Cannabis’ entourage effect
Marijuana is a plant that grows naturally almost everywhere in the world, but although many people perceive it as a single thing, the reality is quite different. Within marijuana there are cannabinoids, terpenes and many other compounds that interact with each other within the plant and within the consumer. Today we are going to tell you about the relationships between some compounds and others, or what is the same thing, about the entourage effect on marijuana.
What is the entourage effect?
Entourage effect is a term coined in a 1998 study on how the different compounds present in cannabis interact. It was published in the prestigious scientific journal European Journal of Pharmacology and you can see it here.
This study was written by researchers and well-known marijuana activists, among them Rapahel Mechoulam. They show that the compounds interact with each other, producing an increase or decrease in activity derived from synergies between them. In particular, it was found that thanks to the presence of fatty acid esters, the activity of a cannabinoid increased in a measurable way.
Examples of the entourage effect
The clearest and most understandable example for all weed friends is the one that is produced with the combination of THC and CBD, the two best known cannabionoids. These cannabinoids when are isolated and administered separately, for example as a drug, Sativex, do not produce as positive effects as the combination of the two cannabinoids.
In addition, the combination of both cannabinoids compensates certain effects that can be negative, for example, for a medicinal patient who needs THC but does not support the high that it produces, CBD helps to maintain those softer effects and allow the administration to a greater number of people who are not accustomed to consuming marijuana.
Another example is with terpenes, it has been shown that some produce a blockage of endocannabinoid receptors in the human brain, while others actually produce the opposite effect, causing a greater association and absorption of cannabinoids. You can see the scientific article here, where you can also see other researches presented by the International Cannabinoid Research Society in the 24th edition of their annual symposium.
Medicinal applications of entourage effect
The entourage effect is essential for compression and use by medicinal researchers, since it could be the key to open all the medicinal possibilities offered by the Cannabis plant.
Understanding how it works best can lead to more effective drugs for treating all kinds of ailments, such as pain management, depression, cancer, epilepsy, insomnia, or many others.