognitive functions following cannabis intoxication in a dose-relation manner.
- Impaired cognitive function following cannabis consumption was associated with an increased risk of having a road accident.
- Chronic use is associated with long-term brain functional and structural alterations (?).- ? because cannabis is frequently used with other substances (eg. alcohol) so its hard to say whether that damage was due to cannabis use or alcohol use ect.
Cannabis use-related harms
Effects on respiratory system
- Acute cannabis consumption decreases airway resistance.
- Chronic cannabis use is associated with an increased risk for developing airway diseases and lung cancer.
Cannabis use-related harms
Effects on cardiovascular system
- An increase of cardiovascular activity, increase of heart rate, and decrease of blood pressure. Several reports have described atemporal relationship between cannabis use and acute myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, and sudden cardiac death.
(Cohen, Weizman and Weinstein, 2019)
Cannabis use-related harms (II)
- Short term: Impairment of Learning and Memory; Attention and Working Memory
- Long-term: Unclear
- Neuropsychological functions might recover after prolonged abstinence
- Depending on the frequency and duration of the cannabis use, length of abstinence and age at
onset of use. recovery might be better or worse due to these things - Neuroimaging: Inconsistent results, they might be related to alcohol
- Affectation of the medial brain (hippocampus and amygdala) and prefrontal cortex
(Volkow et al. 2016)
What do cannabinoids mimic the effect of?
Endocannabinoids
Phytocannabinoids and Endocannabinoid System
- Over 120 identified cannabinoids
- CBD, isolated in 1940 and structure reported in 1963
- THC, structure reported in 1964
- In 1968, the same researcher isolated AEA
- Afterwards, they discovered the CB1R and CB2R receptors
- CB1R: CNS and digestive organs
- CB2R: Digestive organs, CNS, regulation of immunity and inflammation
Endocannabinoid System
- Retrograde signalling
- AEA and 2-AG are produced in the post-synaptic neuron
- Regulates the release of the neurotransmitter
What is the endocannabinoid system involved in?
- Inflammation and immunity
- Sleep
- Appetite
- Mood
- Memory
- Fertility
