Xora's Cannabis Compendium (All things Good, and Ganja)
Part 2 - The Active Cannabinoids
Cannabis as most of you know is a very resinous plant, and this resin (the essential oils and the trichomes - the crystals you see all over your bud ) is made up of a few different cannabinoids, the building blocks of your high! Honestly, there are about 120 different cannabinoids but we only have research on 5 major cannabinoids. These cannabinoids are THC, THCV, CBD, CBN, and CBG.
THC or Tetrahidrocannabinol is what we look to for our high. In occurs in amounts up to 28% in some of our most powerful ganja. It is the main psychoactive cannabinoid in our glorious plant.
THCV or Tetrahydrocannabivarin is another cannabinoid that occurs in higher amount in warm temperature places, due to higher amount of UV light, though it degrades quickly in fresh bud. This cannabinoid makes the high come on faster, and have a more profound effect. More research still needs to be done on THCV.
CBD or Cannabidiol generally occurs in amounts from 0.2 to 3%. It is a very sedative cannabinoid, delays the effects of THC, reduces euphoria, however does help more with pain. In plants with high amounts of THC and CBD you have a strong body high, that helps lots with pain. If you have low THC and large amounts of CBD you are going to feel real tired.
CBN or Cannabinol occurs in very small amount in fresh bud. In hash or bud that has been around a while there are much higher amounts of it, and it is attributed to the "messed up" or groggy feeling. As THC oxides and ages it converts to CBN, so the longer from the harvest the less THC the more CBN, thus the more groggy, not definable high.
CBG or Cannabigerol is non-psychoactive but shown to reduce blood pressure and relieve glaucoma symptoms, other medical benefits may be on the horizon.
Some research has been done on CBC or Cannabichromene and it is thought to make plants seem more psychedelic and intense but this has not been proven.
We explained in the last section the Indica, Sativa, And Afghanica all have very different highs, this is because of different ratio of these cannabinoids. Sadly most Seed Banks only test for THC and CBD but it will illustrate the differences well.
Pineapple Chunk - Indica Dominant
High - Couch Lock THC: 25% CBD: 1.1%
Dr. Grinspoon - Sativa
High: Euphoric, Uppy THC: 25% CBD: 0.4%
Vanilla Kush - Indica
High: Relaxing, Slowed Down THC: 25% CBD: 1.2%
Amnesia Lemon - Sativa/Indica
High: Balanced body/head high, trippy THC: 25% CBD 0.7%
I hope you enjoyed this post on the active cannabinoids and will join me for my next post on the essential oils.
