There are many distinct mood disorders troubling society today given our increasingly busy and stressful lifestyles. Research over the years has given more and more insight into the brain and how it regulates these disorders, namely those pertaining to anxiety and depression. The system responsible for such processes is the endocannabinoid (eCB) system and more specifically the workings of the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the brain. We are now approaching treatment possibilities utilizing this system in conjunction with a component of cannabis, or marijuana, a commonly known and widely abused psychoactive drug. This component is called cannabidiol and has shown great potential to alleviate anxiety and depression in recent studies.
Our knowledge of this eCB system has proposed treatment ideas for anxiety and depression. It seems that a source of these mood disorders may be the deregulation of this system meaning it is not necessarily functioning properly. To combat this problem, researchers have utilized the ability to use neurotransmitter agonists to raise the functioning of the eCB system and therefore decreasing amounts of anxiety and depression in subjects. Despite any negative effects that marijuana might have it has been shown that it can produce these same results in those showing symptoms of mood disorders. This has been long known but only recently have there been sound research studies to show this is true. As mentioned, though, there are some negative effects that marijuana produces.
A fact not known to many about marijuana is that there is a strong correlation between overuse and symptoms of schizophrenia. Prolonged activation of the eCB with marijuana causes these symptoms in those that are slightly more susceptible to this psychotropic disease. This boils down to genetics as there have been genes that are associated with schizophrenia. This type of side effect of marijuana’s overuse is caused by the main active ingredient, THC. This component is what most opponents of marijuana legalization are concerned about. Cannabidiol, another ingredient can be used for its medicinal properties without having the undesired side effects as it works much like THC.
Cannabidiol (CBD) has the potential to replace marijuana and do away with controversies of medicinal marijuana. THC, the psychotropic component, would no longer be needed and CBD could be extracted and utilized for its medicinal properties. Scientists have shown that CBD plays a role in the eCB system much like THC as it has the ability to alleviate symptoms of depression at low doses. In higher doses it can be used in treating anxiety. This has great potential to come into the drug market after further research is done.
What needs to be done before CBD comes onto the market? Scientists need to first find which strain of the Cannabis sativa plant houses higher concentrations of CBD. There are many factors that affect these concentrations such has growing location, small species variations in the plant, and more simply, what type of growing season it was when grown. Once researchers find the optimal strain then there can be efforts to bio-fortify this strain to produce more CBD. High yield extraction methods can then be developed to separate CBD from the plant at a commercial scale. All of these issues need be addressed before we see CBD in the hands of mood disorder patients.
Can medicinal marijuana be replaced?
