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CANNABINOID SYNAPSE SERIES 2/5 For the second part of our 5-part series we examine how anterosynaptic signaling works, or forward direction signaling in a neural circuit. A simplified version of the diagram of post 1 is shown at the head of this image to help illustrate the dynamics of a neural circuit, including the soma-axon anatomy of individual neurons. What we examine here is the classical anterosynaptic signaling, essentially a vesicle of neurotransmitters being released into the synapse by an incoming action potential (from the previous cell in the circuit). These releases then diffuse across the synapse to bind to receptors on the down-circuit neuron (i.e. post-synaptic). This, when it reaches the appropriate critical mass of activation, sends a new action potential downstream to the next neuron in the circuit. Stay tuned and follow to see the whole 5-part series on how cannabinoids affect the nervous system with an emphasis on synaptic mechanics. #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma #neurology #neuroscience #neurotransmission

CANNABINOID SYNAPSE SERIES 1/5 To start our 5-part series on the synaptic elements of cannabinoids, we start with the broad neurosynaptic basics. Here we have a diagram showing how animal behavior works: with 4 key parts. 1st is the sensory neurons. These are your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and nerve endings in your skin, for a total of 5 (thus the expression 6th sense). 2nd we have the inter neurons. These stimulation from sensors get passed to the central nervous system (CNS) where they act as the spine and brain. 3rd we have the motor neurons, which for lack of a better term are the function of the ganglia exiting the CNS. These neurons tell which muscle to contract and when. 4th we have the muscle cells themselves. Many don’t realize it, but the only thing a nervous system can do is decide which muscle fiber to contract, and when. The rest, including muscle “extension” is actually an illusion. (i.e. extensor muscle groups are simply counter-balancing contraction groups to the flexors) Stay tuned and follow to see the whole 5-part series on how cannabinoids affect the nervous system with an emphasis on synaptic mechanics. #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma #neurology #neuroscience #neurotransmission

And to conclude our series on plant genetics in cannabis, we are sharing our wider “psychoactive plants” phylogeny tree that shows common evolutionary descent of some well known mind altering plant (and one mushroom) species. The active ingredient / compound is indicated with a molecular diagram, though there are limitations to the FDA model of a single molecule “active ingredient” that should be noted. Note that psychoactive does not mean illegal: Besides cannabis which is still in process being legalized, we have kava, coffee, tobacco, and chocolate all of which are unscheduled and have generally very minimal regulation when compared to controlled substances. #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma

See yesterday's post if you missed it, but here we have the labeled structures and the answer to the quiz question, which wasn't featured? Well now with the labels you can quickly deduce that the correct answer was: 5. ocimene Tomorrow we finish the genetics in plant series by putting the cannabis plant and its chemistry in a wider evolutionary context of psychoactive drugs derived from plants and fungi #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma

CHECK IT OUT! This semester, I wrote one of the papers for my Master of Public Administration degree on cannabis safety. I plan to write about cannabis for everything possible. I am also working on a paper on purchasing differences between medical and adult consumers. Coming soon!

Here we have a “components of cannabis” grab bag with unlabeled molecules. Just for fun, lets see if you can guess which of these is NOT present here (cheating discouraged, but of course you can use Google → Wikipedia on your web browser): 1. d9-THCA 2. beta-pinene 3. CBGA 4. humulene 5. ocimene 6. CBDA 7. linalool Vote in the comments! #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma

Now that we have familiarity with simpler cannabinoid biochemistry we can expand it to include semi-synthetic cannabinoids which are increasingly relevant in the scientific, legal, and business landscape of cannabis. The old route of CBGA → CBDA, THCA can still be seen on the left in the acids section, and the decarboxylation to corresponding free cannabinoid can be seen just to the right in the blue. Modified chain-length cannabinoids, such as THCV, go through a separate route that is upstream of CBGA. The semi-synthetics in purple show d8-THC, HHC, and THC-O-Ac as examples of chemically modified cannabinoids. The right shows fully synthetic cannabinoids which have a different, sometimes radically, chemical structure than the other 3 categories based on the cannabis plant. Stay tuned for the 8-part series exploring cannabis genetics and how it affects the properties of strains of cannabis. #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma

Cannabis Industry: A Tragedy (of Commons) in Three Acts Act One: Recreational Cannabis After recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada and California, the industry faced a major challenge: oversupply. Many companies rushed into the market, producing far more cannabis than consumers could buy. This excess caused prices to drop and profits to shrink, leading to widespread financial difficulties and bankruptcies. Large companies in Canada closed facilities, while major California distributors like HERBL collapsed. This reflects the "tragedy of the commons," where overuse of a shared resource, in this case market demand, harms everyone. The lesson should be: industries need better planning and regulation to avoid overproduction and ensure long-term stability for all stakeholders.

Here we see an expanded scheme from the previous image. This scheme still only shows the activity of two enzymes, namely THCA and CBDA synthase, but shows all of the non-enzyme reactions that surround this scheme. Decarboxylation is one of the chemical processes but tautomerization, a reversible and dynamic switching between isomers, is the other key process illustrated here. This shows us the link to more rarely known cannabinoids such as cannabinerol, d8-THC, and CBG. The traditional bounds of psychoactive and non-psychoactive target compounds are indicated in red and green respectively. Notice that d8-THC has been conspicuously left out of both categories, which was very prescient given that this was made in 2014 long before the 2018 Farm Bill caused d8-THC to become the center of massive controversy. Now that we have gotten a sense for the wider scheme, we can expand it to the modern applications of cannabinoids in science and law in the following post. Stay tuned for the 8-part series exploring cannabis genetics and how it affects the properties of strains of cannabis. #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma

Here we have a nice illustration of the enzyme mediated process that makes THC and CBD from a common precursor. While CBG can be thought of as a precursor it is actually CBGA that the two enzymes use as a substrate (or starting material) for making THCA and CBDA, which then decarboxylate to the more familiar cannabinoids. The ring structures are colored to show the mono- bi- and tricyclic nature of these three major cannabinoids. Enzymes are shown in black letters and compounds in grey letters. Although the scheme shown here is a bit simple, it helps to show the key elements such as molecular structure and enzyme activity. In the next post we will expand this scheme a bit to take a wider look at the THC-CBD cannabinoid scheme. Stay tuned for the 8-part series exploring cannabis genetics and how it effects the properties of strains of cannabis. #cannabis #cannabisscience #medicalcannabis #cannabinoids #cannabinoid #plantmedicine #naturopathic #marijuana #hemp #cannabisindustry #legalcannabis #chemistry #organicchemistry #biochemistry #biology #botany #pharmacology #medicalscience #pharma